Today's conversation began with holes in the wall and wobbly table legs, but left me bemused about just how we "do school" to students. There is every reason for the slang use of "schooled" it seems.
The students I was with expressed a real concern about what they are asked to do in the classroom -- the depth or lack of it that they perceive in their classwork and discussions. Add that to a conversation about testing that I had with a teacher returning after a family leave absence and there is every reason to believe that we must take a serious look at what we are doing and how we are doing it.
Students want to learn -- they perceive, even if they are not quite able to articulate it, that in some ways they are being sold out, left out, not quite initiated to the world of thinking deeply. Some are, admittedly, quite happy with the trivial pursuit of remembering the name of the dog in chapter 3 -- but many would like to try to make sense of their world, might even find they are good at thinking once they've been shown how and had it expected of them.
But, oh, is it messy. And we can't really stand much of a mess, can we, as adult learners? I was reading Bill Ferriter's excellent observations about professional development, and was struck by two things: 1. how perfectly obvious this should have been to me, and 2. how very stubborn the human species is.
We want that "professional development" to be delivered in 30 minutes or less, in an entertaining style, with minimal effort put forth by us, for maximum return in our classrooms -- as long as there isn't a whole hell of a lot that we have to do differently there. When I get a bit cynical like this that's when they begin to whisper among themselves -- "She doesn't know what it's like in the classroom." And maybe I don't any more. It's been almost 10 years -- have kids changed that much? I don't really think so -- it's just the way that they think that has changed...or maybe that's the same as actually changing altogether.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
what it could look like
This is the frame that could change substantially how secondary education is done.....maybe....perhaps..it could!
You’re a freshman. You take Freshman seminar, in which you read good books, many of your own choosing, and talk about learning and how you’ll accomplish this thing called your high school education. You’ll find out about brain research and learning styles and you’ll play with multiple intelligences and experiment with ways in which to learn things. You’ll find out about all the mysterious standards you’re expected to master during your 4 years, and you’ll help to plan how to make that happen. And you will learn about a great many tools that you can use to accomplish this learning experience – tools like research process models and technological notetaking, electronic writing, self-publishing, social bookmarking and myriad others.
Then you’re a sophomore. In this year you will add to your portfolio, begun in Freshman Seminar, at least one major exhibit of your knowledge in the area of science, social studies or mathematics. The same will be true for junior year, but your exhibit will need to be in an area different from the area you exhibited in during sophomore year. At the end of each semester during these two years, you will add to your portfolio a reflective piece that considers yourself as a learner and your contributions to the learning community.
Senior Capstone, also a course, will involve creating a major exhibition of mastery that will clearly show how you have mastered the habits of mind and the skills of learning that are most important to have as an informed citizen in the 21st century.
You’re a freshman. You take Freshman seminar, in which you read good books, many of your own choosing, and talk about learning and how you’ll accomplish this thing called your high school education. You’ll find out about brain research and learning styles and you’ll play with multiple intelligences and experiment with ways in which to learn things. You’ll find out about all the mysterious standards you’re expected to master during your 4 years, and you’ll help to plan how to make that happen. And you will learn about a great many tools that you can use to accomplish this learning experience – tools like research process models and technological notetaking, electronic writing, self-publishing, social bookmarking and myriad others.
Then you’re a sophomore. In this year you will add to your portfolio, begun in Freshman Seminar, at least one major exhibit of your knowledge in the area of science, social studies or mathematics. The same will be true for junior year, but your exhibit will need to be in an area different from the area you exhibited in during sophomore year. At the end of each semester during these two years, you will add to your portfolio a reflective piece that considers yourself as a learner and your contributions to the learning community.
Senior Capstone, also a course, will involve creating a major exhibition of mastery that will clearly show how you have mastered the habits of mind and the skills of learning that are most important to have as an informed citizen in the 21st century.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Re-visioning Education
At the risk of sounding chauvinistic about my field, I would offer that there is no single concept in education today more important than what has become referred to as Information Literacy. It is by nature multi-disciplinary, multi-media and has applications across both the academic and personal spectrums. It requires discriminations of an ever-finer nature as students age, and is at the core of what educators now refer to as “21st century skills” – just a buzzy way to say “prepared to function productively in society.”
On the info lit front I want my grads to be articulate in stating their information needs, and sophisticated enough in their thinking to understand and choose among multiple methods for retrieving info. I want them to have at their disposal ways to evaluate the accuracy and value of that info and ways to participate ethically and appropriately in the global conversation and production of knowledge. That involves claiming their voices and learning to question effectively.
I want them to walk away with a portfolio of steadily more complex and multi-disciplinary knowledge products. The learning activities that seniors engage in should be significantly more complex than what is expected of freshmen. So, for instance – no junior should be just collecting facts from indiscriminate sources for a list or paragraph a la 4th grade info seeking.
