As we grapple with what a student-centered classroom actually looks like in practice, it clearly involves a real shift in our thinking.
Robert Fried points out in The Passionate Learner that “the difference is roughly comparable to that between the Ptolemaic and Copernican views of the solar system.” But as he points out, most of us were raised in one belief system, so even though we acknowledge that the new system should be different, it is still difficult to make that shift. And as he indicates, both parents and students are compliant in this system.
“Adults (administrators, teachers, parents) often find such a view comforting in its lack of ambiguity of who is ‘in charge and who is ‘accountable’ for effectively ‘delivering the curriculum’ Most kids accept it, too, for it reduces their responsibility for motivating themselves and allows them to play at the game of ‘kids versus grown-ups’ whenever they detetect a lapse of authority.”
Sticking to a pre-established system is definitely easier for everyone. And while I tend to agree that kids “accept it” I just wonder how much of it is due to their relinquishing responsibility and how much of it is due to their being trained into compliance from early grades of school, and how much of it is just part of the status quo.
Susan Morgan twittered about a series of student responses to a blog post asking their view of 21st century schools, and it’s interesting to see the variety in their responses but also their sense of how schools aren’t serving them well.
Some of them view the 21st century school as sort of a shiny school of the future, with built in computers, and modern conveniences, reminiscent of how we may have envisioned the future during the 50’s. But other students’ responses reflect an awareness of a different way of engaging with learning evolving, like this astute response:
“School hasn’t changed much, except for the attitude and culture that has been created by the students and faculty. Kids aren’t really afraid of their teachers anymore, and there is more interaction between students during the school day. More and more, we are encouraged to talk in class, and work in groups, do group projects, and peer edit. However, there is still a lot of sitting in class and listening and taking notes. This might be the most basis form of attaining information and learning, but the information is often lost very quickly, unless the notes are revisited. However, the revisiting usually occurs right before a test and is quickly forgotten, the space emptied to make room for more information that will be disposed of just as fast.
It seems that the information I retain the best, is that which is accompanied by pictures, labs, or small anecdotes. We all have different styles of learning that work best, but when all of the senses are involved, the information can be remembered in many ways and on many different levels. It is, therefore, my home[sic] that as the 21st century rolls on, that teaching and learning continues to progress. Technology helps, allowing for visual aids and fast access to information, but it is important to ensure that the vast amount of information is accompanied with a connection, a picture, something that will help students remember the problem, equation, or concept and be able to incorporate it into the real world.”
So what I’m wondering is–how do we encourage students at younger grades to expect more from their education and to be more active participants? Do our students like this current system, or do they, like the students above, see the need for something to be different?
If they are in high school already and used to the “old solar” system, what scaffolding do we provide to help them make the shift and ask for more? How do we empower them?
I had a conversation today with a student about class rank, and the detrimental effects she’s felt as a result. I won’t go into details here due to privacy for her concerns, but it made me once again wonder what we are doing to children in our high schools in this country.
We’ve created a high school to college system that too often reinforces the idea that numbers are more important than learning; that scores are more important than wisdom and knowledge; and that stress and overwork are valued qualities and a way of life that our students should aspire to.
We fret about students who are only concerned about their grades or class rank (or some parents who are), but we also have systems that place the highest values on those things. There’s a legitimate reason that they have these concerns. So, I think we need to truly ask ourselves as campuses, what end do we have in mind? What do we want our students to learn about learning?
In his book The Passionate Learner, Robert L. Fried reminds us that “every child is a passionate learner. Children come into the world with a desire to learn that is as natural as the desire to eat and move and be loved. . . .”
He asks: “So what has happened for so many children, along the way, to transform the joy of learning that every toddler displays into the resistance and ennui we see too often in the classroom?”
While his book points out the complex issues behind this question, I also wonder if we lose too much of the joy of learning in high schools in the pursuit of achievement records, not achievement in “learning”?
Fried reminds us:
“William Butler Yeats, who was a school official as well as a poet, admonishes us that ‘education is not about filling a pail, it’s about lighting a fire.’ In a world where standards of pail filling seem to have overwhelmed efforts at fire lighting, Yeat’s injunction burns.”
