The Perfect Fit?

My new class this semester is a grade 12 Social class. One of the topics we are discussing is the idea of models and how they work, why we have them and reasons they change. In the class, we discussed the one model they are all familiar with and know very well; SCHOOL.

The present model in which we function has served us well for many generations and has served society. However, it has become apparent that the model is not doing as well as it once did. As a class, we began to discuss the model and examine it as being a model. We broke it down into different aspects of the model framework: patterns, people, perception and environment. As we went through these different aspects, we began to look at what things we could change to improve the model. I then assigned this to students, who were free to work together to discuss and then come up with their own model of learning.

It Wasn’t That Much Different

As I went through the assignments, what became very apparent was that these students are already shaped to think inside the model. Instead of exploding the model and looking at it from new perpsectives, students were still focused on classes, bells and the delivery of knowledge. They did discuss the environment and “rules” that they would like to see changed. However, they didn’t really expand beyond where we are presently. In fact, when I began to throw out some ideas of changes, some of the students were even resistant.

We’ve moved on from that discussion and those assignments but it really made me wonder why these students hadn’t tossed out the current model. So, my curiosity made me go further and I went back to ask why students hadn’t exploded the model. For their part, it was the idea of change, the idea of the unknown and the uncertain that really kept them in the present model. They didn’t know how a new model might work and are comfortable with this model with a few minor changes. In fact, when I suggested that we move the model away from the 2 month summer break idea, they rebelled. “How will I earn money to go to university?” “What will be able to keep up my car payments?” “Three weeks isn’t long enough to rest!” They had many more  reasons for sticking with the current model for just the holidays. 

How did we do this? We’ve a group of young people who, in the short time at school, have become so use to the model that the thought of changing it too much really made them uneasy. Now, I know this may not be a typical reaction by students but it does make me wonder if it is just the adults who would have trouble with a new model of school.

We’re All Learning

Learning is something we continue to do. Sometimes it small increments that we don’t really notice and sometimes it’s the “aha” moments. It doesn’t matter how old we are or our profession, our gender or race, religion or political thoughts, learning is something that we all do.

At a few different blogs  and other online places there has been a renewed discussion regarding the whole “immigrant/native” thing. I bring this up here because students, in the discussion, didn’t see the technology they use as adding to their learning. In fact, it was only by discussing the features of their cellphones and what they were capable of doing with them, that the whole matter became a serious part of the discussion. What was more important to them was the time at school, the quality of the teachers, the assignments and their being relevant, the school environment (no more hospital colours!), the furniture and access to better and newer texts and information. (I’m not making this up!) They wanted to be able to use their cellphones and such but not for learning but for communicating – keeping in touch with others. Yes, the students have the access to technology but, like many teachers, they don’t use it in the learning arena for learning. Their use is just as limited as many of the adults around them. They may have been born surrounded by it but, regardless of what the proponents say, they still need to learn how to use it to its greatest advantage. Like all things, there are those who are exceptions but my experience is not that students, growing up “immersed in the digital technologies” know any more about using it beyond simple communication than the adults around them.

Instead, I see this as a great opporutnity to actually crack the model of school and bring about learning changes as we introduce students to the power of these tools at the same time that teachers are learning how to move from being “knowledge holders” to being more of “knowledge enhancers”, assisting students to stretch and move beyond where they are at the moment. As educators grapple with inclusive classrooms and differentiated learning, they need to be moved out of the current paradigm of school but so do the students. Yes elearning is a great thing but, my experience, having been involved as a teacher and administrator for the past 5 years, is that you need to help the student learn how to learn using this method. You need to help them access their knowledge that is similar and then begin to transfer their skills. Yes they may be able to play videos for hours and be engaged but it isn’t the same as learning online and their are specific skill sets that students need to acquire to make their experience successful. In fact, I spend more time getting them to access their knowledge of online gaming, and getting them off the games, for the situation they are in than I do actually helping them with the learning they are suppose to be doing. And, yes, some students don’t have any trouble but they aren’t the majority. Many find it frustrating as they learn the technology whild trying to learn subject material.

A New Paradigm?