The rub lies in the fact that all of this is dependent on the whims or willingness of others, who hold the classroom keys and who have their own agendas – or don’t as the case may be. So it’s frustrating to get beyond the polite agreement that’s the hallmark of how schools operate. In theory, yes, many would agree that these things are important. But the actual desire to make them part of the daily lessons, or to take the time to teach in this more messy, time-consuming way, is not so apparent.
We live, too often, I think, the unexamined life in education. It is only to our students’ detriment. Socrates’ assertion holds true. Unexamined lives may not be worth living, but unexamined educational practices are the next thing to malpractice. How many among us have had to articulate our vision for our students in so many words? Maybe in our undergrad philosophy of education courses, but once in the field? Isn't that important? Not simply a “philosophy of education” statement for your resume, but a real,” in-my-classroom-we-do-this-because…”sort of statement that is the super-ego (yes, my psychology background is way too old) of the classes taught in that space. That sort of backdrop makes the whole procedure less mysterious and less arbitrary. Or at least makes the arbitary plain.
And kids need that examination as well. How often do they have to reflect on their own efficacy as learners? Their own goals and needs as scholars? How often are they encouraged to think of their education as something they seek, something they do for themselves, rather than something that is done to them?
What would happen if we built an experience of explicitly addressing learning/brain function with freshmen? How would that be detrimental to any student? Make a space wherein they identify learning preferences, road blocks, both academic and social/emotional, and set expectations for themselves as well as examining the expectations that faculty have. Engage in conversation around the disconnects that are bound to occur.
Plan with them (but, they say, the kids won’t do it, or they will do it poorly. Well, they’ve been doing pencil and paper tests poorly, too. Any reason not to try it??) for a learning project that addresses what they are interested in. Give them the areas that they need to cover. Make them come up with possibilities for projects, then work with them to build the project around the skills they need to develop. It's far too easy to quit trusting (or to never trust in the first place) the kids themselves.
Think about the “education fantasy” movies you’ve seen. There’s our collective imagination about what school could be, ought to be. What are the salient factors – the elements that have to be present for the fantasy to work? A subject with intrinsic interest and/or importance. A passionate teacher. Time devoted to student exploration/discovery and creation. Why is any of that hard to provide??
On the info lit front I want my grads to be articulate in stating their information needs, and sophisticated enough in their thinking to understand and choose among multiple methods for retrieving info. I want them to have at their disposal ways to evaluate the accuracy and value of that info and ways to participate ethically and appropriately in the global conversation and production of knowledge. That involves claiming their voices and learning to question effectively.
I want them to walk away with a portfolio of steadily more complex and multi-disciplinary knowledge products. The learning activities that seniors engage in should be significantly more complex than what is expected of freshmen. So, for instance – no junior should be just collecting facts from indiscriminate sources for a list or paragraph a la 4th grade info seeking.
The rub lies in the fact that all of this is dependent on the whims or willingness of others, who hold the classroom keys and who have their own agendas – or don’t as the case may be. So it’s frustrating to get beyond the polite agreement that’s the hallmark of how schools operate. In theory, yes, many would agree that these things are important. But the actual desire to make them part of the daily lessons, or to take the time to teach in this more messy, time-consuming way, is not so apparent.
We live, too often, I think, the unexamined life in education. It is only to our students’ detriment. Socrates’ assertion holds true. Unexamined lives may not be worth living, but unexamined educational practices are the next thing to malpractice. How many among us have had to articulate our vision for our students in so many words? Maybe in our undergrad philosophy of education courses, but once in the field? Isn't that important? Not simply a “philosophy of education” statement for your resume, but a real,” in-my-classroom-we-do-this-because…”sort of statement that is the super-ego (yes, my psychology background is way too old) of the classes taught in that space. That sort of backdrop makes the whole procedure less mysterious and less arbitrary. Or at least makes the arbitary plain.
And kids need that examination as well. How often do they have to reflect on their own efficacy as learners? Their own goals and needs as scholars? How often are they encouraged to think of their education as something they seek, something they do for themselves, rather than something that is done to them?
What would happen if we built an experience of explicitly addressing learning/brain function with freshmen? How would that be detrimental to any student? Make a space wherein they identify learning preferences, road blocks, both academic and social/emotional, and set expectations for themselves as well as examining the expectations that faculty have. Engage in conversation around the disconnects that are bound to occur.
Plan with them (but, they say, the kids won’t do it, or they will do it poorly. Well, they’ve been doing pencil and paper tests poorly, too. Any reason not to try it??) for a learning project that addresses what they are interested in. Give them the areas that they need to cover. Make them come up with possibilities for projects, then work with them to build the project around the skills they need to develop. It's far too easy to quit trusting (or to never trust in the first place) the kids themselves.
Think about the “education fantasy” movies you’ve seen. There’s our collective imagination about what school could be, ought to be. What are the salient factors – the elements that have to be present for the fantasy to work? A subject with intrinsic interest and/or importance. A passionate teacher. Time devoted to student exploration/discovery and creation. Why is any of that hard to provide??
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