Hello again! Great news- my live source has gotten back to me with a couple answers that I think will really benefit my research. Just in case I didn't mention before, my live source is a past teacher of mine who has worked at traditional school as well as an alternative one. She currently teaches at a Project-Based Progressive learning school in Wisconsin and speaks at conferences on non-traditional education.
I asked her a couple of things that my research didn't cover such as how teachers could apply non-traditional education styles to their classrooms and what problems they might encounter by doing so.
To start off answering how teachers could apply new type of teaching she points out the common thread that I saw in my research: individualization. She goes on to say how this individualization* might be limited, usually students drive their own education and even in classrooms today this is being seen but on a limited scale. She comments that teachers today design projects and direct implementation, students learn but the desired outcome is determined by the teacher. I suppose for a classroom to be full progressive students would drive their outcome.
After this she reiterates that it is possible for traditional classrooms to make this shift. By letting students have more "Choice and voice" in their education schools can work toward individualized education. Currently the most choice students have is what classes they check off on their course selection cards. She suggests that teachers introduce a unit topic and let students research within that area and let them find the solution to an open-ended problem. She provides a great example: "...to teach U.S. History, the class might move through the course era by era. Students who really love music could learn about and share the music of each era, while students who love politics could research and offer that information. When I taught Art, for instance, I created student choice by teaching a variety of techniques in a variety of media and then allowing students to create an artistic solution to an open-ended problem, using/including any of the techniques they had learned." By doing this students could fully learn about a topic from classmates depending on what they researched. So the idea of self-guided education comes into play while still encouraging students to learn about a certain subject. I think I might have touched on this in an earlier blog posting as well.
She also introduces an idea of differentiation which is when teachers teach the material to different classes in different ways depending on their learning capacity (she uses these:" (low) knowledge/comprehension-(medium) application-(high) analysis/synthesis."). She then comments that this is not truly individualized if done in groups, but only if done student by student. I imagine, with anything that is done student by student, one could always expect the obstacle of time, and in many schools, time is not a maneuverable latitude.
She summarizes to say that teachers must follow these five steps to achieve an alternative learning environment:
o Adopt the philosophy of one or more the progressive movements presented. A paradigm shift, a belief that education can be different, can be student-centered, is really the first step.
o Be willing to experiment. Experimentation involves taking some risks, trying new things, and fielding questions/skepticism from supervisors and colleagues. They must trust the process.They must also be willing to put in extra time and energy.
o Start small. Attempting to change everything at once can be detrimental to the process.
o Be willing to reflect. All too often we fail to stop, think, review, and ask for feedback (that’s scary sometimes). Then develop new strategies/goals based on the review.
o Connect with others who are interested in innovating. Change is much easier with a support network.
All in all, teachers must be motivated and have a direction, this will help to lead down the road to success.
As far as obstacles go she whittles them down to a few things: a negative school community, grade level teaching sequences, traditional education paradigms, time, funding, and lack of patience.
1) Getting rid of a negative school community isn't easy, a positive one encourages individuality and respect for education, which many kids today do not have. She suggests getting many staff involved and dedicated to the process.
2) Many teachers and schools stick to the idea of learning certain things at certain grade levels, but this can limit a student and discourage real learning. I think this is a little harder to change, as many states require students to meet some sort of standard, which would make it nearly impossible for a single teacher to avoid this.Without the entire school on board this could be hard to beat.
3)Many people are stuck in their ways and believe their children or students should be taught like they were taught, even if it is not the most efficient or best way.
4) Time is always an enemy, completely individualized education is hard to achieve in a 50 minutes class period as a teacher can not meet student by student. Also in a broader perspective, alternative education programs take a long time to implement, there is so much experimentation and educators can get unmotivated and be discouraged to continue their program.
5) Funding is essential, if citizens believe everyone should have a right to free education it must be funded. On a classroom level, materials must be funded as well, in some alternative learning environments different kids need different materials to achieve their goals. There are grants out there for teachers to apply for individually but it takes time and effort for find them and apply for them.
6) I feel that she explains lack of patience better than I can: " I truly believe that education is one of the most effective ways to affect positive change in our world. Education, however, takes a long, long, long time—thirteen-plus years for each individual, much longer to actually see a movement or a generational shift in education itself take place. Too many people (yes, politicians, but average citizens and teachers too!) are not willing to work and continue working while gradual change takes place. Paradoxically, we must educate people that education is important and necessary and leads to good!"
With enough dedication any educator can overcome these obstacles if he or she works hard enough. If the educator is determined to integrate non-traditional learning into his/her classroom they can.
A huge thanks to Jennifer Plamann for the input on alternative integration
Until next time!
*She states that individualization is teacher-based, where students have choice in how they learn, just not the outcome. Personalization is where students have full control over how they learn and what the end result will be. For the sake of this posting, however, I am using individualization to represent personalization.
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