The sketchnote option caught my eye as it seemed like a new experience in a class full of new experiences. I wanted to learn how to compose a sketchnote so of course I Googled it expecting to find another web service that would facilitate the process. What I got instead were tutorials of how to use to use a pen and a notebook. Dismayed by my Google discovery, I went to the app store instead. I thought there must be an app that has been specifically created in order to help people sketchnote. After a fruitless search in the app store I came to the reluctant realization that this task might just not have anything to do with digital tools and technology. It might just involve the oldest of tools, a pen and paper. Could it be that in tech class I was being asked to use a pen and paper? I took a chance on this sneaking suspicion and created the illustration above describing my learning after reading the book Catching Up or Leading the Way by Yong Zhao.
As an egotistical artist (I use the label "artist" very loosely) I expect that my illustration will speak for itself. However, I will elucidate a few of the themes that I chose to base my illustration around. In his book Zhao explains how many educational reformers in the U.S. are essentially in a competition pitting the U.S. against many other nations throughout the world. The U.S. has, as we all know too well, fared worse in standardized testing in "core" subjects, especially in comparison to some Asian nations. Yet, while we seek to catch to these nations by emulating their systems of education, these same nations seek to emulate our supposedly failing systems of education, systems which have produced some of the greatest innovators of recent times. So the question is do we centralize and homogenize our educational system in order to better compete in core subjects or do we, as Asian nations have gradually realized, support creating a diverse pool of talents beyond those emphasized by math and engineering? Zhao, recommends the latter approach while many U.S. educational reformers charge head on towards centralization and homogenization, towards our peril. In his book, Zhao gets to the root of what's wrong with an approach towards education embodied by common core standards, standardized testing, and "No Child Left Behind." While he recognizes the need for educational reform, Zhao explains that centralization and homogenization is not the solution. Many Asian nations are rapidly coming to this realization. One can only hope that U.S. reformers don't take us too far down this road towards a point of no return. Resource Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD.
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Chapter 7 Quote: “Each local community may have something special, something unique to offer on the global market. An international uniform curriculum or national curriculum can only serve to destroy local traditions and strengths” (Zhao, “Tolerance and Diversification,” para. 2). Question: While I completely agree that each community has unique attributes to offer the global market, what about the converse? Each community also has unique deficiencies. How might we address these deficiencies, in a standardized manner, without destroying local traditions and strengths? Connection: While California schools have many deficiencies they also have many incomparable strengths. Yet by focusing on the deficiencies sometimes we completely obliterate our unique strengths in favor of national/international directives. Epiphany: We are all so caught up in finding the right and consistent formula for education that we’re constantly seeking out models nationally and internationally to help lead us. Instead we should be looking within our communities to validate those strengths which already exist within our schools and local communities. We should emphasize and and develop these rather than trying to impose foreign models where they may not fit. Chapter 8 Quote: “More important, the United States needs talented diplomats and a public that understands and respects other cultures so when Americans travel abroad or interact with people from other cultures, they can project a better image and reverse perceptions” (Zhao, “Cost of Global Incompetence,” para. 7). Question: Will internet connections suffice to create better cultural awareness for our students or do they require real, in person experiences to fully understand international cultural nuances? Connection: I had very little understanding or nuanced interests of international politics until I had the opportunity to study abroad for one year in England. There, I not only got to live in a new geography but I also learned directly about countless multiple foreign cultures from friends whom I interacted with on a daily basis. Epiphany: Learning about foreign cultures cannot be done in a textbook which boils down cultures and histories into generalized stereotypes. Students must learn globally in order to succeed in the future. American isolationism will definitely put them at a disadvantage. In order to do this type of learning students must engage personally with their peers throughout the world. This can happen digitally but I believe that it’s best when it also occurs in person. Chapter 9 Quote: “Thus we need to adopt a broad range of indicators to assess student learning, including student products, teacher observations, classroom performances, and some psychological measures of student motivation, creativity, and perspectives that have not typically been a part of mainstream educational assessment” (Zhao, “Expanding the Definition of Success,” para. 5). Question: How can an educational assessment effectively capture the traits mentioned by Zhao in the above