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??