This experience has me wondering if we will indeed see changes in the present school systems as quickly as we think. I use to think that within 5 years we would begin to see significant changes. Now, I’m not so sure. My discussions are opening a whole new arena that, up until now, I was taking forgranted – they know about technology and will just slide right along. Yes, some of them will but some of them aren’t as tech savvy. For most, they know a great deal about very specific things, texting for example, but when it comes to using technology in a learning environment, in a new and different way, it doesn’t transfer. In fact, most of my students haven’t heard of twitter, plurk, slideshare, animoto, googledocs and many of the others tools that I use. They know very little about Facebook other than how to paste photos and add comments. Their understanding of online bookmarking and rss readers is nonexistant. Their ability to use Word or other software is very limited. In so many ways, they have so much to learn about technology and its uses that they are, ahem, immigrants themselves.

A Perfect Fit

If so many hadn’t bought into these notions, we would probably have a perfect fit. Teachers, unsure of the tools and students, unsure of the tools, both moving along a learning continuum. Sometimes the students would be ahead of the teachers with using the tools but the teacher, with the knowledge base they have, being able to guide and help the students to challenge themselves and expand their knowledge by asking them critical questions, probing and giving suggestions, helping the student to use the tools to further their understanding. It’s a perfect match!

So, back to the social class. We are using different tools but I am realizing that I have to teach the students how to use them as many find them frustrating since they are new and different from basic tools they use. I am toying with having them take part in a Flat Classroom Project but I feel they need to know a few more things. I know it would be a great experience but I am wondering if I have the time – as an administrator it is a very busy time of the year. (I really should be correcting instead of writing this post so I can work on administrative things tomorrow!) We are going to continue to explore this whole idea of “school” the rest of the semester, in different ways. Maybe, by then, I’ll have a more complete idea of how this transformation might be possible.

Being critical

My summer vacation is almost finished. 2 weeks and the school will be full of students, some excited to be here and some wishing they were anywhere else but here. It’s been an odd summer in that I spend most of my time working at a second job – painting – and doing some odd jobs around the house. No major get-away and nothing really exciting. As I pondered the upcoming year through the summer, caught up on some of my reader reading and became connected to my PLN in Plurk again, I noticed a few topics of discussion that caught my attention. So, in no particular order, here are some of the thoughts on these topics.

Tech leery administration

Administrators are the educational leaders of their schools/divisions/districts. Whether they embrace this or not it is something that has been demonstrated in a number of different books and articles about the subject. These people are the leaders of their respective institutions and set the direction and tone of what is going on. It baffles me that there seems to be so many of these people who, for various reasons, are leery of technology use in classrooms. 

Being an administrator, I know that many of these people are dedicated to creating the best possible learning environments that they can for the students. However, it has also been my observation that many of them are very leery of using web2.0 technologies in schools. Many of them, from what I understand, do not fully understand these technologies and don’t appreciate how they might fit into the learning environment. There is a fear of the “What if” that continues to be perpetuated by the media without a broader and more indepth discussion of what is actually happening. 

Administrators also need to begin using these tools themselves. The time when one could ignore advances in technology ended a while back. I’m not sure how an administrator can begin to make decisions regarding technology use and integration without having some working knowledge of the technology in question. I know you don’t have to know all about a car to drive it but it helps to know about how things work so that you can make decisions based on knowledge instead of the colour you like. 

21st Century Teaching

I’m going to take a leap here and go against much of the hype that I’ve been reading. Students are disengaged because they are, well, children and would like to be doing other things instead of being in school and it hasn’t changed. Don’t you think that Socrates had to deal with someone sitting in the class thinking “Man, I’d rather be out doing combat training than listening to all these dumb questions.” Really, to think that these are the first students to be disengaged is, well, absurd. We’re giving way too much power to the tools by discussing student disengagement because their teachers aren’t using these tools. To do so minimizes the great talent it takes to teach, to know content and to make students interested in what is being delivered. Technology is a tool in the same manner as a pen, book and a whiteboard. Yes they text, play video games and communicate via internet and have access to so much more information but it’s still the skill and art of the teacher that bridges the knowledge the student has to what is out there. Creating critical and creative thinkers doesn’t require technology.