statement? Connection: For the longest time I have heard teachers complain about standardized tests. I never quite understood the real problem behind these tests until I read Zhao’s book. Epiphany: We are producing precisely the type of student that is creative and motivated at my school. However, at some point we will be judged by our results on standardized test which tell one story that many parents and community members clearly understand. In order to tell the other half of the story we’ll have to be adept at using social media and connecting parents and community members to these means of communications. When students are become powerful communicators and inventors and others hear about this, standardized tests will become an educational footnote. Resource Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD. Chapter 4 Quote: “A nation’s education system functions on behalf of society to decide what kinds of talents, knowledge, and skills are useful and what kinds are not. It is intended to cultivate the ones that are valuable and suppress the ones that are deemed undesirable. High-stakes testing is one of the most effective ways to convey what a society values and to pressure all involved in education-parents, teachers, and of course, students-to focus all their efforts on what is tested” (Zhao, “The Land of High-Stakes Testing,” para. 2). Question: Does our current iteration of high-stakes testing accurately reflect what we as a nation truly value? Connection: We have regime of standardized tests in the U.S. that seek to assess the whole student in more ways than the standardized testing regime in China. However, with continued emphasis on international competition we come closer to trying to emulate China and other Asian nations. Epiphany: As long as international competition is our primary motivator in school reform, then we will only continue to go down a path of rote memorization and other quantifiable assessments. If we want to stay innovative and create fertile ground for creativity then we must continue valuing the non-quantifiable attributes of individualism, freedom, and experimentation. These tendencies seem to be at odds with one another. Chapter 5 Quote: “As citizens of the globe, they need to be aware of the global nature of societal issues, to care about people in distant places, to understand the nature of global economic integration, to appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of peoples, to respect and protect cultural diversity, to fight for social justice for all, and to protect planet Earth-home for all human beings” (Zhao, “Challenges for Education,” para. 8). Question: How do arrive at a deeper sense of our interconnectedness without succumbing to the us versus them sense of competition? Connection: I am fond of the saying “think globally, act locally.” What happens in our small communities is a microcosm of what happens throughout the world. Epiphany: Cultural literacy is more important now than ever. We’re often taught to teach and respect diversity but often that is said in relation to local, or domestic diversity rather than in regards to viewing our world as flat and internationally interdependent. We’ve feared outsourcing for too long. Now success will be dependent on our ability to engage with those whom we’ve feared. Students must learn to be global citizens. Chapter 6 Quote: “It would be a mistake to think the virtual worlds is unreal or imaginary. It may not be tangible, but sure is real in terms of its psychological consequences, economic effect, political cost and gains, and social connections” (Zhao, “Challenges for Education II” para. 1). Question: While there are countless reasons to take online interactions seriously, does gaming have to be one of them? Wouldn’t this be somewhat akin to taking duck-duck-goose seriously? Connection: I have had to retract many of my prejudices against social media activities as a result of my learning in this class. However, I find myself doubting that that I will have to retract my reluctance to taking online gaming seriously. I have enjoyed playing video games in the past. Yet, I don’t quite imagine that I’ll get to a point where I can legitimize gaming, in the gamer sense, in my academic and professional discourse. Epiphany: Gaming, like professional sports, bring in lots of money not only for principal architects and superstar player but also for other industries that spring up around its periphery. Sports on the one hand provide participants the opportunity to become physically fit. I’m still uncertain as to what positive benefits a life dedicated to online gaming would bring. Resource Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD. At the moment the buzz in education seems to be all about makerspaces and tinkering. The skeptics among will wait for this to pass while the adherents take the plunge. I am an enthusiastic adherent. I teach students how to solder and code onto Arduino based printed circuit boards. I teach them how to 3D design and create video games. This year I will also introduce new making skills such as printmaking, sewing, and linocut carving. I am always a bit anxious when other teachers, administrators, or parents walk into my maker class. It is, I’ll admit, chaotic at times. Most of the time I try to create an environment where the learning is not centralized but instead student driven. I’ve put trust in that my sixth graders will behave responsibly with potentially dangerous tools. So the question is how is the maker/tinker movement much more than a buzzword or a swing of the proverbial pendulum? It is more than this because it has the potential to fundamentally change the teacher-learner paradigm in more ways than can be anticipated.
