Creating Change in Education
Welcome to the blog! My goal is to support you in education. I offer posts on Monday and Friday. I have visitors with many different educational needs, but whatever that need is for you I will support you in it. I am intrigued by making learning a lifelong venture for students by meeting them on their terms, and using their tools. I feel honoured to be able to do what I love with the flexibility to teach my way. We are living in amazing times!
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July 6th, 2010
5 Changes We Can Make in Education This Year {educational change, student learning, professional growth}
We all know education is not perfect. We can read the blogs talking about the systems, the political pressures, the poor state of education. Unfortunately, too often this leads teachers to think that they are powerless to confront some of the fundamental issues in education. While we are not all going to march to the government and demand change, the change we seek in some very real ways is right within our classroom walls. It is really amazing to me to watch the change I have seen in some teachers’ classrooms after they have left behind the ‘big pressures’ and started to look at how they can do right for kids. So here are 5 ways to make it happen!
1. Make professional goals that means something to your classroom day to day, and post them!
As a profession we can be very good at passing off responsibility. Most districts require teachers to make and pursue professional goals, but maintaining accountability for these goals can be very difficult. So, you make the goals, and you be accountable. Make yourself accountable! Post the goals for students and others to see, talk about your goals with peers. If you are actually talking about and involved with your goals daily, you will see them through. If goals sit in your desk drawer all semester long, they are a lost cause.
2. Find some new ideas about education and try them out.
Look, we know there are 1000+ books about teaching and educational theory out there. Find one, or even just an article, and use it. If you don’t like the theory, read others until you find something, any little thing that will make life better for students in your room. Once you have some knowledge and an idea of what to change, do it. Again, tell others and post reminders around your room. I know of many theories and theorists that can help many teachers, but the power of this one is in finding it yourself! If you need a hand getting started, post a comment and I’ll help, just get started!
3. Get a ‘changing education buddy.’
Find someone that you can either convince to join you, or at least listen to what you’re learning. If you don’t have anyone that fits the bill, start a blog. Tell the world what’s happening in your classroom. People read blogs, don’t they? 
4. Keep a journal that actually deals with your practice.
Too many of us think of journalling as writing out a series of platitudes about ourselves and our lives. Journals can be hard, in your face and brutally honest. What you want out of a journal is to really connect with what is happening, not what you say is happening, not what you tell people is happening, but what is hard, what doesn’t work, what you’d never do again. If you can ‘be real’ in your journal, over time you will have some themes that occur over and over again, and you can come back to the issue with some research and a better way (see #2 above) to change for the students.
5. Within the first 2 weeks of school, have a 5 minute conversation with each of your students, and their parents/guardians.
This one is so simple, but it makes such a huge difference for us and the students. Students see you differently if you’ve connected with them and home. They will see that you really do care about them and their success, plus there is the added goodwill you have extended to the family that can come back to help you in tougher times during the year. That initial time will be well paid back as the relationships we want to cultivate with students are forged so early in the year.
My hope is that all of you readers will post your own tips in the comment area of ideas you have. We all have something to share, and we all learn so much more when we do.
Thanks for reading and have a great day!
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July 30th, 2010
Why Educators Must Create GREAT Content {student engagement, teacher learning, teaching practice}
I have touched on this topic here and there before, but it has become very apparent to me this summer as I watch some of the great media being produced outside education. We need to learn how to present our material better. Our students are being raised in a world where pervasive, polished and engaging media is all around them. I’m not just talking about tv and movies. Businesses are now entirely involved In the new media revolution as well. Training is done through social media and YouTube, and far from being passive recipients, employees are either furthering their businesses in new media, or being damaged by it (think of those pervasive stories of firings due to posted comments about work, or over personal life activities.)
We didn’t create this world, but the truth is we live and teach in it. If we don’t start giving serious thought to improving our skills and becoming better media producers we will lose our students, if we haven’t already.
I am fortunate that I really enjoy finding new and innovative ways of presenting material and making it look great. Designing user-friendly resources, workflows and presentations has always come naturally to me. If it doesn’t come naturally to you, here are a few ideas to get you started. Once you start paying attention to the perception of your presented materials, you will find it easier to add more and do more for your students.
Check existing media – you may not be able to produce a movie about your topic yet, but I can almost guarantee someone else has. If you get a feel how others have presented the material, you will get a sense of the level you can use to present it in class, then record it and publish it to YouTube.
Brand yourself – Sound weird? It should! It’s still strange to me, and I’ve been at this a while. But if you have a good sense of the type of teacher you are, share it with others. Make sure that everything you put out into the world meets the expectations of your brand. I know teachers who have logos or mascots, slogans that they put on everything, all kinds of branding. Here’s the short bit. If you care about your brand and how you appear, you will take more care in what you present to parents, students, administrators, etc.
Watch great presenters – Watch some TED talks, or master orator Steve Jobs. You will start to get a sense of the simplicity and seamlessness that we strive for. I know; we don’t have the resources and time to do everything like these speakers, but we can simplify what we do and add more of what connects with our audience.
