"Come back when you have a focus for your paper." says the gatekeeping teacher.
Ahhhhhh! No!!!!!!!!!!
In mythology there are incredible examples of the gatekeeper. These take the form of guards to the gates of "hell" and "heaven." They also appear at bridges, ferries, labyrinths, and other assorted passage/transitional spaces. I'm not sure when our role as teachers morphed into this gatekeeping guardian. But I know I don't like it.
What are we guarding? What are we keeping? Both gerunds seem like the negative side of something good, something better. I don't want to guard, I want to give. I don't want to keep, I want to share.
Sharing is caring, keeping is crap.
If education needed guardians, then the only thing worth guarding would be the safe and free journey of the student. As a result, the teacher becomes guide on that journey.
I can see where teachers confuse their gatekeeping for coaching and guiding, but confusion is the important part of that sentence.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
new year rant
Our education thrives (and depends) on the production of knowledge, NOT the consumption of information.
The role of the teacher changes from dispensing information, to facilitating how students produce knowledge. Producing knowledge is not inventing something new. It is creating the conditions in which students can thrive. It is the connected Mind. It is the merging of the visceral and the virtual.
Teachers work in how, but start with why, always. This is the shift that Sinek articulates with the Golden Circle in Starting with Why. It is also, the "Belief to Action" process from Schlechty (via Hullfish and Smith). You act in accordance with your beliefs. Not outside of your beliefs, but as a condition of your beliefs. And this condition of belief and action is ... the air innovators breathe.
If you are a learner, then NOW is the greatest time to be alive. As a learner, as a curious human who is giddy to know more, the world comes in two flavors - 1st the visceral world, the world known by experience and interaction and engagement. Second to this is the virtual world, the world discovered vicariously through books and the internet. There are no subtle differences between the two. In other words, the differences are GRAND. And fundamentally, the 1st, the visceral, is knowledge and the 2nd, the virtual, is information. Together, combined in the correct ratio 3:1 (or was it 1:3 ?), will produce remarkable, maybe even astounding results. This is why Dale Dougherty is correct when he asserts that "a computer cannot be the UI (user interface) of a classroom." Because if a computer is the UI, then only information is achievable.
The role of the teacher changes from dispensing information, to facilitating how students produce knowledge. Producing knowledge is not inventing something new. It is creating the conditions in which students can thrive. It is the connected Mind. It is the merging of the visceral and the virtual.
Teachers work in how, but start with why, always. This is the shift that Sinek articulates with the Golden Circle in Starting with Why. It is also, the "Belief to Action" process from Schlechty (via Hullfish and Smith). You act in accordance with your beliefs. Not outside of your beliefs, but as a condition of your beliefs. And this condition of belief and action is ... the air innovators breathe.
If you are a learner, then NOW is the greatest time to be alive. As a learner, as a curious human who is giddy to know more, the world comes in two flavors - 1st the visceral world, the world known by experience and interaction and engagement. Second to this is the virtual world, the world discovered vicariously through books and the internet. There are no subtle differences between the two. In other words, the differences are GRAND. And fundamentally, the 1st, the visceral, is knowledge and the 2nd, the virtual, is information. Together, combined in the correct ratio 3:1 (or was it 1:3 ?), will produce remarkable, maybe even astounding results. This is why Dale Dougherty is correct when he asserts that "a computer cannot be the UI (user interface) of a classroom." Because if a computer is the UI, then only information is achievable.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Will Smith's Truth
“The only thing
that I see that is distinctly different about me is I’m not afraid to die on a
treadmill.
I will not be out-worked, period.
You might have
more talent than me, you might be smarter than me, you might be sexier than me,
you might be all of those things…in nine categories. But if we get on the
treadmill together, there’re two things: You’re getting off first, or I’m going to die. It’s really that simple.”
- Will Smith
It really is this simple.
Work harder and work smarter!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Can
I was paid a wonderful compliment recently by a very smart and very effective educator, she said, "It is great to work with someone who believes we can make it happen, even if we have no clue how it will happen."
"How" will never slow us down. "How" will never stop us.
We know we "can," because "Belief is the silent side of action."
Our vision is big and we understand and relentlessly prepare for the work that it takes to implement that vision.
William Easterly, writes "Planners announce good intentions, but don't motivate anyone to carry them out; Searchers find (or create) things that work and build on them."
Everyone who focuses on HOW to do it, may never do it. These are Easterly's "planners."
Everyone who focuses on WHY we do it, can make it happen. These are Easterly's "searchers."
Be a Searcher.
Learn. Act. Imagine. Repeat.
Best advice I ever gave.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Grand Slam
On February 16th, Newton's Lab and the Greengineers hosted the MA Secretary of Education, Paul Reville, Newotn Mayor, Setti Warren, and almost 200 other guests for a showcase of educational innovation. The central theme of the day was "collaboration."
