This project idea has been floating around the twitterverse for a while, including several people from my own Surrey Schools district. I recently introduced the idea to one of my Grade 9 groups and figured I could use my own experiences as an example.
Monday, October 29, 2012
60 second story
This project idea has been floating around the twitterverse for a while, including several people from my own Surrey Schools district. I recently introduced the idea to one of my Grade 9 groups and figured I could use my own experiences as an example.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Less Answers, More Questions
"The strongest steel is forged in the hottest fire." Chinese Proverb
I am blessed to work in a school, and more specifically a department, that allows and even encourages me to change my mind, to question and debate with myself and others, and to constantly assume my assumptions are wrong. We are a community of educators that has decided to return to our preschool roots by reducing our obsessive need for tidy answers in work books and increasing our search for that magical place of wonder, intrigue, and exploration. We try to do this for our students and ourselves as professional learners, but its messy and uncomfortable, and it needs to be.
In the last few years, the Twitterverse and education think tanks have been a buzz with similar ideas, labelled everything from 21st Century skills, to Formative Assessment, and individualized learning. Thousands of meetings and Pro D days are held, millions of blog posts just like this one are written, and promises of progress are made.
All of these things are good, as are the intentions of those delivering and listening to the messages of change, but as my little circle of educators has repeatedly discovered, it's not that easy. It never is. We are still a society that values the "knowing" over the searching. We like the Coles notes versions of things not just because they are faster and easier, but because they simplify complex ideas into nice neat little chunks that help us feel like we have the answer. We sell our "knowing" to everyone around us, and reassure ourselves we have it right by associating with like minded friends and organizations.
Teachers have fed this obsession to new generations by giving stickers for right answers and red pen for wrong ones. The "smart" kids in school are the ones with all the answers, not the ones asking the questions. In the name of fairness and efficiency we standardize everything from the curriculum and exams for the kids, to the letters and messages sent home to parents. We have created an overly simplified and greatly reduced version of how to learn, demonstrate learning, report learning, and learn about learning.
Sadly, this is never more evident than when we ourselves are put into the fire. When our practice is observed and questioned by colleagues, administration, parents, and even the students themselves, it is much easier to become defensive and arrogant about "the answer". It ranges from the latest cognitive research to "it's what we have always done"; from "this is the way I do it" to my personal favorite... "It's what everybody is doing." We can't help ourselves it seems, we all do it in some way.
But as my department head likes to remind students during our fitness sessions, we need to learn to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. It is only through the discomfort of breaking down our bodies that we are able to awake the next day with new strength. Worse yet, it's not a one time thing. We must do it repeatedly, over long periods of time to truly reap the benefits. The same is true of our teaching practice and philosophy.
As the proverb goes, steel is strengthened in the fire. But it's not that simple either. Steel is not hardened just by repeated heating, it must also be hammered upon. It needs to beaten, folded over, remolded and reshaped. The very fibers within the red hot metal must be bent and compressed and reformed before the next visit to the flame. It is an exhausting and laborious process, but necessary if one is after a truly special product.
This is where I personally stumble most often. It is exhausting work teaching, and finding enough energy to get through the "to do list" is tough enough. When I lay down at the end if the day it is just easier to "walk the run". We can't let ourselves or our schools do that anymore.
We can no longer tell students and parents that learning is complicated and messy but then spend our time and energy wrapping it into neat little packages to sell them. We can't tell ourselves and others we are working to improve honest and challenging learning conditions for students only to avoid the dirty, sweaty folding of the steel. If we are to move forward as a village of learners, we must not just allow for differences of opinion but actually seek them out. If we want parents and students to believe in their hearts that its okay to be different, to make mistakes, to challenge the status quo, we need set the example ourselves. If we want our beliefs and theories to be the strongest they have ever been, we must expose them constantly to a barrage of heat and hammering. Some ideas will break, melt, and fade away, but those that change and grow and remain will worth keeping.
I say no more educational Coles notes: for parents, students, or ourselves. It's time for honesty. It's time for all of us to admit just how little we actually know. It's time for us to honor many ways of being and learning by ceasing our assumption that "same" is "fair" and therefore the right thing to do. No more back patting and agreeing with each other. It's time we all put ourselves and our communities to flame, hammered out our weaknesses, and worked to reshape ourselves. We can handle it. Kids relish the opportunity. Parents respect the honesty, effort, and the chance to work alongside educators as valued parts of the equation rather than customers of our packaged product. After the initial shock and exhaustion that comes from starting a new workout regime, teachers we will find a new and far more lasting source of energy for what will be even more tiring work.