There is more to this new media than simply presentation as well. If you have used a Mac computer for any length of time, you realize Apple’s focus is different than other computer companies. Apple focuses on making it simple for users to complete the things they want to do most often. You can complete some very intricate tasks on a Mac too, but their ads highlight the simplicity, the peace of mind I using their products. Don’t we want that comfort for the classroom too? Let’s bring our media to our students in September!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 26th, 2010
Culminating Theory: Finishing My Curriculum Studies Course
After our last series of presentations yesterday, it is time to put some reflections down about this course and what has come out of it for me. Curriculum studies is such a broad area of study, and as our professor put it, we all have our areas in the forest that we explore. What I have found in the past several weeks is a map of some areas of the forest, an itinerary of sorts, leading me to areas I can visit to support other learning I gain in education, or wish to explore for their own sake. I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had to expand my interests and have a guide through the areas I had not yet discovered.
It’s funny that Curriculum Theory forms such an essential basis of what we do, but is talked about so little in schools. I wonder what would happen if teachers broke through all of the extended theory and initiatives to talk about foundational instructional beliefs. There is a simplicity borne out of theory once it has been analyzed that could really simplify many discussions between peers. Yet, getting to the point of discussion would require many teachers to leave behind some of their essential and long-held beliefs about the nature of education. One of the most powerful moments I experienced in the last three weeks was having Dr. William Popham explain how his beliefs have changed since his initial work with behavioral objectives. To know that published theorists can have the moral acumen to realize and change their beliefs for the good of education gives me hope that teachers who have much less riding on their paradigms might do the same.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the posts in the last few weeks and that I’ve passed on some of the value I have found in this course. I wish to offer a profound thank you to our professor Dr. Robin Bright who really guided us in theoretically relevant and authentic ways through the forest of curriculum studies. I hope to be your student again!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 22nd, 2010
Presenting an Educational Theorist: Lev Vygotsky {Curriculum Theory, Zone of Proximal Development, Teacher Education}
I had the opportunity to do a presentation of curriculum theorist Lev Vygotsky recently in class, and prepared some fun activities for the project. I really enjoy this sort of blending of modern technology with the ideas of a theorist that was at the height of his influence nearly 100 years ago. One of the best parts of this presentation was the thoughtful work of my other group members that really helped to paint a good overall picture of Lev Vygotsky and his theory. We all took very different approaches to our various sections, but it all blended into a great picture of some of the key concepts Vygotsky developed in his writing. Below is a video I compiled about the history of Vygotsky. The research for this video was compiled by Kelly Friesen, and the vocal work was completed by Dana Negrey. I used the iPad app Photospeak to animate Lev.
I also presented an activity focused on the Zone of Proximal Development from Vygotsky’s work. I am going to present it as a lesson outline below, so you can use it with your friends!
We started the lesson by playing a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament, and I explained that we have an inherent cultural knowledge of this game, and even play it spontaneously to make decisions from time to time. The key here is to develop that Rock, Paper, Scissors is part of their background knowledge, they already know it.
Then I told the group that we were going to learn a new game that would build upon the learning that they already had, and presented them with the following ‘instructional video’ to explain the game.
I then quickly went through each of the ‘options’ in the game, asking the group to tell me the (now 2) options that ‘beat’ each one.
“What beats…”
Rock – Paper, Spock
Paper – Scissors, Lizard
Scissors – Rock, Spock
Lizard – Scissors, Rock
Spock – Paper, Lizard
After our brief review, the teams paired off again to rehearse their learning and gain some skill at playing with the new options. I gave them about 2 minutes to get used to the new options, which actually become natural in the game quite quickly. Once the ‘students’ had some practice time, we played another tournament in the same format as the first, and crowned a winner of the new game; Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock!
So where is the connection to the Zone of Proximal Development?
I showed this graphic later in the presentation, and explained that the ZPD is that difference between the point in the activity where you feel confused and overwhelmed with the new game, to the end of the tournament where you are comfortable enough to have fun with your new learning. The key here is that the activity really must push students in their new learning, and not simply be a progression from one stage to another.
I really enjoyed this assignment, and while coming up with an activity to challenge a group of Masters students enough to highlight ZPD was not easy, I really saw the ‘Aha’ moments for them in this activity. I think I did Vygotsky proud, maybe I’ll ask him in Photospeak next time I get the chance!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 22nd, 2010
How Do We Approach Curriculum? {effective teaching, student learning, curriculum outcomes}
Too often as we think about our curricula, and the expectations that it outs on our teaching, we do not give ourselves the power we deserve in terms of controlling our curriculum. I don’t know of any teachers (myself included) that teach a course requiring a high-stakes test, that aren’t influenced in some way by that exam at the end of learning. Yet, with all of the politics and funding, reports and accountability, it is still our classroom and our course day-to-day. I have discussed this elsewhere in this blog, but I truly believe that if we only focus on the researched, documented and verified best methods of teaching and engaging learners, we cannot help but give our students more than they need for a test.