The 21st Century Student

Again, I’m going to go against the stream but there seems to be way too much focus on a particular student type. I know that earlier this month there was some discussions about a well known student blogger who also was part of some educators twitter conversations. For me, that is just a no-no. Somewhere along the line there has been a confusion between asking students for their input and worshipping some of these students for their skills. I know that may offend many but as an administrator, I’ve seen it become more and more prevalent in my dealings with students. Somewhere along the way the voice of youth has become the overpowering voice as adults abdicate their responsibilities of teaching and guiding – being adult – in order to be “liked” by youth in the guise of making sure that youth have a voice. 

Unfortunately it seems to be only certain youth with particular skills that burst onto the educational discussion scene. Yes, they need to be heard but not at the expense of adult knowledge, experience and wisdom. And, it’s okay for them to be disappointed or upset or angry when they don’t get their way. It’s important they learn that respecting someone older is important even if they don’t agree with them. Eventually the tables will turn and if they haven’t learnt some of these lessons, they will have a struggle with the outcomes. Of course, the opposite is true and adults need to respect the youth but that’s a whole different discussion. In my experience, many youth confuse respect with getting their own way. To them, respecting them is giving them what they want. And before the dumping begins, I meet with many students during the year. I do have a clue! 

The 21st century student is so much more than technology and being connected globally. In fact, a huge group of youth aren’t. For some reason, the tech savvy adults have grasped onto this without looking around 360 degrees to see all the other students who aren’t, can’t be, don’t want to be or have other interests. These adults are, sorry to say, confusing the developing youth connectiveness and technology use with abilities and skills. Learning is so much more than using technology and, for many youth, needs to be more. Yes we need to teach many different skills but, really, they are just things we have taught but now in a new milieu – online. The one example of the “new 21st century” student doesn’t come close to capturing the variety and differences in students that will come into a classroom and it’s wrong to take that view. If educators are to truly be teaching to all,  to narrow them all down to a particular type of all doesn’t work and things have gone awry somewhere. 

Ageism

What is this? Like really, I’ve read it a few places where it’s tossed around as a way to discount all the experience and wisdom that people have gained through living. There is a huge difference between being 16 and 46 and the experience gained in that time does count and cannot be discarded with a pshah and the utterance of “ageism”. Again, it bothers me when I read educators using this in order to discount what other adults/educators say. When a youth says it to prove a point, it demonstrates the youth’s inexperience and, to some degree, lack of respect. Adults who have achieved a particular position have knowledge and wisdom that youth just don’t have and to say otherwise is to, once again, worship the whole youth culture. I’ve learned to respect the wisdom of elders by listening to what they have to say and then drawing from their wisdom to apply lessons to my own life. But in order to do that, I have had to realize that their stories of up hill both ways through 8 feet of snow aren’t about the hill or the snow but about something much more. Too quickly the phrase “but it’s not like that any more” or some equivalent is tossed out and the wisdom is lost. And, really, some of what I’ve read does sound like whining and wanting something that hasn’t yet been earned. (reflect on the hills and snow!) 

Schools and teachers need technology

Maybe. I’m still not sure that we need all the technology that is being pushed. Too often, technology is seen as a way of “engaging” students so they don’t “disconnect” when they come to school. Having watched several “master” teachers in their classrooms, students don’t need technology to learn. In fact, I’d rather see a teacher master the art of teaching before they start with the technology gadgets. Poor teaching will not be improved with technology. Engaged students are that way because an adult has taken them to a place where engagement is necessary, technology aside. 

I use technology but not as a means of engagement for students. If my students are not engaged before the technology is used, they won’t be no matter what technology I toss at them. It is a tool. It is a tool. It is a tool. Nothing more. Engagement needs to be planned and created before the technology is used by the students. Oh, we can allow them to be engaged by letting them play games but if there is no engagement before that, then it’s just the game. And, again, before I get it from the educational game people, I am a gamer – not to the degree I was – but I’ve been involved in WoW, online games, video games and the sort. There is a great deal of learning that takes place but there needs to be someone to draw out what was learned. 

I’ll stop here. I have a few other things but I figure that, for one day, I’ve brought out a few things that have been crinkling my linen over the summer.