How can we find ways to light that fire? How can we reevaluate our systems so that they reinforce the importance of students as learners, not performers? How can we re-envision our classrooms so that the end we have in mind is learning, not test results, when some of those tests (standardized tests, AP tests) drive us to emphasize facts, rather than wisdom? This is something teachers struggle with every day, from campuses like ours in Texas to campuses in South Korea, where Clay Burell bemoans the focus of AP students in his own classes.
But we are the educators, and we do have the opportunity and I think the responsibility to our students to have these conversations on our campuses, with our students, our principals and parents, and with those outside of our campus like legislators or College Board. We have the responsibility to speak up for children.
As Fried concludes,
“Let us adjust to and accommodate ‘the way things are’ in other matters if we must, but not in advocating for the right of every child to be cherished as a passionate learner. . . . Let us. . .vow first to do no harm, and promise to resist measures that deprive children of their natural enthusiasm and exuberance as learners, their impulse to ask questions, to figure things out, to wonder, to express, to investigate, to construct, to imagine.”
Don’t we have that responsibility to model a different possibility for our students? Don’t we owe that to them?
Wow. The edublogging universe has just shifted. The students are joining us.
I am so incredibly thrilled about a new blogging project launched by Clay Burell, a colleague in Seoul, Korea, and a talented group of international students(glad to see a few I already read in there!) In fact, I am so jazzed about Student 2.0 that I can barely write about it (okay maybe I am a geek, but I love education and that’s what this project is all about!)
Clay has gathered together students from around the world to create a new blog, representing their blogs from around the world, from Hawaii to Vermont to Korea. The blog will be about student voices in education. They’re launching it in three days, and have created a video to introduce us to their voices.
They created the video internationally, and one of the bloggers, Sean, even created the soundtrack. That gives you a sense of what we can expect from these students.
How powerful is this going to be, being able to interact in thoughtful conversations about education with students from around the globe, and what will we be able to bring back to our own schools because of it? I can’t wait for them to get started. So add their badge to your site, post their video, and let’s help them get started!
If there was an award to give Clay on the spot, for launching this–I’d be giving it :) Great job to all of you!
What happens once our students write for real audiences outside of their classrooms? What happens when they see the power of authentic and personal writing?
In her post questioning the merits of the SAT, student Nicole plaintively writes,
I just feel that the “writing” test isn’t a test to see if we are capable of writing a good essay, but a test to see who can write a 5-paragraph essay with perfect grammar with an example involving either Helen Keller or Thomas Edison in 25 minutes.
As she continues, it is very clear that she has had authentic writing experiences, and cannot “go back” to accepting anything less:
“The writing is definitely rushed, the ideas are constipated, and I don’t even believe in what I’m writing. Then, in what way would my reader, or grader, connect to me and believe in me if I don’t even believe what I say?(italics mine)”
Nicole cares what her readers think, and there’s no going back to not caring, or to drab, schooly writing. Now what? What happens when our students start expecting more? Are we ready to meet them?
In Out of Our Minds: Learning to be Creative, Sir Ken Robinson astutely makes the case that unless we understand the education system that the future demands of us, then our efforts to create testing systems will not prepare us for that future.
He points to the increasingly rapid rate of technological change that is driving cultures around the world and changing the needs of the workplace, pointing out that employers “want people who can think intuitively, who are imaginative and innovative, who can communicate well, work in teams, and are flexible, adaptable and self-confident. The traditional academic curriculum is simply not designed to produce such people.”
In the midst of perusing Robinson’s book, I read today with dismay that the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges in partnership with the American Association of State Colleges and Universities has announced a new “voluntary system of accountability” or VSA for colleges(most likely to avoid this being legislated like public schools have endured).
The accountability system will standardize several aspects of college information, some of which I don’t disagree with one way or another, like better information about costs, student and family information, etc.
But, and this is the part I find appalling, the colleges will require students to take one of several standardized tests across all academic disciplines to measure student progress. (Basically, the Texas TAKS test has come to colleges.)