If we look at the overall picture of high-stakes testing, it is not the tests that are killing us, but the fractured nature of teachers’ approaches to the test. What would happen if all teachers decided to stop teaching to the test and concentrate on current educational research and pedagogy? What if we all gave our all for the students every day to give them success in life, in the subject, instead of on the test? Lawmakers and governmental bodies would see their statistics rise in certain subjects and likely decline in others, either because the tests are not testing relevant aspects of the curriculum, or because the mark inflation that was being propagated by teaching to the test was taken away, and the reality of what students are learning would be revealed. Scary? Yes. But it does make us think consider that the problem is not the test in itself, but rather our response to the test as educators. If we were all doing the right things by students, true effective teacher practice would be revealed and could be shared, and true progress could again be made in education. As long as we have teachers teaching to the test, and heavy-handed accountability measures tied to funding in place, all we will teach students is more effective ways to take a test.
So how do we approach curriculum if we want teach students effectively? Do we follow student interests and then guide students toward practical learning, or do we choose what we want to teach from the curriculum, and teach it so well that student interest is captured?
I feel that effective teaching is a blend of both, taking elements of student interest wherever possible and then tying that to powerful teaching of the concepts that they must reach. It is not enough to just ‘follow their hearts’ when teaching, because there are elements of learning that just simply can’t be gained through exclusive self-study. Likewise, great teaching can engage students very well for some time, but if they have no opportunity to bring it into their world, the learning is likely to be lost through disuse.
I enjoy having these conversations with other teachers, because perspectives are so varied, and I always learn something. So leave a comment and we’ll keep the conversation going!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 22nd, 2010
What Makes You (and your students) Happy? {student engagement, teaching environment, classroom climate}
A few days ago we ran an experiment in our Curriculum Studies class. Our entire class ran around campus completing an informal survey with only one question: What makes you happy? In addition to being a great exercise in understanding what actually does make us happy, the experiment also showed that there were some common themes in our perception of happiness. This was linked to Nel Noddings research on relationship development in education. She highlights the need for authentic, caring connections with students in order to create what she has called ‘ethical caring.’ The idea behind this caring is that we utilize our support to connect a students support systems and strive for deep caring and empathy for students.
After this lesson our class went to watch a presentation by Dr. Dwayne Donald from the University of Alberta. His talk was focused some of the fundamental points of disconnect of aboriginal peoples in Canada and Canadians due to the culture myths that have developed between the groups. He advocated for a more caring and open dialogue with first nations, that finally acknowledges the myths and overcomes them to have an open and healing conversation.
It really seems that in education (and elsewhere in society) the focus on connection and authentic relationships is becoming ubiquitous. We all know how important empathy and personal connections are, we know the power to change lives that comes from authentic relationships. I felt the power of that knowledge in the room with Dr. Donaldson. While it takes time to enact systemic change in a culture, I think the most powerful thing we can do as teachers is remember that the values, mythologies, facts and emotion that we present in the classroom will become part of our students’ world view. We are responsible to ensure that the view is the most open and connected we can form, because our culture will reflect what we do each day for our students.
Finally, I posted the question “What makes you happy as an educator?” on Twitter to see what some of the results would be. Here are a few key responses:
@flourishingkids – I am happy when my students become hooked on learning and finding their niche and passions. I love when the classroom is exciting
@educatoral – Working with kids, seeing them love learning, try new things, get excited. I want them to see learning as fun!
@JillBromen – when colleagues work 2gether 2 create exceptionl stdnt expernces, & when Ss get that lrning ah-ha & want-to! :)
These posts speak to the connections and fire of teaching, something we have to keep in mind as students struggle, and we get pushed to our limits. If we aren’t teaching with the fire in caring ways, we need to step back and reframe our approach. If we can allow others to see that we are all in the same discussion, and we all want life to get better, we will live the positive change we all dream of as educators. Our passion makes the difference!
Thanks for reading, and have a great night!
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July 21st, 2010
Curriculum Experiments: When Teaching Episodes Go Wrong {Teaching and Learning, Reflective Practice, Effective Teaching}
As we know, not everything in our classrooms goes as expected. Often, we find ourselves trying to innovate and forge meaningful learning experiences for students that just don’t pan out. But what can we learn from these episodes if we really consider what is happening in the classroom? Here’s one of my experiences, let’s see what you get out if it, and I’ll provide my analysis afterward as well:
An English 9 class in an interesting place to be, not just because the kids have boundless energy that must be tempered or released for the good of learning, but also because of their responses to educational stimuli. I remember a class early in my career in which students were acting out an episode of Star Trek as part of learning about the dramatic script. However, I had not accounted for the lack of background knowledge students would have of this older television series. Most of the students had never seen Star Trek, and so had to come up with their own ideas for what the script had presented. Even with my observation and guidance, their discussion with and input from other groups, the ‘episode’ the students had created (four groups, each presenting an act each) was so disjointed and abstract, I couldn’t even assess it according to the criteria I had created for the assignment. I had accents that were indecipherable, posters to describe what should have been apparent in dialogue, and lines that students couldn’t read because the ‘language’ was so foreign. In terms of presentation of a dramatic work, it was a mess. We ended up turning it into a discussion about cultural relevance. The creative elements of the project that I had tied to text interpretation were lost by not giving the students enough historical context to tie to the material.
