This exchange with one other colleague indicates the level of frustration we all feel at our inability to make much of a difference to the level of acceptance of technology by our school colleagues. While we all try many different strategies to “convert” teachers to new learning techniques, the lack of response can result in us simply working only with those who make an effort….and these are a minority. This was an interesting exchange which is echoed in many conferences and workshops around the world. Just what is it we have to do?
I met Will Richardson at the Expanding Learing Horizons conference in Lorne late in August. He is a teacher and an astute thinker…read this and see if you can refrain from commenting! http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/school-as-node/
| From: | Graham Hughes | Date: | Fri 28-Sep-07 08:06 am |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Yes …I read it too and it struck a chord me …..of course, I said to myself, school is no longer the repository of all information. In fact, the home schooling movement is increasing, and I wonder why it is necessary for children to attend school at all – except that is for the important socialisation processes that go on. Who would not be able to interpret a syllabus? Who would not be able to find the information needed to study any course? Who could not be able to access free online courses (like MIT)? And what would be the difference, besides not having your day goverened by bells and loudspeaker announcements.
| From: | Lisa-Gaye Williams | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 12:19 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Are teachers aware that their role in society is dwindling?
I disagree! The teachers whose roles are dwindling are those who are not part of the 21st century society; those who continue in teaching the way they did in the 20 century because “the syllabus” has so much content they must deliver to their students.
Teachers who embrace 21st century learning and are willing to employ Web2.0 tools in their teaching/learning programs will meet with great success. And it is these teachers who need to be more vocal in their workplaces, who need to be unashamed of living out their passion for teaching and learning… it is their students who will head out into society with the necessary
| From: | Graham Hughes | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 12:51 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Oh come on Lisa, get real……you know as well as I do that the vast majority of teachers out there in the vast majority of schools dont even know what web 1.0 is other than reading their emails once a week. The few of us who work on new ideas and try to spread our passion are treated as outcasts and disruptives….and essentially ignored. According to your plan we have to wait for some kind of external pressure to build up before the lid blows off and teaching is dragged into the 21st century. In the meantime, thousands of kids are being disadvantaged by not being exposed to the skills we know they are going to need.Schools are irrelevant now…… and the few teachers like you who are disrupting the lives of the rest are not enough to make a difference ….. not fast enough anyway ….. if you poke your head up above the ramparts, you will be howled down and they will go back to their comfortable existence.Your plan is OK for you and perhaps makes you feel that you are doing your bit…. but in the long run I think you should more aggressively point out the deficiencies of your colleagues ….. if you have the courage??
| From: | Lisa-Gaye Williams | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 01:17 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
I am very real and extremely passionate about my teaching. And it is the vast majority – the uninspired – that we outcasts and disrupters must leave behind. The external pressures you mention are what I would say are the rich life experiences that our kids bring to school with them today; we are the ones who are sufficiently aware of the need to tap into and use these in our classrooms.
Yes, thousands of kids are being disadvantaged by the masses of uninspired teachers. So should I give up because I can’t reach them all? I think not.
I do have the courage to stick my head above the ramparts – I have done so for the last 4 years at my current school – and that was what I was describing in my previous post. I would not be so suicidal as to point out the deficiencies in my colleagues, especially as every day I fly by the seat of my pants in my efforts to bring the 21st century into my classroom.
I would encourage you to continue with your efforts – as with everything else in teaching – the effort we make is exponentially larger than the praise or benefits we see. My question to you then, is do you have the courage?
| From: | Graham Hughes | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 01:29 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
So your impact (and the rest of us) will continue to be a drop in bucket because we are reaching so few. Are we satisfied with this? Measure the rate of change in schools over the last 20 years. Have we progressed much……as much as we should? No!And it is because we continue to pussy-foot around. By we I think I mean school execs who have the power to implement change. Problem is they seem scared of the changes that are necessary to create something new and powerful.Going back to your previous post….schools are a node, and an increasingly small one. I’d like schools to be a hub, or a router, responsible for feeding education opportunites to those who request guidance …..Perhaps we should ask ourselves what role schools should be playing next year, and the year after, and….because all I can see is more and more of the same………and perhaps its us who are dwindling
| From: | Lisa-Gaye Williams | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 01:33 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Perhaps we should ask ourselves what role schools should be playing next year, and the year after,
How would YOU answer this question Graham? Without ‘exploding’ the schools we have; how do we continue and make more than just a drop in the bucket?
| From: | Graham Hughes | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 01:51 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Different solutions for different schools, not one scenario. Depends where the school is now. From my perspective I am arguing for a change in school structure which includes; lengthening periods, different timetable for different stages within the school; lose the bells; demand HODs produce programs that clearly have an ICT scope and sequence. But most importantly, we have no middle school and I have said that we could implement one next year, starting with year 7, with very little difficulty. Allocate three or four core teachers to the year group; house them in a specific area; design a curriculum that is problem-based, rather than subject-based. I could go on ….but I consider that each school should look at its current structure, identify a break-point that is holding things back, and begin by making small but obvious restructures that are backed up by clear philosophical statements from the top …..just so everyone knows why these things are happening
| From: | Lynn Harvey | Date: | Sat 29-Sep-07 11:17 pm |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: [EMT501_200770_x_x - Lisa-Gaye Williams] [EMT501_200770_x_x - Lisa-Gaye Williams] changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Oh that broaches a very interesting side issue Graham… speaking your mind in open forums and then “paying the price” in your local environ.
I confess I also have been caught out making comment about our local demi-gods – I try to avoid it, though sometimes I cant help myself, ergo my cryptic comment in another forum.
Mental leap….
I just rewatched http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxsOVK4syxU
I must get around to visiting his website and watching some of his other work.
| From: | Graham Hughes | Date: | Sun 30-Sep-07 06:42 am |
| To: | EMT501_200770_x_x | ||
| Subject: | Re: [EMT501_200770_x_x - Lynn Harvey] Re: [EMT501_200770_x_x - Lisa-Gaye Williams] [EMT501_200770_x_x - Lisa-Gaye Williams] changing the schooling roadmap | ||
Two quotes from the press seem very apt
From TIME – “These days, mock outrage is used by every side of every dispute…….it is the result of a desperate scavenging for umbrage
material………and when the landscape is so littered with folks lying
prostrate……this isn’t spontaneous mass outrage. This is choreography.”
And from yesterday’s SMH (p26) “We might not always say what we feel [In
focus groups] but rather what we think others might want to hear. The beauty
about blogs is that they are written with passion and honesty”,I say let’s maintain the passion (and the rage) and let’s not hide our
feelings from others just to keep the peace. As agents of change we are
supposed to be disruptive and choreographed mass outrage is par for the course.
I think Lisa-Gaye has stirred me up……good job the hols have started, or
I may have provided my colleagues with more umbrage material. So….thanks
Lisa-Gaye for starting this thread and giving me a place to vent………I
think you are a wise lady. It’s just a shame that we are all spread so
thinly. Imagine if we were all in the same school! What would that look
like?
I had some fun with this one, and we ended up friends. I just love the two quotes at the end…..I discovered these after a difficult week at work. Seems somebody uncovered a statement I made on a US blog, and managed to spread it around the college. Hmmm…… no gain without pain I suspect, and judging from other comments on the forum, I’m not the only one to suffer.
By: GJH on October 9, 2007
at 11:31 am