Colleges participating have four years to figure out how to administer the test before they have to publicly report the scores. Granted, this is a voluntary accountability system, but some 200 major universities(including University of Texas) are participating, and it is likely this will pressure private colleges to participate as well.
Two of the tests are prepared by or administered by ACT or SAT, according to an article in the Baltimore Sun, and most of the testing choices consist of multiple choice tests. Goucher College President Sanford J. Ungar voices the concern which mirrors Ken Robinson’s:
“How do you measure citizenship?. . . ”How do you measure values? How do you measure inspiring a spirit of lifelong learning?”
The dean of John Hopkins University, Adam Falk concurs:
“The more we rely on standardized testing as our bellwether for the quality of education, the more we will value in education only those things that can be measured on standardized tests.”
This is exactly what Sir Ken Robinson writes about, as we continue to use a strategy from the past(multiple choice, standardized tests of traditional skills) to measure what we will need in the future.
He writes,
“Education and training are meant to be the long-term answer for all of those asking how they are to survive the coming turbulence. But they will not provide the answer while we continue to misunderstand the question that this new revolution is presenting.” (p. 24)
and further:
“These standards were designed for other times and for other purposes. We will not navigate through the complex environment of the future by peering relentlessly into a rear view mirror.”(p. 16)
Yet once again, we have failed students because we are failing to understand what is needed and what lies ahead, and the way we are measuring them doesn’t apply to the needs of the future. Here’s the multiple choice test we should be giving them, because at least it speaks to their futures:
I’m a parent, and I don’t want my son to attend a college where the way they assess what he has gained in college is a standardized, multiple-choice test, because I want more than that for him. I want him to explore, find his way, cultivate the passions he discovers along the way, and to feel free to do that. I wouldn’t think of assessing a college by how many students there passed a standardized multiple choice test.
There’s some notion this whole movement comes from parents who are eager to intervene and compare colleges in some scientific manner, when at best, choosing a college is a personal decision for each student. In fact, most parents I know are tired of testing, tired of having their children subjected to test prep curriculums, skill drills, and frustrated with the system, not clamoring for more. I have heard in dismay as parents talk about how to better prepare their children for the tests, not for learning or deeper thinking, because that’s where the emphasis is, which saddens me.
Because at heart, all of us know it is not best for children. Do we want to be sure all of our children are learning? Yes, we do. Learning. All of them, in every school, everywhere, deserve that.
But learning, as Ken Robinson points out so eloquently, is so much more than you can test on a standardized test, and my fear too, is that colleges also, will value what is tested, rather than testing what is valued.
How have we gotten so far away from what is meaningful assessment in education?
How do students choose their sources? After finishing the video I created about ”authority of sources” I have come to the conclusion one thing I’d like to know more about is how students make those choices, so I can include their thoughts in the video as well.
So I’ve been talking to students when they’ve been in the library and asking them about how they choose sources on our student blog, so I can eventually include that.
I struggle sometimes when a class comes in with ”convincing” even the teachers not to have students just ”google” every topic, much less convincing the students. We all know Google can be very effective as can Wikipedia, obviously, for a first crack at a project.
(Many of our teachers do ask students to include book sources, or allow Wikipedia as background but not as a source, or only allow one online encyclopedia, etc., so they are trying to get students to explore a variety of sources.)
Digging Deeper
However, at our campus, since most of our students are college bound, I also feel that it’s important that they are aware of databases and the deeper web. They may rarely “walk into” a college library because they’ll be using the online databases from their dorm rooms, most likely, if they discover them. I feel it’s important as librarians that we make sure students discover them, despite all the downsides, like the more difficult entry way, the fact that selection of sources may be required, etc.
I do understand that we need to, as Doug Johnson says, work with the students we have, so I think it’s important to understand how they approach this and how we can scaffold what they are doing.
For example, can’t we work with them on how to use Wikipedia more effectively(checking the background discussions on their topic?) or how to use Google’s more advanced searching when needed?
I’ve put together a beginning collection of tips on a wiki I created for a summer district workshop “Google versus the databases” to try to get at that scaffolding.