Why did I do what I did?
I did this assignment the way that I did with the intention of bringing the students to Star Trek with an open and untainted perspective, while testing their ability to apply script cues and traits learned in class. While I met my first objective, students were unable to get to the second objective because of their lack of context to apply to the script. It was too far out of their reach. I certainly didn’t feel I was pushing the students too far at the time, but it was my inexperience with the cultural references of my students that derailed this assignment. No one was at fault, but it certainly highlighted a need I had for development in my own practice.
What were the obstacles?
My obvious obstacle was the student understanding of the text. In addition, my expectations were very different than the student’s ideas and product. I really felt disappointed that I had missed the mark, and had to overcome that disappointment to create a learning experience for my students out of that assignment. That resolve to ensure the experience was still valuable became a defining moment in my career, one of thousands of small defining moments we as teachers have and create year by year.
Would I do it again?
Yes, Absolutely! Once I understood what had happened, I was able to both adapt the exact assignment to allow students to get the outcomes I had intended out of the assignment. In addition, I have purposefully assigned tasks now that deal with unfamiliar media to push the students to study their culture more closely. They are very enjoyable activities!
What did you see in this episode that I may be missing, or share your own learning experiences in the comments section. I am always interested in how we learn as teachers, and our worst teaching experiments can often be the most instructive!
Thanks for reading, and have a great night!
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July 15th, 2010
The Subversive Support for Education in Harry Potter {Pedagogy, Popular Culture, Literature Reflects Life}
Reading the article Conjuring Curriculum, Conjuring Control by Robert J. Helfenbein from the journal Curriculum Inquiry, I felt a little like a child given a delicious candy. I mean, how often are scholarly reviews about curriculum tied to a text so popularized and current as Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? As an English teacher, I was delighted. As a Masters student, I was impressed. Helfenbein really does a great job of tying together two seemingly disparate media and making sense of the implications of the resistance to authority developed in the Harry Potter novel. It’s true that many of the phrases and pressures from the novel resonate with educators of today, particularly those facing high-stakes testing and standards implementation.
What I felt in addition to the professional connection to this article however, was the authority J.K. Rowling (one of the best-selling authors of all time by the writing of Order) was giving to teachers to ‘do right’ by their students. Even if there is no explicit reference to our modern society, we can see in the tone of this book both a warning to educators about the state of education, and a rallying cry to watch out for the talents and abilities of our students. In fact, the support given to Harry and his friends in the form of protection against Lord Voldemort could be seen as teaching and assessing authentically in spite of the pressures governments place on our profession.
I don’t want to get too dramatic with this connection, but when I look at my own classroom I know that the best preparation I have done for high-stakes tests has always been to attend to the learning of the subject. If students thoroughly understand literature and can connect it effectively to their own lives, there is nothing that an exam writer can throw at them that they will not be able to work with. I truly believe this, that the best preparation we make for the high standards testing is just great teaching. We may be able to bolster grades by teaching to the test, but these inflated marks will continue to hurt us all as teachers by creating a false expectation and unfounded judgements on us as educators and our students as learners. When we let go of unreal expectations we place upon our students they are able to stand unranked and free as learners. I try to provide the barrier from those expectations for my classes.
Finally, I must say that the subversiveness present in Rowling’s novel struck a chord with me in my perception of the value of engaging students by getting them to think outside their paradigm. I’ve always enjoyed bringing new perspectives to my students by way of alternative assignments, methods of study, presentations, etc. It was wonderful to read about Rowling placing her adult characters in the role of acting outside of conventional culture to assist Harry and his friends. While I don’t advocate acting out against governing bodies, we can certainly present alternate perspectives and discuss alternative readings students have of course materials. This is one of the essential principles of our democratic society, but one that may not often make it into our classrooms.
I hope you get a chance to read the article mentioned above, but if not let me know what you think of the ideas from this post. It has been great hearing from the commenters in the last week!
Have a great night, and thanks for reading!
Article Discussed:
Conjuring Curriculum, Conjuring Control: A Reading of Resistance in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
by ROBERT J. HELFENBEIN
in Curriculum Inquiry 38:4 (2008)
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July 15th, 2010
Gaming as Education, Gaming to Save the Earth? {Student Engagement, Civic Action, 21st Century Learning},
I was shown an exceptional TED talk today that dealt with the implications of gaming to our world, and drew me into a world that I will admit I sit on the periphery of. The TED speaker below is Jane McGonigal, and she proposes that we use the gaming industry to lead the change needed in our world by not cutting back our game play, but adding to it.
