In many ways, the reading of this article had me thinking that I am so glad that I don’t live in the United States. While we fight over FSA’s and the Fraser Institute rankings here in BC, neither are tied to whether I have a job next year or not. Partly because of this, I feel more freedom to experiment and get closer to the new vision of schools. What is this new vision, well, I don’t really know. I suppose everyone’s vision is a little bit different.
In my school district, a big portion of the budget has gone to supporting collaboration among staff. Each school had a core team (including extra staffing) to design ways of collaboration in the classroom. It was very interesting to go to the district meetings and listen many ways that schools are using this resource. I find it ironic that, while we expect collaboration among our students, there is very little modelling of this practice for our students. I do think that the way of the future is more in collaboration than isolation and that the article is correct in questioning the skills we are teaching our students. Is it more important to teach dates and places or to teach students how to learn and how to expand their knowledge base in a collaborative setting? I don’t think that there is one broad stroke that will be the “right” way to do things but I think that the important thing is to be open to different ways of doing things and to not be stagnant in ideas or practice.
Technology is another issue that we have been working with. In the article, it speaks of schools who do not allow personal devices in the classroom. This is a tricky issue for me as I work in a school with many underprivileged students and I wonder how to get around the stigma of not being able to afford the “latest and greatest” when students are expected to bring their own devices. Not only are finances an issue but parents also become an issue in what they allow their children to participate in online. Some parents may not want their students to follow my twitter account, for example, and isn’t it their right to say no? But are they really making educated decisions when, often, it come to technology that they themselves don’t understand?
The School Library Monthly blog posted on May 10th raises an interesting point that ties both collaboration and technology together. Alyssa Johnson states that ““School librarians, however, should be careful not to inundate first-year teachers with too many resources or too many tools. Instead, they should pick a couple of favorite examples and introduce more as teachers settle in.” I think that this sentiment can, and should, be applied not only to new teachers but all teachers, parents and students. It is important to begin small, let people get used to a new way of doing things and then progress on from there. It is not about mastering it all now, but growing slowly over time.
In our district, we have valued technology and collaboration also. But we have also had Innovation Grants awarded to teams that can undertake a project that demonstrates and communicates the use of innovation (of technology and some other component: inquiry, music, science) in teaching. It was really cool to see what the teams came up with this year, and us TLs are planning a project next year on Inquiry Projects with Teacher Librarians.
Remind me again of your district?
I agree with you- too bad many of our instructional leaders can’t let go of the hypocritical FSA’s.
I am from Kelowna, SD#23.
I think we are going to have teachers develop a sophisticated understanding of what digital technologies mean in knowledge era society so they can contribute to articulating a vision for education, and society, that ensure social justice, economic equity, and problem-solving are at the forefront of our uses of digital technologies. There are different ways to foster ICT skills, development, and confidence. There has been a profound lack of understanding amongst teachers as to how important it is that they educate themselves regarding the significance of ICT in society, and the significance of learning to teach with, about, and through ICT. Yes, we have to start with something manageable, but we also have to contextualize the importance, or starting small can amount to staying small, or abandoning the effort altogether because it is perceived as an add-on rather than a professional imperative.