“In my job as a teacher librarian I ask myself the “Is this information good enough?” question all the time. Is the activity, or skill the student is practicing more important than the validity of the actual data they are using?”
She goes on:
“The real question should be ‘Are we giving our students the skills to become discerning, ethical users of information?’ Is what we are teaching them good enough?”
Do we want our students to be getting what is “good enough”? Or do we want them to push past the obvious, dig deep, think, question and choose what is best in their fields? After all, they will be our presidents, legislators, and CEO’s.
Question is–Do we want leaders who settle for “good enough”?
As I have been doing some reading all summer, my whole notion of research is shifting somewhat. Maybe it is reflecting the shift that many of our students are living, as well.
I’m coming to realize more and more that although in schools we treat research as a somewhat solitary activity, in its true form, research is a very networked activity.
As George Siemens writes, in describing Connectivism, “learning is no longer an internal, individualistic activity.” He goes on to point out that learners “remain current in their field through the connections they have formed.” I often think of how scientists or historians conduct research, not in an isolated bubble, but in a network of colleagues, acquaintances, librarians and in the company of information from the past.
Siemens goes on to cite Karen Stephenson, who writes:
“Experience has long been considered the best teacher of knowledge. Since we cannot experience everything, other people’s experiences, and hence other people, become the surrogate for knowledge.”
Our students already practice the power of knowledge sharing because they use their social networks not only socially, but in order to help one another….in the olden days, via long phone calls about homework, and now via Facebook or MySpace or IM. But do we ask them to employ those skills DURING the school day, officially, particularly when they are engaged in a research project?
As I read more and think about research projects, and then think about how my own approach to learning has changed the last few years with the increasing ability to network both within and outside of my campus, I am realizing that we need to be addressing those changes in library research programs as well.
What ways can we support students in drawing on the knowledge of both experts and of one another?
Some practical ideas I am considering that would allow students to network more:
Using message boards or forums during research projects so that students can give one another research tips is a way to engage students more actively. We tried this last year during our Vietnam Wall project and it worked well. Students enjoyed giving tips to one another.
Creating collaborative wikis for projects is another way. Again, we tried this on a government policy project, where students collaborated across class periods on a wiki.
Asking a student to explain to the class how they would approach a research problem establishes that students have expertise as well (a fact they already realize, since students often ask other students for help.)
Asking students to “play” librarian for a class and explain how to use the appropriate databases.
Enabling some sort of “chat” during a research period that could be used for research help from one another.
Making sure that students spent time conferencing face to face with one another every couple of days to share good resources with each other (ala the Cha-cha website model).
Employing a “team” of researchers–assign a research project to a team, much as a team of scientists would work on a research dilemma. Allow the teams to conference with other “teams” from other class periods, via blogs, wikis, Skype chats, chatrooms, or face-to-face meetings.
Posting white butcher paper on the wall where students can write requests for help on a topic and others can volunteer to assist them or write suggestions. (It doesn’t always have to be “high tech.”)
Helping students set up a Pageflakes site with feeds from helpful blogs and links to helpful websites to “display” their learning network.
Having students use web-mapping software like Inspiration or Bubbl.us to map out who their information “lifelines” are.
Teaching them how to use the del.icio.us bookmarks of other experts or their friends as a way to broaden their network and find good information.
Asking them to show you how they use social networking to help them with research–What are the sites they use to share information and help one another?
By redefining research in a more “real world” and connected way, I think we can help it become more integral to our campuses and more integral to the way our students learn.
I’d like to hear of other ideas you may have for helping students “network” during a research process. Thanks to Dean Shareski for the links.
On Tuesday night, I attended a service for a family friend and one of our students, Jack Jenkins. A family member read a poem that Jack had written in middle school, and one line resonated with me. “I am an important person and I have something to contribute to this world.”
As we talk about web 2.0, school change, or what each of us can do to create authentic learning experiences for our students, this is what it is all about. Hearing our students. Hearing them as people.
