And you have a pretty good idea what I've got to say about that, don't you? I'm going to try to convince you of how wrong you are and that you should come over to my line of thinking about changing the educational system and being a completely different kind of teacher, right? Well don't get too defensive just yet. I mean... yes I am going to do all that, but I don't think that your view of things is without validity or merit. The other day I gave a trigonometry lecture and handed out some worksheets. Pretty traditional. I don't think you are the embodiment of evil because that's how you principally operate, especially so if you've never been offered a compelling reason to do it any other way. I get it.
If anything, I feel like I'm the "bad guy" here, not you. From your perspective, what you've been up to has worked pretty well and there isn't any good reason to fix what "ain't already broke." I, on the other hand, actually think that it IS broken, and I nevertheless teach quite traditionally sometimes. So it seems I'm being a hypocrite, and some days that is honestly the case. I don't always practice what I preach. I should point out before moving on, however, that I'm working daily on not being a hypocrite. Rome wasn't built in a day. Back to you, though: Presently, you're probably hoping that everyone will leave you more or less alone and just let you do your job. You work hard at it, and you do it well, right? Well here's what I'd like you to do:
Ask yourself honestly if yours is the job that needs doing for your kids right now. If you're a high school teacher, and you're well established and effective, you are probably very good at getting students into college or university. I'll be frank when I say that as a young teacher (fresh out of university with an Ed degree that followed a BSc in biochemistry) I had a very university-oriented mindset, which had a profound impact on my teaching for years. I placed a tremendous amount of weight on getting my students ready for university, regardless of the grade I was teaching, and regardless of how university-bound my students seemed to be (teaching them all that way gives everyone the chance to make it, right?).
Today, scrutiny of our post-secondary institutions is growing, as we start to understand how poor a job many of our research-based universities are doing in the teaching and learning department. There is a wealth of literature damning the quality of post-secondary education, particularly in the US. Our statistics in Canada are slightly better off, partially because we place a much higher emphasis on vocational training and certification programs that actually get people jobs here, but the university graduate game isn't everything it's cracked up to be north of the border either. Only a quarter of Canadians get Bachelors degrees these days, and of those, roughly half of them report getting jobs that are in their fields. Scrutiny of teaching practices here reveals similar findings as in institutions around the world -- quality teaching is not the top priority of our "elite" universities. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be sending kids to college.
What I am saying is that if you're a teacher who is highly adept at getting your students to win at diploma exams or SATs and AP finals, that's great. But you're really only serving a thin slice of students and that slice could probably be served just as well (if not better) by folks with more tech and more pizzazz who post educational videos on YouTube. Like it or not, your skill set has been obsoleted by the internet. For all you know, Salman Khan might be more responsible for your students' test scores these days than you are. So unless you've got retirement within striking distance, I think you might want to consider taking a sip or two of the progressive Kool Aid. We've got work in store.
On that note, I mentioned two groups of teachers at the beginning of this post, and I'd much rather talk about the other bunch: the teachers for whom these times in education are so exciting. For those teachers willing to consider that the current educational paradigm does not serve the current societal paradigm, we have no shortage of opportunity laid before us. We are tasked by our children to create an education that serves all of them and not just the thin slice destined to get a degree and work within their chosen field of study. We are asked to prepare them for a world that will demand unprecedented levels of innovation, civic engagement, and creative solutions to very real problems.
That might sound particularly daunting, but I'm here to tell you that while daunting it may be, it also has so much potential to be fulfilling, energizing, and empowering. I don't know many teachers working right now who aren't struggling with the fact that we can feel the erosion of our ability to make a difference in our traditional teaching. One of the reasons I started teaching was that I felt I was a good story-teller. But like most people without a Hollywood budget to back them, my ability to entertain my way into good teaching has been utterly usurped by the stimulation rich 21st century. I can barely compete with YouTube and Facebook, much less 24 hour streaming movies and the few hundred new video games uploaded to the iTunes and Google Play stores every day.
Recreating education places us squarely back in the role that most of us imagined having when we joined the profession: difference makers. Designing the shift that will connect more of your students in your classrooms with real-world problems, creative endeavors, and opportunities to explore and innovate will give all of them the chance to have rich, rewarding lives both in their time with you as students and after they leave your building. That process won't be easy, but it can be every bit as thrilling and engaging as the experiences you hope to give your kids. We want our students to find their passions and then to pursue them vigorously. Shouldn't we be doing the same? Educating students effectively is (or at least was at one point) each of our passions. And right now we have a chance to innovate, create, and problem solve just as we hope our students will. Personally, I find that process richly rewarding, challenging though it is.
I've tried to outline ways that teachers could start making steps toward positive transformation in earlier posts. I'm excited to report that I'm not just a peddler of my own snake oil, but a customer as well. Building Futures is but one step on the road to revolution. I look forward to reflecting on the transformations that me and my colleagues are working on crafting in coming months and years. For now I'll end this post with a final suggestion, something that I've alluded to before as being vital to the revolution:
Whiteboards and Watermarks.
It's not just the name of the blog. It's where the journey begins. I've heard the term "EduCoffee" or "EdCafe" before. Whiteboards and watermarks is the same idea; I just don't feel the need to limit the beverage choice to coffee. My personal preference comes from the malted beverage family. Here's how it goes:
- Find some friends, allies, collaborators.
- Get some "whiteboards" (pads of paper, laptops, chart paper, whatever you like).
- Pour yourselves a cup, a mug, or a glass of whatever excites your palettes. Some of those beverages may have cause to leave a watermark or two. Coasters are optional.
- Discuss. If you could do it the way you wanted in order to give the maximum number of kids the maximum number of opportunities to have rich, rewarding educational experiences, what would that look like for you?
Exciting times indeed.
TL;DR: If you want to do things "the old way," I'm afraid you're running out of time where that's going to be OK. Make the switch now, and come join us on an exciting wave of innovation and creative design where we teachers literally get to help change the world for the better!!
Vive la resistance!!
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