One important idea from this video was the parallel she makes between hours of gaming and Gladwell’s concept of 10,000 hours. The funny thing about it is, from the time a child is in Kindergarten to Grade 12, they will have amassed well over the 10,000 hours of educational experiences. Even if we focused only on grades 9-12, students will amass nearly half of the 10,000 hours that could relate to the Gladwellian concept. It begs the question, what are we getting them good at? If we made school about a concerted effort to develop passions, interests and identified future career pathways, we really could be giving students an advantage for their life after school.
So back to the premise Jane puts forward, what if we can turn gaming into a project to do right in the world? What if we harness the power of the internet and gaming to create links for students, to socially connect them, and to give them the massive project in a framed setting of fixing what we need to fix. The power of this learning would be immense, and it truly fits the concepts of 21st Century Learning. In fact, as I think about the curriculum I work with, I can certainly see that there are links to what Jane points out as the positive elements of gaming. So why don’t we play World of Warcraft in class? Why are we so afraid to really meet students where they are? I think of a point in the future where I as a teacher wait for my students in one of these digital games, and we collaborate online as a team to solve a challenge, but I suppose I would need to know these games first. I hope in the context of the film I don’t sound like I’m too off base here, but it really does fit with my belief structure. I firmly believe in meeting the students on their terms; I teach with iPods because I want students to learn how to make use of the devices for more than entertainment purposes, to collaborate, create, record, and publish. Isn’t Jane really proposing the same thing? Let’s meet the gamers where they are getting the joy and pleasure that they desire, and link our world’s needs into that culture to enact change. That seems very logical to me.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 15th, 2010
5 Essential Questions About Curriculum {Teaching Practice, Teaching, Learning, Pedagogy}
We’ve now spent some time in class grappling with some of the major curriculum theorists, with more to come in the next two weeks. As I grapple with some of the more personally challenging ideas that the study of curriculum brings forward, what areas of focus seem important to me and other practitioners in their classrooms? Here’s five:
How do we make curriculum work for us?
This is my question in response to the outright attacks on curriculum. I believe that as a contracted teacher to a school division, have a requirement to attend to curriculum. However, that does not mean that I have a responsibility to teach a curriculum in a certain way. If there are ways through the hidden curriculum (see question three), my own innovation or utilizing student ideas to make the curriculum come to life, I believe we have a responsibility to pursue those avenues. A curriculum may be a static document, but I hope our approach is to make it live in essential ways within our classrooms so that the students in our care get the greatest benefit possible from our connection to it.
How much weight should the explicit curriculum have in the classroom?
I have seen teachers completely ignore the curriculum, use only the parts they value as individuals, even list it off outcome by outcome without attending to those outcomes in meaningful ways. It makes question the value of a curriculum if a significant number of teachers don’t ‘buy in.’ If we live in a democratic society, why are teachers so disaffected by curriculum? I’m answering my question with more questions, but I feel that teachers should be teaching the curriculum, and if there is significant reason to resist the curricular documents, we need to search for a more open and expansive curriculum that teachers can take in the directions their students need and want. Rather than ‘checking up’ or standardizing what happens in classrooms, the real power of education comes from moving in the directions the learners wish to take their experience.
How can we make the ‘hidden curriculum’ draw the best out of formalized curriculum?
Assuming for a moment that we can’t move to a more expansive curriculum for some time, we certainly can use the hidden curriculum (the background tone of the classroom, the materials we present, the assignments we give, etc.) to create a sense of dissonance with the curriculum. I feel this is what I do in my classroom. We of course fulfill the outcomes, but not by formally teaching them. I don’t stand in front of the class rehearsing literary terms, we dig deeply into a piece of writing and ask questions about it, and we fill in the terminology based on what we notice. It becomes a less formal and far more involved method of learning, but it also requires a close connection to the class and students to ensure that everyone ends up with the learning they need. One of the more interesting outcomes of this learning is that students don’t feel the learning in the same way they do explicit teaching, as they internalize the learning in the process. From some students, I hear phrases like ‘we didn’t learn anything this year’ though their test scores and ability to discuss literature would prove otherwise. Even our students become highly conditioned to expect a certain kind of learning, based on a certain type of testing and drilling; I’m always pleased when they change their perspective.
Would there be value in eliminating the formal curriculum?
I’ve often wondered about this question, and how I would structure my classroom with no curriculum, or even with a fairly open, abstract curriculum. It would be such a shift to be able to tackle learning based directly on what I value and what I feel is in the best interest of the students I am teaching. It would certainly cause me to pay closer attention to the needs of my students, as I would have to ensure that I tailored my curriculum around the collective strengths and weaknesses of the group.
Why are some teachers fearful of ‘digging deeper’ in their curriculum?