One of Jack’s friends spoke about his passion for changing education. He loved people and loved his teachers and friends, but, his friend said, he wanted to see a place where students could be more engaged and more enthusiastically involved. Many of us walked away from the service as the sun was setting in the park where it was held, vowing to carry on some small service in memory of Jack. My small service is this–not forgetting that there are students that we need to be reaching, students who care greatly and who really want to contribute to our learning community.
It’s hard to begin to know where to change your classroom or teaching practices (or library) or my own. But as a community, we can walk this walk together. And there are many guides for us as well. Due to our unusual teaching schedule this year, we’re going to have time each week to talk to one another and collaborate on rethinking and improving our practices.
Yesterday, in one of our workshops, our principal said, “Sometimes more interesting than the answer is the question itself.” I believe Jack might have agreed with that, from what I heard at the service. She talked a little bit about risk taking, and supporting a culture where people on our campus feel safe to take some risks in the classroom.
Recently, Chris Lehmann, the principal at the innovative SLA, wrote an excellent post about how to create and support a culture of innovation. He points out that innovation needs to be purposeful, that it needs to be supported with room to play and reflect.
I think time to reflect and play particularly get lost in our rush for content and our enthusiasm for our subjects. Do we allow students to just sit quietly and absorb something for a minute? to listen to the things around them? or to just have the release and joy of play, even educational play and experimenting?
In American Libraries magazine yesterday, I read an article more specifically about libraries and innovation, and want to add one point from their list to Chris’s suggestions–Be Kind to Your Risk Takers.
Our students often are risk takers. It’s the nature of adolescence. We need to be kind to them, scaffold them, support their explorations and create an environment where their contributions are valued and enriched by knowing us, just as we are enriched by knowing them.
So how can each one of us consider “shaking it up” so that we never forget that each of our students is an important person who has something to contribute to this world? Let’s keep thinking about that for all of our sons and daughters and for Jack.
Today was great. My day started out with my computer “ringing” me because I was being invited to join a Skypecast workshop that Clay Burrell was conducting from Seoul.
Pretty neat way to be woken up! (I must be turning into a total geek )
Then at school today, I assisted our principal in setting up equipment for a presentation she did with our new teachers, which was forward thinking and enthusiastic. I was thrilled to realize she was using Karl Fisch’s video “Did You Know?” and Darren Draper’s video “Pay Attention” to share her vision of authentic learning with the new staff.
Just as thrilling was seeing our new Chinese teacher nodding in affirmation about creativity in American schools, and then hearing our principal talk about our superintendent’s support of innovative uses of technology in the classroom(including cell phones!)
And even more thrilling was the fact that I could say that I had met the creators of both videos at NECC. It just really brought home to me to power of having a network that I learn from, and how great it is getting to meet people in that network “face to face”.
Later in the afternoon, I got to help our principal try out one of the new iPod nanos we had ordered, and we got to talk about the merits of using iTunes in the classroom and iTunes U, and we talked about how to use the iTalk device we bought to record podcasts straight into the ipod. My guess is she’ll have a video iPod before long.
Then I came home and browsing through my bloglines, I ran across Jeff Utecht’s post about not putting students in a bubble by denying them access during the day to tools they use at home. He writes:
“Do we get it? Does education understand that they are learning without us, that this new world in which our students live is teaching them more than what we can inside the bubble? Inside a textbook that does not hyperlink, does not move, and does not engage. . . .
Truthfully, I don’t think we give our students enough credit. We feel as though we can’t trust them with this free information. We’re afraid of what they might do, watch, or see that they couldn’t do at other times outside of school. Teachers have made the argument, “Well, they do what they want at home as long as they don’t do it as school.” And that’s exactly what’s we’re headed for….students who stay home and learn rather than climb inside the bubble and wait for 8 hours to get out.”
I sit here this evening recalling hearing our principal tell the new teachers that we are a school that expects teachers to use more resources than just a printed textbook.
Today felt like a day where I was working in a place where people are getting it, where the opportunities are available, where innovation is supported and can happen. It was a great day. And if it feels great to me to be starting school, and not moaning about the end of summer–I wonder how it will feel to our students, and if we can continue to make a school that is an engaging and exciting place to be.
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