Today in school I was part of a group discussion about the book “Why School?” by Will Richardson. The group was actually assigned to talk about “old school”. I found this to be an interesting perspective. I agree with some of some of the comments made by Richardson about “old school”, but other comments he makes are far fetched.
Richardson states that school hasn’t changed in 150 years. YIKES that would be depressing, if that was true. Technology in the world has changed drastically so of course student learning has changed. I am always surprised and in disbelief when parents or grandparents say, “back in the day when I went to school…” (You can fill the rest in with your own stories!!) Today’s teachers envision more changes, and are taking actions to change student learning each and everyday. It may not be big steps each day or each year, but schools are heading in the right direction.
Educators have been having conversations about doing school differently. I think this drive for doing school differently rather then the “old school” conversation of doing school better, inspires a lot of new and experienced teachers.
Unfortunately schools today still use similar “old school” methods of testing. Richardson does make this point and I believe that is true. We just can’t get away from the test. The test may be the provincial exam, or the end of unit test. School administrators haven’t found another way to gather data. As mentioned in my group, schools don’t have the funds to update standardized tests. The standardized tests often being used are dated and not relevant. There are bigger factors that contribute to changing the idea of testing. For example the Universities require the grades.Universities need marks for selecting applicants.Inquiry based learning remains to pose a challenge to educators. The students who care about post-secondary are inspired to get good grades on tests and exams. Studying only for the test and forgetting the information immediately afterword is still alive and well, just like it was 150 years ago!
Since reading Will Richardson book “Why School” I have researched him and his ideas a little bit further. I did find a nice condensed youtube version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ekcWQxgk3k “Why School” is everywhere. I found many education articles referring to Richardson. His book should be a required reading for all teachers. I found his book to be relevant and to the point (and how could anyone not like the price).
I agree, the field of education is in various stages of change, from the imposition of high-stakes tests, to schools removing class schedules and setting up more organic learning relationships between students and teachers. Not only that, the demographics of school age children are changing, and the employment situation for teaching are changing, including the composition of diverse learners in any given classroom. I wonder what would happen if, instead of using testing in school, we used surveys. The problem with testing is that it has a punitive connotation – if you don’t make the grade you are punished with a low mark. But if educators became adept at taking surveys, they could ascertain learning and improve instruction without causing undue stress and suffering on the student. Just an idea.