It begins by breaking down what it that we consider play. Traditionally, play is to be done in lieu of more serious work and often with toys that can be easily recognized in their colorful plastic forms. Gever Tulley immediately challenges this notion in his TEDx presentation by examining an exchange between a parent and child. “Is that a stick? You know the rule about playing with sticks - parent to child” (Tulley). The implication is that a parent will see a stick as merely a stick and not a plaything with creative potential as child would see it. A maker education recognizes the child’s creative ability to turn any object into a plaything and celebrates not only the creativity but the act of creation, or play. Play leads to discovery and discovery is where authentic learning occurs. Or as Tulley explains, “Our goal is to ensure that they leave with a better sense of how to make things than when they arrived and the deep internal realization that you can figure things out by fooling around” (Tulley). Making also allows for students to create real things that exist in the real world. It teaches students how to become producers and not merely consumers. “Building is at the heart of the experiment. Hands on, deeply immersed and fully committed to the problem at hand” (Tulley). Making doesn’t deal with theoretical problems. It deals with real problems and solutions that must be continuously tested and analyzed. Most importantly, making puts the student in control and at the center of their own learning. It encourages kids to create as their own abilities and knowledge allow and seek out mentors when needed. Education needs to become more personal. A makerspace is precisely the place where students can begin to practice their independence and feel the joy in learning what they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and at pace which works for them. The three cardinal rules in my makerspace, aside from those pertaining to respect and safety in the space are that students should walk into my room prepared to learn, create, and share. These rules alone will take us a long way in changing teaching; from how education is done to students to how education is done by students. Resource Tulley, G. (2009, July 1). Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering. Retrieved August 5, 2015. The problem with telling a single story in education is the same problem as telling a single story anywhere else. Telling a single story about our students, teachers, parents, administrators, or any community member may lead us to incomplete and possibly adversarial relationships. Although we may be fond of claiming that it takes a village to raise a child, often we go it alone in teaching because the stories we have heard and repeat lead us to the wrong conclusions. Teachers may bad mouth problematic students by telling stories such as “Student A just doesn’t care about his education.” These stories may even grow to encapsulate parents, and administrators, and politicians, whom we may assume have malignant intentions too. The single story that I’ve heard too often is one in which all sides are pitted against another. Yet, when we actually take time to hear from the individuals and learn who they are both in their personal life and professional life we learn that the truth is far more interesting and nuanced than our single story would lead us to believe. For the most part students and parents do care deeply about their education, and most teachers, administrators, and politicians are acting in ways that they consider to be in the best interest for our students.