For students, for parents, for colleagues... and for ourselves: less answers, more questions.
I am blessed to work in a school, and more specifically a department, that allows and even encourages me to change my mind, to question and debate with myself and others, and to constantly assume my assumptions are wrong. We are a community of educators that has decided to return to our preschool roots by reducing our obsessive need for tidy answers in work books and increasing our search for that magical place of wonder, intrigue, and exploration. We try to do this for our students and ourselves as professional learners, but its messy and uncomfortable, and it needs to be.
In the last few years, the Twitterverse and education think tanks have been a buzz with similar ideas, labelled everything from 21st Century skills, to Formative Assessment, and individualized learning. Thousands of meetings and Pro D days are held, millions of blog posts just like this one are written, and promises of progress are made.
All of these things are good, as are the intentions of those delivering and listening to the messages of change, but as my little circle of educators has repeatedly discovered, it's not that easy. It never is. We are still a society that values the "knowing" over the searching. We like the Coles notes versions of things not just because they are faster and easier, but because they simplify complex ideas into nice neat little chunks that help us feel like we have the answer. We sell our "knowing" to everyone around us, and reassure ourselves we have it right by associating with like minded friends and organizations.
Teachers have fed this obsession to new generations by giving stickers for right answers and red pen for wrong ones. The "smart" kids in school are the ones with all the answers, not the ones asking the questions. In the name of fairness and efficiency we standardize everything from the curriculum and exams for the kids, to the letters and messages sent home to parents. We have created an overly simplified and greatly reduced version of how to learn, demonstrate learning, report learning, and learn about learning.
Sadly, this is never more evident than when we ourselves are put into the fire. When our practice is observed and questioned by colleagues, administration, parents, and even the students themselves, it is much easier to become defensive and arrogant about "the answer". It ranges from the latest cognitive research to "it's what we have always done"; from "this is the way I do it" to my personal favorite... "It's what everybody is doing." We can't help ourselves it seems, we all do it in some way.
But as my department head likes to remind students during our fitness sessions, we need to learn to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. It is only through the discomfort of breaking down our bodies that we are able to awake the next day with new strength. Worse yet, it's not a one time thing. We must do it repeatedly, over long periods of time to truly reap the benefits. The same is true of our teaching practice and philosophy.
As the proverb goes, steel is strengthened in the fire. But it's not that simple either. Steel is not hardened just by repeated heating, it must also be hammered upon. It needs to beaten, folded over, remolded and reshaped. The very fibers within the red hot metal must be bent and compressed and reformed before the next visit to the flame. It is an exhausting and laborious process, but necessary if one is after a truly special product.
This is where I personally stumble most often. It is exhausting work teaching, and finding enough energy to get through the "to do list" is tough enough. When I lay down at the end if the day it is just easier to "walk the run". We can't let ourselves or our schools do that anymore.
We can no longer tell students and parents that learning is complicated and messy but then spend our time and energy wrapping it into neat little packages to sell them. We can't tell ourselves and others we are working to improve honest and challenging learning conditions for students only to avoid the dirty, sweaty folding of the steel. If we are to move forward as a village of learners, we must not just allow for differences of opinion but actually seek them out. If we want parents and students to believe in their hearts that its okay to be different, to make mistakes, to challenge the status quo, we need set the example ourselves. If we want our beliefs and theories to be the strongest they have ever been, we must expose them constantly to a barrage of heat and hammering. Some ideas will break, melt, and fade away, but those that change and grow and remain will worth keeping.
I say no more educational Coles notes: for parents, students, or ourselves. It's time for honesty. It's time for all of us to admit just how little we actually know. It's time for us to honor many ways of being and learning by ceasing our assumption that "same" is "fair" and therefore the right thing to do. No more back patting and agreeing with each other. It's time we all put ourselves and our communities to flame, hammered out our weaknesses, and worked to reshape ourselves. We can handle it. Kids relish the opportunity. Parents respect the honesty, effort, and the chance to work alongside educators as valued parts of the equation rather than customers of our packaged product. After the initial shock and exhaustion that comes from starting a new workout regime, teachers we will find a new and far more lasting source of energy for what will be even more tiring work.
For students, for parents, for colleagues... and for ourselves: less answers, more questions.
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