I love looking closely at curricular documents, and it’s a good thing as I often do just that in my mentoring work. However, one thing I have noticed is just how quickly some teachers want to get out of those documents and into the ‘next steps’ in educational planning. It’s as if they are in competition with the outcomes, or feel that their professional abilities are being challenged by the pages. Now, don’t get me wrong, I believe many curricula are deeply flawed. What I am getting at here is the fact that I would rather know my curriculum VERY well in order to cogently consider the implications of it for my students. If we do not know our curricula well, we risk throwing out the bad with the good, and there is some good in there. We just have to look, if we can break through our fear.
Curriculum is one of the touchiest subjects there is in education, because nothing else cuts so deeply into our pedagogy and the decisions we make daily in our classrooms.
As always, Thanks for reading, and have a great night!
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July 13th, 2010
Are you an Educational Modernist or Post-modernist? A Quiz.
Yesterday, our class looked at the key ideas of William Tyler and William Doll and their respective (and divergent) perspectives on curriculum and implementation. In considering the ideas of these two scholars, I see more clearly than I ever have the differences between the modernist and post-modernist perspective in curriculum and implementation. After the initial presentation by our professor, we were given articles to read to supplement the ideas we had been exposed to. One of the articles was by Dennis Koo Hok-chun that provided a comparison between these perspectives in the context of the Hong Kong educational system. As I was reading, I saw parts of myself on both sides of the fence, and thought an inventory might be a useful tool to figure out where I need to create change (or not) in my perspective and practice. So here’s the quiz, where do I/you fall on the continuum? How does this inform our practice?
For each of the questions below, choose x or y, tally your results and match them up with the scale at the end.
Would you define your classroom as eclectic (y) or linear (x)?
In managing learning in your classroom, do you your students mostly; discover concepts and get what they can from it with support from the teacher (y), or, know exactly what they will learn from lists or inventories of concepts (x)?
Are activities and learning in your classroom designed to be or pervasive (deep) (y) or efficient (x)?
Do you accept work that has taken students in a different direction than the original assignment (in format or content?) (x for no, y for yes)
When designing learning experiences, do you place more value on assessment of learning (x) or richness of learning (y)?
Individual competition in the classroom (x) or collective learning between students (y)?
Do you believe interpretation of knowledge (y) or the knowledge itself (x) is more valuable?
The adaptability and creativity of Google (y) or the structure and control of Apple (x)?
Do you believe in a final exam (x) or final conversation (portfolio) (y)?
Are you a classroom authority (x) or classroom facilitator (y)?
“x”
Based on the perspective forwarded by Tyler, if you have more x answers, you would fall into the description of a modernist. This perspective is focused on direct instruction and building upon specific curricular outcomes. Often, in the classroom this relates to more direct instruction, very specific assignments, and assessment using individualized tests.
“y”
Based on the perspective forwarded by Doll, if you have more y answers, you would fall into the description of a post-modernist. You may be more interested in holistic teaching, group activities and discovery learning. Students need to know how to think effectively and use information they gather and discover in new contexts.
I would love to hear your scores. I am not all the way to one side on this quiz, and I’m betting most of you are the same. I have really enjoyed thinking about this, as I would consider myself a post-modernist, and yet my score still came out at only 8 post-modern answers. I’m not advocating one perspective over the other, but much of what we are seeing as change in education right now is coming out of the post-modern field. I want to create a classroom where my students have the opportunity based on the latest research linked to the way that they see the world and think. I get very passionate about this, as many parents who have asked questions about my teaching methods know. Too often, we try to push our square post-modern students into the round hole of modernism, a place they don’t connect to, and don’t live. If you get a chance to read some William Tyler and William Doll, you’ll see the vivid difference in their perspectives as well.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 13th, 2010
A Teacher’s Relationship to Curriculum {teaching and learning, teaching, assessment, curriculum}
What is your relationship to your curriculum?
This was the question posed to our class today as we went to the curriculum lab to look at curriculum documents produced in Alberta. We looked at various levels and subjects, and the implications of age, scope and sequence, and the ability we have to surmount the challenges these documents bring to the forefront. Overarching our discussion was a brief study of the ideas of Paulo Friere, in which he challenges teachers to take hold of the individual power we have over our own interpretation and implementation of curriculum.
We see this tension between teacher power and the power of the ‘objective’ curriculum often in schools. Teachers feel this tension acutely in the profession. At the beginning of their career, a teacher may actually be thankful for an objectives-based curriculum as (for good or bad) it gives them a sense of scope and sequence with a subject matter they may not feel wholly comfortable with. In my own experience, I followed the explicit outcomes much more closely at the beginning of my career, when I was less sure how my plans and student interaction with the material would turn out in class. Once I had a stronger sense of student learning, and my own teaching, I was able to move back to the more expansive front material of the curriculum and approach the learning from a far more wholistic perspective, while still attending to the specific objectives during a course. Based on the conversations I have had with other teachers, I’m not sure that this is the point or necessarily perceived point of the curricular documents. However, I also don’t think it’s wrong to adapt the curricular documents to meet your needs in the classroom. We are professionals, and our interpretation of curricular documents must be validated by the student work in the classroom. If we are off the mark, there are several indicators that will tell us if our interpretation of curriculum needs to change.