A couple of ways in which we can arrive at a more truthful story is by taking the time time to listen to investigate, to assume best intentions, and to provide all community members a forum in which they are allowed to share their own story. As for providing all community members a forum in which to express themselves, this is where technology can be used in powerful ways. Blogs and other forms of social media allow us to glimpse into the lives of others. Some social media can be used in order to clarify professional opinions. However, it may be equally important to know our community on a personal basis as well since this knowledge can create the foundation of an empathetic relationship. For example, I know that professionally my district’s superintendent cares greatly about technological innovation. Just as importantly I also know that he has a daughter in 7th grade in one of our middle schools, plays bass guitar, and is a Star Wars fan. While you might say that the personal has no bearing on the professional I would counter that the personal gives weight and credibility to the professional. Because I know a little bit about Dr. Vodicka’s interests I better understand where he comes from when he opines professionally. By humanizing anyone you can avoid jumping to faulty conclusions. You become more willing to give individuals the benefit of the doubt and hear them out rather than allowing stories to become imposed upon them. In the beautiful words of Chimamanda, “Stories can also be used to empower and to humanize. Stories can break the dignity of a people but stories can also repair that broken dignity” (Ngozi Adichie). In a more pragmatic sense, students must be encouraged to become storytellers who practice telling their stories on a regular basis and using multiple tools. The story students tell at school may deal with their learning, the academic growth they experience, and other epiphanies they have along the way. However, the stories that they share about their interests and non-school life can be just as important in helping us understand who they are and why they make choices that can otherwise befuddle us. So we share and partake in the sharing of infinite stories using tools as simple our voice or technologically dependent like Instagram because “Stories matter. Many stories matter” (Ngozi Adichie). Everyone should be allowed to tell their own story to have agency in helping us understand who they are and how they want to be perceived. Multiple stories lead to better understandings and better understandings can result in no less than better harmony. Resource Ngozi Adichie, C. (2009, October 7). The Danger of a Single Story | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie | TED Talks. Retrieved August 4, 2015. The video “Learning to Change-Changing to Learn” served as a punctuation mark of sorts to end my summer of learning. Many of the ideas expressed by the educational innovators in the video so precisely captured my own realizations that I was willing to forgive the poor audio and bothersome camera angles. A major theme running through these commentaries was that technology has completely changed the paradigm of education and it is anachronistic, to say the least, to continue our pedagogy as if nothing has changed. We must embrace the potential made possible and required by technology. Ignoring this potential will result in dire consequences for both our students and profession.
This is an admittedly an alarmist point of view, especially for those who happen to fall along the camp of educational status quo. Those of us who are ready to embrace change and completely redefine the teacher-learner paradigm will be a little better prepared to take on technology integration in education. As Yong Zhao explains in the video, “technology is not really a choice. It has created a world. It’s not just here to help you teach traditional subjects. It has invented. It has emerged a completely new environment” (“Learning to Change,” Zhao, 2008). What is frightening is that this video is already more than seven years old, an eternity in our world of constant flux. My current teaching assignment and continued learning leads me to believe that the near future will find me a much better prepared teacher, ready to help advance the new paradigm of teaching with technological integration. As to how I will be a better 21st century tech-minded teacher, it begins first and foremost with understanding the importance of being a connected educator. I don’t believe that we can be effective in our jobs while we practice in insolation. And it’s not enough to share your ideas with the teacher across the campus. We must embrace the educational community throughout the world in order to arrive at the richest collaborations. In the video, Deborah Baker suggests that if we want to help our students become more connected then we must “Start with the teacher. If I want my students to make global connections then I’m going to give the tools to my teachers first and provide the with opportunities to connect with other teachers around the world or other teachers around the country” (“Learning to Change,” Baker, 2008). As a tech learning coach, I will encourage my teachers to be better connected with colleagues both locally and globally using a myriad of social media tools. I will also make sure to embrace technological tools not only to allow kids to consume digital content but also to create it. In this regard, Julie Evans explains, “Kids are very rich content developers through their social networking sites. They’re big communicators through email, instant messaging, and text messaging and yet all of those things are banned from their schools” (Learning to Change,” Evans, 2008). It seems that at the present our default mode in education makes us more fearful than excited about what students produce in online environments. We must embrace our students’ creative