The link below will connect you to a short and wonderful slideshow/video of the event, produced by the Newton Patch.
Innovation and Inspiration at Newton's Lab
We seem to use that word (collaboration) a lot in the lab. And the more I think about it, the more I agree that it is the correct word to describe the work of innovation and ingenuity.
Despite the recent spin on the power of introverts, I believe that real implementation and progress depend upon collaborative efforts.
I know that most of the impetus for change often comes from that singular and quiet place of introspection, but it would also die there, in that quiet place, without the axis of collaboration to motor and maintain change.
I invented the Greengineers, from an intellectual quiet place, but the Greengineers have grown far beyond my vision because of the students' ability to engage that vision and make it their own.
One of the most important aspects of that engagement comes from Preston Cline's research on Mission-Critical teams. He's articulated that one significant element of a mission-critical team is that every member sees themselves in a leadership position regardless of their role on the team. That's true for the engaged student and classroom. I've written this before, but one question that keeps popping up for me is, "how necessary are our students?"
In most classrooms, the answer is "not." The truth is - Students are not necessary. Well, engagement will not happen in that environment. Impossible. Never going to happen.
Every time a teacher begins planning a lesson, they need to grapple with that question before they plan one minute of curriculum, instruction, or assessment. And if they don't have a good answer, (hint...the only answer is "I have no lesson without the total (87%) investment from my students, or I better pack it up and head home, if my students are not essential to this plan), then STOP.
STOP and find an ally to help re-imagine how to design your students back into your lessons.
And YES the times demand this reverse engineering, this re-imagination. In the past (limited to industrial education, aka modern, traditional education), essential students were not necessary, because "teacher" was sole source of information. Now, schools and teachers must see themselves as translators and inventors in this information age. Access to information is no longer limited to the classroom and teacher. Those two things (classroom and teacher) should not be in competition with the endlessness of digital information either. Our role as educators is exactly how Umberto Eco predicted in "Towards a Semiological Guerrilla Warfare," when he hints that it's not the source of information (he called it "communication") that's important anymore, but the destination. We, as teachers and scholars, are responsible for facilitating the discussion of the arriving message, at the destination of information (our communities) - "in light of the codes at the destination, comparing them with the codes at the source."
In the past, power sought to control the source and the channel of information. That was the function of industrial, traditional, modern education. However, the internet forced a change, similar to telephone and television, but on a scale unimagined.
EVERY AGE has been the information age. Listen humans. For humans, every age is the information age.
Pre-Gutenberg the source, channel, and destination of information were close in proximity and shared. Which means information was verifiable by experience and observation. Circa Gutenberg these three (source, channel, destination) were distant, but shared, and limited in translation and interpretation. We had to hope the great documents were being honestly translated and interpreted. This post-Gutenberg (internet) time is a bombardment of information, a ceaseless, scope-less, purposeless mess of incredible, horrifying, and beautiful information.
We, the educators, must facilitate the complex and ill-defined dialogue to engage this endless information. We, as we have always done, will guide communities (and more importantly INDIVIDUALS) to filter out, slow down, and grapple with this new (not new) information age.
That's 21st century learning. Which is actually 1st century learning, with new tools and new challenges.
The link below will connect you to a short and wonderful slideshow/video of the event, produced by the Newton Patch.
Innovation and Inspiration at Newton's Lab
We seem to use that word (collaboration) a lot in the lab. And the more I think about it, the more I agree that it is the correct word to describe the work of innovation and ingenuity.
Despite the recent spin on the power of introverts, I believe that real implementation and progress depend upon collaborative efforts.
I know that most of the impetus for change often comes from that singular and quiet place of introspection, but it would also die there, in that quiet place, without the axis of collaboration to motor and maintain change.
I invented the Greengineers, from an intellectual quiet place, but the Greengineers have grown far beyond my vision because of the students' ability to engage that vision and make it their own.
One of the most important aspects of that engagement comes from Preston Cline's research on Mission-Critical teams. He's articulated that one significant element of a mission-critical team is that every member sees themselves in a leadership position regardless of their role on the team. That's true for the engaged student and classroom. I've written this before, but one question that keeps popping up for me is, "how necessary are our students?"
In most classrooms, the answer is "not." The truth is - Students are not necessary. Well, engagement will not happen in that environment. Impossible. Never going to happen.
Every time a teacher begins planning a lesson, they need to grapple with that question before they plan one minute of curriculum, instruction, or assessment. And if they don't have a good answer, (hint...the only answer is "I have no lesson without the total (87%) investment from my students, or I better pack it up and head home, if my students are not essential to this plan), then STOP.
STOP and find an ally to help re-imagine how to design your students back into your lessons.
