The Classroom Has to Go…
The forces of change have leapt into overdrive these last few years, and while history sometimes takes a long time, it also packs a punch. The pandemic has fundamentally changed how we work, and many other social structures. Cryptocurrency is rewriting the economic rules. AI is replacing humans, and it is very likely the students of today will be inventing the jobs they will inhabit. To prepare for this, they’ll need creativity, confidence, a growth mindset, and the ability to innovate.
In the field of education, however, dinosaurs still roam the earth.
Having worked in education for going on thirty years there’s a universal truth that anyone with this experience understands. There is a constant push for change and innovation, but wait just a little while, and the sudden new shiny thing has been replaced by a different new and shiny thing.
Case in point is differentiation. About 15 years ago this was the hot topic, and anyone applying for a teaching job had better be ready to quote Nancy Atwell and speak to Vark’s four learning styles. Before that time there were numerous other trends, such as “active learning”, and since that time there have been numerous other trends, such as visual thinking. None of them are permanent, and all of them are effectively useless in bringing meaningful change. It’s not that they are bad ideas, they are just dealing with the window dressing and not understanding the house needs to be torn down.
The issue at hand is systemic. Eduction employs an army of specialists, coaches, mentors, consultants, podcasters, bloggers, authors, influencers, and experts. Each one earns by pitching forth ideas to school and district management, who in turn are anxious to do all they can to push their institution towards the latest trend.
Case in point is one such expert whose twitter bio is “Educator, Consultant, Author, Podcaster” who hops from school-to-school riding fad after fad, and has been doing so going on twenty years, and in all that time nothing of any real substance has changed.
Often these gurus of educational enlightenment are former principals or school heads who essentially call upon their networks to hire them, and they drop into a school for 2–3 days of workshops before disappearing into the ether, which is where their ideas end up as well.
What’s missing is a “willing to be disturbed mentality,” and a fundamental redesign. It’s badly needed. The only definitive thing known about the future is that it’s not what it used to be.
At the heart of this change is the rejection of classes, subjects, and grades. Instead, learning spaces are organized around what the student decides is important. Assessments and accountability remain as these are fundamental for learners to measure progress.
Learning needs to be structured to develop a change mindset. Discreet topics are not important. Ask any adult what they can remember from eighth-grade mathematics, science, history, etc. and the answer will likely be they’ve forgotten everything.
Here then is a vision of what a “school day” could look like through the eyes of a fictional future student.
The first meeting of the day is at 10:00 a.m. In that meeting the student has to lay out their plans for the day, identifying what they expect to have completed before the next day’s meeting, also at 10:00 a.m. The meeting is done with an advisor (could be an adult, could be another student) and the details are logged into a database using a mobile app.
From 10:00 until such time as the student decides to return home, they take part in lessons according to their goals. These could be computer-based lessons the student completes alone, group activities with other students, or seminars with experts on the topic (could be adults, could be other students). It’s their choice.
Students scan their ID cards at different locations and activities throughout their day, and the data is available in real-time to parents and guardians and the students’ mentors. While this provides for attendance and safety tracking, over time the apps provide detailed data on how time was used.
There are events scheduled throughout the day the students join as needed. For instance, the mathematics expert will be describing positive and negative numbers at 11:30. As well, students, through the app, can vote on what topics they would like to learn about through face-to-face mentoring, and these become ad-hoc sessions as needs demand.
The monthly performance review is when a student proves they have the knowledge and skills needed. If all goes well, the student then looks ahead to the next month. There is a yearly plan, quarterly plan, monthly plan, and then the daily plan.
If a student struggles to meet performance standards, then plans are adjusted and action is taken to remedy the issue. The student completes another performance review in those areas, and this continues as long as necessary.
There are spaces and people on standby for students struggling with concepts and needing to talk to someone.
Food is available throughout the day for the student, and there are spaces for fun and recreation where they can socialize with others. There’s also a full assortment of sports and creative pursuits. These happen throughout the day, and there will be times when a student will need to prioritize.
There’s no set schedule to follow, and one student’s day will look very different from another. There’s no “teacher” in charge, but mentors and experts giving seminars, workshops, tutorials, and the like.
The world of learning described here puts students in charge. It will allow students to design their own pathways. If they are really strong in some areas, they’ll be able to spend less time on it, and more time on topics they struggle with. As well, they can go deep into topics they are interested in, just so long as they meet the standards in other areas.
With such a model the student is developing important values such as showing initiative, organization, responsibility, and core social-emotional skills identified as vital for managing change in the future: empathy and service, deep self-knowledge, and a growth mindset.
References:
Khazan, Olga. “Are ‘Learning Styles’ Real?” The Atlantic, The Atlantic, 11 Apr. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/the-myth-of-learning-styles/557687/.
Edutopia. “Multiple Intelligences: What Does the Research Say?” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 20 July 2016, www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-research.
Wheatley, Margaret J. Turning to One Another : Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future. San Francisco, Berrett-Koehler, 2014.
“3 Social-Emotional Skills Students Need to Succeed in 2040 and Beyond.” KnowledgeWorks, knowledgeworks.org/resources/social-emotional-skills-students-2040/. Accessed 7 June 2021.
Robinson, Sir Ken. “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” Www.ted.com, Feb. 2006, www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?. Accessed 7 June 2021.