potential online not suppress it. Finally, we must also see school as more than brick and mortar buildings. School and education is now a learning experience that must take into account larger communities, both physical and digital extending far beyond the traditional classroom. In this regard, Cheryl Lemke described an education where “the student is at the center and school is just one of the ways and places that they learn but they also learn through their community, at home, in museums in libraries and of course, online” (“Learning to Change,” Lemke, 2008). All in all, this class has opened my eyes to an education which capitalizes on the potential of technological integration. This video effectively reminds of just how much I have learned and how much my ideas have changed. I’m ready to bring this into my teaching and teacher coaching. Resources Learning to Change-Changing to Learn. (2008, May 15). Retrieved August 4, 2015, from https://youtu.be/tahTKdEUAPk Quote: "Americans need talents and abilities that are not available at a lower price elsewhere on earth. (Zhao, "Preface", Section 70, para. 3) Question: What are those talents and abilities that we can teach and nurture that cannot be as readily produced elsewhere in the world? Connection: One of the district administrators that I have recently talked with explained that we need to train students to be able to do tasks that require "non-repetitive, high cognition skills." Zhao explains that we're fighting a losing battle if all we try to do is compete with nations which are capable of more efficiently mass producing a low-cognition, high repetition work force. Epiphany: Preparing students for the future means more than simply teaching students so that they are more competitive than their international counterparts. We are teaching students to be functional in a world where so much traditional work is becoming automated by machines. If all we do is teach students skills that are repetitive and low cognition, we are preparing them for a future wherein they can be easily replaced by increasingly intelligent machines. Quote: "No Child Left Behind required that all states develop rigorous curriculum standards in math and reading following its passage, and in science by 2005. Today all 50 states have developed such standards and grade-level expectation" (Zhao, Chapter 1, Standards and Accountability, para. 3). Question: What is wrong with having standards and holding school accountable for teaching those same standards? Connection: I have had far too many conversations with colleagues who found NCLB distasteful to downright offensive with its emphasis on testing. I would often counter that there is nothing wrong with trying to be more rigorous and holding ourselves accountable. Epiphany: In the past I have thought that in absence of standards and testing there would be complacency. Yet I entered the teaching profession knowing nothing but an NCLB teaching environment. Zhao has effectively described the shortcomings of the philosophy underlying centralized educational reforms like NCLB. Too often we pursue rigor and centralization by sacrificing student talent diversification and the more humanistic elements that should be at the core of any education. Quote: "Clearly, American education has been moving toward authoritarianism, letting the government dictate what and how students should learn and what schools should teach" (Zhao, "The Road to Educational Dictatorship", para. 1). Question: Has the push for national standards resulted in better, more rigorous standards that will benefit all students? Connection: I have often looked contemptuously towards those states or individuals who resisted the implementation of Common Core Standards. I thought that resistors were merely right wing ideologues who did not want to have their freedoms taken by the government they so feared. Epiphany: I can now look with some understanding towards those who are not fully convinced that Common Core Standards are the panacea for education. The problem is, as most likely spouted by Bill O'Reilly and the Fox Network, that centralization is not the solution. I am reluctant to put myself the company of the aforementioned, however centralization and authoritarianism. does lead to systems incapable of recognizing the individual and strength of diversity. Quote: "We thus face a choice of what we want: a diversity of talents, of individuals who are passionate, curious, self-confident, and risk taking; or a nation of excellent test takers, outstanding performers on math and reading tests" (Zhao, "An Imperfect System That Others Seek to Emulate", para. 4). Question: Is it possible to find a balance between nurturing diverse talents and making sure that all students have the fundamental math and reading skills necessary to function in society? Connection: As skeptical teachers, we are at times dismissive of test scores. We may say things like "These scores don't necessarily reflect the actual learning of our students or capture their other non-quantifiable skills." Epiphany: Zhao destroys many assumptions that we make by putting standards and test results at the core of our teaching. He explains how this approach is being abandoned by high performing, Asian nations. While they adopt our approach we take theirs. Yet, test results are do not correlate to better national outcomes in terms of competitiveness and other measures such as GDP. It is a bit of a gamble to place so much emphasis on the skills that standards and testing can achieve. Resources Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way American education in the age of globalization. Alexandria, Va.: ASCD. |
AuthorIn this blog I will share my perspectives of the learning and materials from EDL 680, already a very inspiring course that I am taking for MA in Educational Leadership Archives
August 2015
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