Structural Coupling
Today I got to experience structural coupling (the process through which people connect) first hand. My structural coupling included all three forms Jenny spoke about, cognitive, cultural, and technological dimensions.
I was inspired by Janet’s 10 minutes of fame presentation today. I had no idea that her school has a fine arts focus just like mine (cultural connection). Their Global Learner projects are impressive, I especially like their structure for collaboration and willingness to integrate art and technology with the curriculum. I chatted with Janet after class to find out more about her school, and my mind started spinning with ideas (cognitive connection). The focused art workshops which children can choose to attend, the lunch-and-learn sessions offered by and for teachers on art topics, the use of technology alongside art and curricular projects all were very inspiring. I think the way their projects are structured allows teachers to play to their strengths about what they are teaching and gives students a sense of ownership about choosing what they would like to learn.
When I got home after class I read Janet’s previous blog post, watched the video created by the Environment club at her school, and visited the school website (technological connection). I also emailed my principal, with the hope that we can consider some of Mont Royal’s ideas for our school in the future. I know that I might run into sociocultural homeostasis (“We already have a fine arts program. This sounds like a lot of work!”) but I am going to advocate that we give it a try. We may not be able to do everything full throttle, but we can take those baby steps. Maybe monthly lunch-and-learns instead of bi-weekly, maybe we try the workshop approach for a few weeks instead of the whole year.
Regardless, I would like to visit Mont Royal in the fall to see their global learning in action. We get one professional growth day in Burnaby, and this is how I would like to use mine next year. I’ve also started a list of questions, so I might have to take Janet out for a coffee and pick her brain more. (Cultural, cognitive, and fun!)
Very nice synthesis of structural coupling as cognitive, cultural, and technological dimensions. It is exciting to see connections forming amongst the members of this learning group, to see ideas spreading and new relationships forming. I agree, Janet’s school sounds like a very interesting study to learn more about collaboration, inquiry, and using technology to enable, enhance and enrich learning. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful program to have teachers’ visit each others’ classrooms on a regular basis? To open up the practice of teaching from closed in with four walls, where the teacher works alone. It would be interesting to bring classes together, wouldn’t it? To work on a collaborative inquiry project, perhaps as a service learning for the community. So many possibilities. There is much to be said for a community based bricks and mortar school, it is going to take real advocacy on the part of teachers to bring public consciousness to understand just what it means.