Our conversations about curriculum need to continue, and I know that there aren’t many curricula that are arranged as effectively as the one I teach. As we become more aware of the deficiencies of curriculum, it is our job to advocate for what students need, and join the committees that can make the difference in developing curricula that we need in education. We also need to think carefully about collaboration in interpreting the documents, as speaking to teachers of other subjects and levels may allow us to come to terms with many of the inconsistencies found these documents.
Please feel free to comment with your ideas on curriculum and implementation. I’m interested to hear your perspective!
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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July 8th, 2010
What is Curriculum Studies? {curriculum, metacognition, pedagogy}
What does the field of curriculum studies look like and where do I fit in?
This prompt really got me thinking about how little I have thought about curriculum studies in the educational work I have done so far. I had been exposed to Dewey, but never as such a founding father of curriculum and education. Our article (Journeys of Expansion and Synopsis by William Schubert, Curriculum Inquiry: Volume 40, Number 1) really did carefully link Dewey to some of the greater developments of education over the last century. What struck me was the concept of the educational ‘journey,’ because it seems to me that education is better thought of as a progression of movement based on those who would carry the load for some time and have their individual interests. New travelers would take the field in their own new directions. If curriculum studies is the field, then one of our first explorers would be John Dewey, who found the continents we now are charged with exploring and detailing. He may not have known exactly where the rivers and mountains would fall, but he navigated the seas to get the rest of us on the land.
The concept of expansive and synoptic texts resonated with me for hours after our class, as it put into context so much of the theory we have been exposed to. I now understand in a very precise way why some practitioners who are exposed to expansive texts (texts based on abstract thought that further discovery in education) become so frustrated and may have difficulty drawing learning from these texts. Whereas synoptic texts (those that summarize or compress abstract thought into practical ideas) may have great use with a group of teachers, but must be linked to the larger abstract ideas to have sustained value. In a practical sense, this means that I will be creating synoptic versions of major curriculum theory that I wish to expose to staff, and then linking it to a larger overall picture to show the goals and direction of the learning. I finally have some theory to explain this tension of opposites that I have felt throughout my university career, in bringing the abstract ideas found in research back to the school.
Have I answered the question though? Curriculum studies is really the overarching questions arising out of Schubert’s article. Curriculum Studies is the study of what is worthwhile to teach, whether your discussion is at an abstract level, a policy level, or as a teacher implementing curriculum, the question of worth is a theme that runs through all levels of education. It is easy to see the depth of this field of study, and also the value it brings with it if we make the decisions of worth based on the specific needs of the students we teach.
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July 7th, 2010
A Pedagogic Oath, Rewriting the Hippocratic Oath {Authentic Teaching, Student-Centered Instruction, Educational Change}
I have thought about the concept of writing a pedagogic oath for some time, and I finally had the time, resources and need to sit down and actually do it. I realize that some districts have induction oaths, and that some areas have specific documents relating to teacher conduct. However, when I think of the possibility of all teachers joining together and reciting a set of common principles, taking an oath not to government or associations, but to our profession, I feel we could make some massive changes in the education profession. I put this together partially inspired by and partially informed by Dewey’s Pedagogic Creed, and it was a great experience tying the simplicity of the Hippocratic Oath to the abstract thinking of Dewey’s work. I really feel however that what we need is not a rewrite of another profession’s oath, but something wholly arising from educators. As a profession, we need to band together and state what we believe in clearly, concisely, and then swear it publicly so we know that every teacher, everywhere, has our student’s best interests at heart. For now, enjoy the rewrite!
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the experience and research of those teachers in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of children, all teaching methodologies that are required, avoiding those twin traps of personal bias and judgement.
I will remember that there is art to teaching as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh standard testing or ranking systems.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed to support student learning.
I will respect the privacy of my students, for their learning needs are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of assessed learning or grades. If it is my honor to facilitate great learning, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to harm a student’s self-esteem and self-value; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own inconsistencies.
I will remember that I do not teach a curriculum, a concept or an idea, I teach a human being, whose learning is linked to and affected by their community and experience, and that learning in our classroom may affect the student’s family, economic future and connection to society. My responsibility includes these related areas, if I am to teach adequately any student.
I will create inquiry whenever I can, for curiosity is preferable to drill or rote learning.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those of higher education as well as those with more practical learning .
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of teaching those who seek my help.
As always, comments are welcome. Who will take up the call for the true Pedagogic Oath?
Have a great day, and thanks for reading!
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July 7th, 2010
Upcoming Posts on Curriculum and Learning
Good evening everyone,
I am currently in Lethbridge, Alberta engaged in my summer Masters courses. As part of one of my courses, I will be completing a journal of major curriculum thoughts and my response to ideas arising from my studies. I have received permission to share these ideas with my readers. This means you will be getting posts each weekday for the next couple of weeks, and I would (of course) love any feedback you can give me to revise and make the posts better. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the most frequent posting I have ever done! By the way, I will be posting the first three entries tonight to catch up, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, and have a great night!
