Wow! I hate being reminded of how much crossing twelve time zones rattles my head. I simply couldn’t stay in bed later than 3:00 AM (Shanghai time), which, when you think about it, isn’t all that bad for me. I was asleep at 8:00 PM last night. But as you can see to the right, my morning caffeine fix is not any different, though my preference is Pepsi. Diet Coke (Coke Light) in China — well it tastes a little like chicken 😉
In a couple of hours, I’ll fly on to Hong Kong, where I’ll work with the Chinese International School and a couple of other engagements over the next few days, including their ThinkQuest event. I’ll probably have more to say about that later. After HK, it’s back to Shanghai for the Learning 2.008 conference.
I’m pretty sure it’s going to be one of the most interesting conferences that I’ve been a part of. Although there will be presentations, the gathering will be mostly about conversations. We’ll be a negotiating words, looking for language, and painting a new image of teaching, learning, and the contexts for education that are relevant to this time — and compelling for today’s ears. We’re seeking a new story.
A while back, Jeff Utecht, an international schools educator, now in Bangkok, Thailand, and one of the organizers of Learning 2.008, wrote a blog post where he suggested three questions that would convey the theme of this years Shanghai event. They are:
- How does the future catch you?
- If we didn?t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?
- How as educators can we learn to be action-oriented, renounce the statement “Yes, but,” and enthusiastically embrace the query, “What if?”
Of course, I’ve got my own various lenses for interpreting these questions and suggesting answers. But I also know that there is not one single avenue for exploring the questions, nor are there simple, consistent answers. I’ve talked about some of the questions here and on the conference social network. But with only a few days before the conference, I’d like to listen a bit more.
So how would you answer these questions? Which, of the dozen or so questions here, are the most important?
I look forward to learning from you…
These are some difficult questions to answer. The first I will tackle last. The second – would we create the schools? – I don’t think we have yet created schools the way they should be. We still are focused too much on testing and discipline. We still tend to teach to the average child, ignoring many along the way. We need to move much more toward authentic assessment, enabling all children to demonstrate their skills, allowing all to find success. We need to help children find themselves, not worry so much about fitting them into the mold.
How can we be action-oriented? Stop worrying about pleasing everyone. Do what you know is right. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Think about the children first and never give up trying. Don’t accept no for an answer. Just find another solution.
Now back to number one: How does the future catch you? Hopefully not unaware and unprepared. I feel that as long as I keep learning, the future will catch me ready, willing, and able. At least I hope so.
Enjoy Shanghai, David. Say hi to Brian Crosby for me!
I’m looking at the question: “If we didn’t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?” No.
So much research points to a situated mode of learning, an area that has its roots in apprenticeship, in ideas from thinkers such as Vygotsky, researched and published about by Lave and Wenger and others. Learning would not look the same, schools would only be a part of the process. Teaching would change to allowing student talents and interests to flow in a more flexible direction; curriculum would not be set in stone, standards would not dictate a previously agreed upon list of items to be mastered by students in order to prepare them for work. We would focus on making gatherings of students, teachers, experts, and novices beneficial and enjoyable and the results of their efforts would produce ongoing information to be further developed by future groups of learners. Education, if redone in the context of this discussion, would begin to connect with the day to day technology already in use, and would not have a single “place” in which people would say: “That place is where we go to be educated.”
1. How does the future catch you?
The “future” is happening now. If the schools in which we teach would cease to educate for the past and begin to educate for now, it would be a huge step forward. Educating for the future would then be closer and the chasm not so wide. As it is, I find myself suddenly thrust into a school with no rudder (the ONLY proponent for what I do just quit effective 10-1-08 = please don’t email or Skype or IM me as the kids at school do not yet know – thanks). The American school system (the one I know) is blind and doesn’t care that it is blind or performing a disservice to the stakeholders and/or taxpayers.
2. If we didn’t have the schools we have today, would we create the schools we have today?
Of course not. We have created a perfect babysitting service, not a educational service.
3. How as educators can we learn to be action-oriented, renounce the statement “Yes, but,” and enthusiastically embrace the query, “What if?”
Accept every “no” as a challenge and like Nike says, just do it. I do. Of course that is probably why I do three jobs for the price of less than one secretary – one could also say I am a fool (and I am).
Enjoy that conference!!
So is this the Olympic planning committee of future education?
As an aspiring teacher but an actual parent of middle school and lower school kids, I don’t really agree with the tone of some of the comments. While my kids’ schools aren’t perfect, they are in fact pretty good and my children are really happy at them–learning, making friends, doing good stuff, being bored at times. But over all, net net, the schools have taught them admirably.
Having said all that…
I’m transitioning from the (higher paying) world of finance and I think our schools would attract a greater variety of people and more men if society put a higher premium on teachers’ wages than say, figuring out what the US yield curve will look like tomorrow.