And YES the times demand this reverse engineering, this re-imagination. In the past (limited to industrial education, aka modern, traditional education), essential students were not necessary, because "teacher" was sole source of information. Now, schools and teachers must see themselves as translators and inventors in this information age. Access to information is no longer limited to the classroom and teacher. Those two things (classroom and teacher) should not be in competition with the endlessness of digital information either. Our role as educators is exactly how Umberto Eco predicted in "Towards a Semiological Guerrilla Warfare," when he hints that it's not the source of information (he called it "communication") that's important anymore, but the destination. We, as teachers and scholars, are responsible for facilitating the discussion of the arriving message, at the destination of information (our communities) - "in light of the codes at the destination, comparing them with the codes at the source."
In the past, power sought to control the source and the channel of information. That was the function of industrial, traditional, modern education. However, the internet forced a change, similar to telephone and television, but on a scale unimagined.
EVERY AGE has been the information age. Listen humans. For humans, every age is the information age.
Pre-Gutenberg the source, channel, and destination of information were close in proximity and shared. Which means information was verifiable by experience and observation. Circa Gutenberg these three (source, channel, destination) were distant, but shared, and limited in translation and interpretation. We had to hope the great documents were being honestly translated and interpreted. This post-Gutenberg (internet) time is a bombardment of information, a ceaseless, scope-less, purposeless mess of incredible, horrifying, and beautiful information.
We, the educators, must facilitate the complex and ill-defined dialogue to engage this endless information. We, as we have always done, will guide communities (and more importantly INDIVIDUALS) to filter out, slow down, and grapple with this new (not new) information age.
That's 21st century learning. Which is actually 1st century learning, with new tools and new challenges.
Monday, February 6, 2012
We began this semester, with our advanced research students (aka CAPS-SYP), exploring the analogy of archaeology and artifacts as a great metaphor for research. We co-opted the language and process of archaeology - mapping the dig site with a grid, excavations and the variety of tools used, and ultimately calling all discoveries (on the research dig) artifacts.
It's working.
This hunch is working. The students are getting it and are not afraid of the language/process of research. With this archaeology metaphor, research is now a fun and messy mystery to be solved. There are artifacts to find and stories to tell about them.
Here's the slide show we used to start the process.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1kiVBxzWC-EAPfJpiJvs3sleH8W34FJamU3uJy6gZ4e4&start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000
Stanford's Design School says, "research should be seen as a creative act as much as it is analytical."
It's working.
This hunch is working. The students are getting it and are not afraid of the language/process of research. With this archaeology metaphor, research is now a fun and messy mystery to be solved. There are artifacts to find and stories to tell about them.
Here's the slide show we used to start the process.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/pub?id=1kiVBxzWC-EAPfJpiJvs3sleH8W34FJamU3uJy6gZ4e4&start=true&loop=true&delayms=3000
Stanford's Design School says, "research should be seen as a creative act as much as it is analytical."
Monday, January 30, 2012
Disruptive juggling, part 2
So, we're jugglers. Some are better than others. Some are happy juggling their three bean bags for an entire career. Some are not. Here's the rub...
So, in our jobs as educators, juggling is a life long pursuit. Teaching is an eternal competency. The variables are always changing, at least yearly, with new students.
But, some of us grow tired of the bean bags and want to juggle torches and swords. Now, just the mention of juggling swords and torches is disruptive to most. It's disruptive even if you promise not to include others in your attempts and practice sessions. Never mind public performances. Never mind reaching out and asking those bean bag jugglers to partner with you in a new flaming sword juggling routine.
So, this is how I see educational innovation and the disruption it brings - trying to juggle swords and torches next to people just trying to keep their bean bags moving and not dropping.
So, to those people who are afraid of the flaming sword jugglers across the room, the innovative jugglers, I say, "don't worry," or "trust us, we're professionals, too."
And until we ask or demand that you participate in the flaming sword routine, just back up and know that we'll give you a head's-up if one of the sharp torches gets loose and is heading your way.
Until then, let us innovate.
So, we're jugglers. Some are better than others. Some are happy juggling their three bean bags for an entire career. Some are not. Here's the rub...
So, in our jobs as educators, juggling is a life long pursuit. Teaching is an eternal competency. The variables are always changing, at least yearly, with new students.
But, some of us grow tired of the bean bags and want to juggle torches and swords. Now, just the mention of juggling swords and torches is disruptive to most. It's disruptive even if you promise not to include others in your attempts and practice sessions. Never mind public performances. Never mind reaching out and asking those bean bag jugglers to partner with you in a new flaming sword juggling routine.
So, this is how I see educational innovation and the disruption it brings - trying to juggle swords and torches next to people just trying to keep their bean bags moving and not dropping.
So, to those people who are afraid of the flaming sword jugglers across the room, the innovative jugglers, I say, "don't worry," or "trust us, we're professionals, too."
And until we ask or demand that you participate in the flaming sword routine, just back up and know that we'll give you a head's-up if one of the sharp torches gets loose and is heading your way.
Until then, let us innovate.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)