Will Richardson's book "Why School?" is a great read for educators in today's changing system. At times I felt myself disagreeing with him, but ultimately he is just describing reality and what we all really know has to change.
"Old School"
The first type of school reform he covers, the old school, has sadly been the norm for some time and I really connected to Richardson's point of view. San Diego has had an explosion of charter schools in the last 10 years and although some have been very successful, many are similar to Richardson's description of "internet schools". Schools using the internet to give students access to lectures and ability to turn in assignments may sound forward thinking, but in reality it's the same teacher-driven type of learning just in a different form. Doing the same things, slightly differently, and expecting different results is dangerously close to the definition of insanity.
I graduated high school in 2003, so I feel like I have a unique place in the history of school reform. Many of my teachers subscribed to the old school of thought, but a handful were actually trying to do more "new-school" project-based things, with internet becoming a reality in nearly everyone's house in the late 90's. When I joined the credential program in 2008, the first ice-breaker activity was to share why we chose to become a teacher. In a room full of people that lived their lives knowing they wanted to be a teacher, my answer was "I want to become a teacher because I hated school." I had spent 8 hours a day, 185 days a year in a place that was not fulfilling save a few hours in my elective classes where I could be creative and explore my own interests through music and film, but a part of me knew it didn't have to be like that. Learning was fun, everyone likes to grow and learn new things, so why was school so boring?
As I became a teacher I saw many of the barriers that Richardson discusses, that keeps good teachers from doing different work because of bureaucracy and past practices. I saw some teachers breaking out with innovative ideas. I saw a few teachers perpetuating the old system and somehow making it work. I also saw the business side of education that Richardson discusses. Corporations that, "salivate over the potentials of the $500 billion K-12 education industry," know schools will eagerly accept help from as a way to improve, but mostly it just perpetuates the same old issues. Technology can be a difficult field to navigate, with new things coming out every day, which was one of my reasons for choosing this program.
Relearning Commitment
Of the six unlearning/relearning ideas for educators, one I could definitely commit to is to "Discover, not deliver, the curriculum". It's something I've already been starting to try with my students now that I have a class set of Chromebooks with internet access. This week for example, we are starting to read "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, which takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. My students had a lot of questions about the state, so I decided to give them a day to discover it. In the past I could have done a little front-loading with a power point I made and a graphic organizer for them to take notes on, which could work for some kids. Instead I broke down some topics into a jigsaw form and told them to teach the class about the people, weather, culture, landscape, etc., of Massachusetts. The results were awesome, because they had had so many questions already, just now it was a little more organized. I didn't know many of the answers myself as I'm not a Massachusetts expert, so they taught me and we all learned together.
Unlearning Challenge
The one that might be a struggle for me would be "Talk to Strangers." Richardson makes a great point when he says "the reality is that the kids in our schools will interact and learn with strangers online on a regular basis," with or without us. I agree that school is a great venue to show them how to use strangers to learn and build on their skills. Opening your classroom up it scary though, but I am exploring some slightly more controlled options. Next month my students will be participating as a class in a Webinar with manufacturing experts at Alcoa Davenport, a major aluminum manufacturing plant in Mississippi. It is delivered by Discovery Education and although I can send in my student's questions live, it is more or less a 1 way delivery by these professionals. I like the idea of blogging and having students reach out to authors, but it's something I need to learn more about before I'm comfortable.
"Old School"
The first type of school reform he covers, the old school, has sadly been the norm for some time and I really connected to Richardson's point of view. San Diego has had an explosion of charter schools in the last 10 years and although some have been very successful, many are similar to Richardson's description of "internet schools". Schools using the internet to give students access to lectures and ability to turn in assignments may sound forward thinking, but in reality it's the same teacher-driven type of learning just in a different form. Doing the same things, slightly differently, and expecting different results is dangerously close to the definition of insanity.
I graduated high school in 2003, so I feel like I have a unique place in the history of school reform. Many of my teachers subscribed to the old school of thought, but a handful were actually trying to do more "new-school" project-based things, with internet becoming a reality in nearly everyone's house in the late 90's. When I joined the credential program in 2008, the first ice-breaker activity was to share why we chose to become a teacher. In a room full of people that lived their lives knowing they wanted to be a teacher, my answer was "I want to become a teacher because I hated school." I had spent 8 hours a day, 185 days a year in a place that was not fulfilling save a few hours in my elective classes where I could be creative and explore my own interests through music and film, but a part of me knew it didn't have to be like that. Learning was fun, everyone likes to grow and learn new things, so why was school so boring?
As I became a teacher I saw many of the barriers that Richardson discusses, that keeps good teachers from doing different work because of bureaucracy and past practices. I saw some teachers breaking out with innovative ideas. I saw a few teachers perpetuating the old system and somehow making it work. I also saw the business side of education that Richardson discusses. Corporations that, "salivate over the potentials of the $500 billion K-12 education industry," know schools will eagerly accept help from as a way to improve, but mostly it just perpetuates the same old issues. Technology can be a difficult field to navigate, with new things coming out every day, which was one of my reasons for choosing this program.
Relearning Commitment
Of the six unlearning/relearning ideas for educators, one I could definitely commit to is to "Discover, not deliver, the curriculum". It's something I've already been starting to try with my students now that I have a class set of Chromebooks with internet access. This week for example, we are starting to read "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, which takes place in Salem, Massachusetts. My students had a lot of questions about the state, so I decided to give them a day to discover it. In the past I could have done a little front-loading with a power point I made and a graphic organizer for them to take notes on, which could work for some kids. Instead I broke down some topics into a jigsaw form and told them to teach the class about the people, weather, culture, landscape, etc., of Massachusetts. The results were awesome, because they had had so many questions already, just now it was a little more organized. I didn't know many of the answers myself as I'm not a Massachusetts expert, so they taught me and we all learned together.
Unlearning Challenge
The one that might be a struggle for me would be "Talk to Strangers." Richardson makes a great point when he says "the reality is that the kids in our schools will interact and learn with strangers online on a regular basis," with or without us. I agree that school is a great venue to show them how to use strangers to learn and build on their skills. Opening your classroom up it scary though, but I am exploring some slightly more controlled options. Next month my students will be participating as a class in a Webinar with manufacturing experts at Alcoa Davenport, a major aluminum manufacturing plant in Mississippi. It is delivered by Discovery Education and although I can send in my student's questions live, it is more or less a 1 way delivery by these professionals. I like the idea of blogging and having students reach out to authors, but it's something I need to learn more about before I'm comfortable.