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July 7th, 2010
5 Ways To Move Students Beyond the Classroom
We’ve been having some interesting conversations around the school the last couple of weeks about creating and changing culture in the school. We’ve come up with many strategies over the past couple of years, setting policy on late students, late work, collecting kids at risk, all in an effort to help students care about their school experience and try harder with more success. However, we came to the realization as our school and teachers have gained success with modern learning strategies, that we can’t simply legislate students into better work and attitudes. However, if we involve them in the school culture, and they feel that they are doing something of value, it seems much of what we ‘need’ to enforce goes away on it’s own. Focusing on something bigger than our classroom may also help us as teachers focus on the ‘right stuff’ instead of waiting by the door to snap it shut on a late student. Here are 5 ways we’re using to get students thinking outside the classroom and involving them in ways that will help everyone!
- Propaganda – We have decided that we need positive culture propaganda in our school. Not that we don’t have positive messages in the school, but we need ones that students buy in to, and that they create. We want to get some media in our school of value, and we are enlisting students to create what is important and valuable to them! Our Media Arts program
- Recording the Story – Stories are essential to a school culture. If there is no sense that there is a common history of some importance in a school, then we have little sense of the value of adding to the culture. Another of our ideas for the upcoming year is to have students discover some of the great history of the school and record it, in addition to recording the great things happening right now. This should give the students working on it a sense of the great history of their school, and that information will spread through new media creation in the school.
- Media Creation – Do students ever love creating media. We had a zombie movie shot, edited and finished at our school this year, AFTER classes were over. That means students were coming in and creating this media on their time. What a phenomenal testament to the power of having students create media that speaks to them. And the kicker: Students listen to other students much more than they do to us!
- Community Links – My pet project this year is going to be working on our divisional ‘float’ for the Canada Day parade in our city. We have had an entry the past couple of years, but it is apparent that there is little buy-in from parents or those little souls we teach. I want to change that. My goal is to have involvement from each of the schools in our city and to make a solid connection to the community at public events. Our division is dynamic, engaged, energized and very forward thinking, but too often those aspects of what we do are overshadowed by stories on budget, policy, etc. I want to put a positive perspective on education in our division.
- Change The Homework – Homework for me shouldn’t be something that can be done in the classroom. I look for links in my program that require students to go out into the wider community and ‘get something’ or ‘do something.’ I don’t want students at home, bored, working on English homework. I want them taking English to the community and connecting to the culture they see around them, then bringing that back into the classroom to share with our culture there. Let’s do something important with homework, instead of worksheets and chapter questions!
I am really getting energized about next year, and I haven’t even met my intern teacher yet, who is sure to bring even more great ideas to the table. It’s going to be a powerful year, not only for school culture but in many other ways. Stay tuned as we continue the conversation over the summer!
Have a great day, and thanks for reading!
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July 2nd, 2010
There Are No Throwaway Students. {effective teaching, education, teaching with passion}
In reflecting on the school year in the last few days, and on my role as a father as my new son was born Monday, I have been feeling a great pull to write this post. I hear some teachers talk about the difficulties they are having with certain students and how much easier it would be without them in the classroom. I also hear comments about pulling out students, student apathy and the general sense that students don’t care anymore. The question that rings in my ears when I hear these conversations is; How much do we care anymore?
On my way out of the school I had a conversation with a teacher who teaches a class of these ‘low achieving’ students. I get my fair share of them as well; but if you want to talk about caring, this teacher takes the prize. He consistently calls the students who have trouble getting to school at 7AM to get them up for class. Some of his kids are not of a fixed address, so he’s calling their cell phone wherever they are. All this so that they can be there for a class that he has planned to be as engaging as possible for them, and to give them the greatest learning impact for their time. I have seen his classes, and I know that students are learning in his classes. But not only that, ALL of them are learning in his classes!
We must get over our egos and realize that the kids who act out are usually not looking to attack us personally. They are looking for some connection, some emotion in what for many of them is an emotionally vacant world. Often, these students are living, working and surviving in a world we as University educated professionals know nothing about. When we start focusing on caring about the person instead of the ‘lesson,’ we will find that the students start to care more about the lessons on their own. By the way, I’m no dreamer in this. I’ve had some hard, hard kids, and some hard days to go along with it, but I also have a reputation of having a good rapport with the ‘difficult’ kids, and I know that it can only comes if we stop talking about getting them out of our rooms, and start making them want to be in our rooms. They are not the enemy, they are our customers, and ours is one of the most important service industries there is.
As parents we always wish our kids to be the great ones that are respectful, helpful and diligent in school; but if my sons or daughter are not, I hope they have a teacher that tries a little harder to find out why.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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June 25th, 2010
Video: iPods in the English Classroom {iPods in Education, 21st Century Learning}
This is a brief video outlining my iPod project that I presented tonight to parents in my division. It focuses on how I arrived at my project, and the kind of learning we are striving for in these projects. Enjoy!
Have a great night, and thanks for watching!
