The Misunderstood Ingredient in Modern Learning Environments

In the era of Modern Learning Environments and all the various rhetoric around what constitutes 21^st Century Learning Environments, one key point seems to be lacking in the conversation.  Money is heavily invested in making our learning environments look ‘modern’ (bright colours, lack of walls, access to alternative working spaces) and teachers are required to adapt to these environments and ‘move with the times’.

But for all the investment in these spaces, and the focus on responding to a new ‘type’ of learner, the key ingredient in any successful learning journey is under-funded, under-resourced, and under-supported to ensure this is money well spent.

The teachers operating in these environments find themselves being thrown into the new spaces facing the inevitable steep learning curve that comes with a significant veering ‘off course’ of traditional teaching pedagogies.  Those funding the provision of these environments have a sort of ‘she’ll be right’ approach to supporting the teachers moving into these spaces, with many often expecting teachers to adapt quickly and respond promptly to the various challenges modern-learning provides.

Why is this? Why is there a fairly relaxed approach to ensuring teachers have the adequate knowledge and skills to teach in ways that enable modern learning environments to be responsive to 21^st century learners? Perhaps because the pivotal role the teacher plays in this type of environment is so very misunderstood.   Teachers working in these environments, seeking to gain the outcomes modern learning approaches provide, are challenged beyond any previous trends in education to be highly creative, responsive and innovative with their learners.  The teacher’s role in an MLE requires a high degree of skill and expertise if the learning outcomes are to demonstrate the success sought by those implementing these approaches.

So what are these skills and why are they so significant for our learners? Creativity is required now of teachers in ways previously unknown in the classroom.  The creative teacher has always been a gem, a hidden sort of jewel among the profession.  In a MLE, these teachers can excel in creating exciting and passionate opportunities for learning by their students.  They can extend learning far beyond the monotony of the traditional classroom.  But creativity takes time to blossom.  It takes time to plan and grow.  And in an age of extreme workload, the creativity of teachers, is limited to moments between assessments, reporting, planning and inquiring.

Creative teachers create creative classrooms.  Creative teachers create creative students.  21^st Century learning advocates cite creativity and innovation as leading ‘soft skills’ for our future workforce.  School managers, educators and the wider education community acknowledge the importance creativity plays in a child’s learning journey.  And yet, little time is allocated for both teacher and student to foster creativity in the already jam-packed school timetable.  Teachers need to be able to move into the mind-space to become creative in their practice.  With any MLE, teachers need to move away from replicating the traditional classroom practices within a brightly coloured, open-spaced, jam-packed MLE, and be enabled to respond to this learning space with creativity, flair and innovation.  Teachers need time to move into this creative space.  Teachers need support to understand that teaching in this environment looks fundamentally different to the more traditional single-cell approaches many (if not most) have trained to work within.

The result of teachers feeling supported to understand their role in an MLE?  The student outcomes sought by those promoting this modern learning approach.  Teachers will come to understand how crucial their role is and feel they have the time to create the sort of learning opportunities available to students within these environments.  They will move away from some of the practices inhibiting creativity in the classroom and model the kinds of thinking needed by the learners before them.  They will see themselves as part of the learning journey, rather than the expert in the room.  And the physical space will work to support all learners, rather than simply be another ‘pretty’ space with untapped potential.

Creativity is a key skill of any effective teacher.  Within a modern learning environment, it plays a significant role in generating the soft-skills required of our modern learners.  And yet, creativity is difficult to generate with the myriad of workload requirements faced by teachers presently.  For modern-learning environments to be successful, it is the role of the teacher, not the physical space, that is the key ingredient to successful student outcomes.

The Teaching Profession: Time to Pick Ourselves Up and Dust Ourselves Off

Before I decided to become a teacher, I tried my hand as a travel agent.  The idea of travel and exotic places as a career really excited me and I, at age 18, enthusiastically entered the vocation with ideas of glamour and adventure.

The reality, however, was a little more sobering.  Most of my time as an agent was about sending other people on exotic adventures, while I, remained behind the desk, on a telephone and computer ensuring nothing went wrong.  My working week was consistently mundane and predictable.  I was due in at 8am and clocked out at 5pm.  I had a series of jobs that needed doing in the morning and a series of wind-down jobs as we closed the shop at night.  I had a responsibility to report to my boss, provide information about my clients, ensure sales targets were met and make sure I wasn’t putting anyone in danger, or at the very least sending someone somewhere without the appropriate visa or legal documentation.

Life was predictable, consistent, non-creative, and boring.  The most exciting responsibility I had was to come up with a new window display to encourage people it was time, in the middle of winter, to book a holiday to the tropics.

So I decided to answer the call to teaching – a call I had been ignoring for a significant amount of time.  My rationale for becoming a teacher – life was never dull, never predictable and working with children allowed me to be creative and imaginative, and to have fun in my profession.  Being a teacher would not only challenge me but provide me with academic stimulation, as I was a learner in the journey of life just as much as those learning alongside with me.

 

And this rationale was very much answered when I entered the teaching profession as a beginning teacher almost two decades ago.  Within the structure of a profession that asks for and should have accountability, I was able to be autonomous in my style of teaching.  My methods of delivery were not put under a microscope, but were celebrated, by carefully considering those children who would be placed in my classroom.  Children who would connect with me, and I with them.  It was not a judgment call, but a recognition of my ability as a teacher to speak to some children more successfully than others.  Other children were placed carefully with other like-minded teachers.  There was a trust that our unique teaching methods and styles would get the job done.

The autonomous nature of the teaching profession was a big selling point for me in choosing to become a teacher.  The professional trust communicated to me early on in my career allowed me to work extremely hard to be the best teacher I could be.  I wanted to do the job more than well, because I enjoyed it, because I was dedicated to my students, because I wanted my management team to continue to have faith in me, and because I relished the idea of being creative and adventurous with my kids.  I wanted my kids to enjoy the learning adventure just as much as I did.  I achieved this in a teaching culture that did not question my every decision or every bit of assessment data.  I achieved this by not feeling like someone or something was waiting for me to ‘mess up’, or slack off, or demonstrate that perhaps I wasn’t a ‘good enough’ teacher after all.

This teaching culture did not require me to teach reading at the same time as the rest of the school – just so that the school could say without a doubt reading was being taught.  This teaching culture trusted that I, the professionally trained (degree-holding) educator, also believed teaching reading was fundamental to my role (let alone crucially important) and that it would happen every day (as I was trained to do).

This teaching culture did not require me to hand in my planning every week, or month, or term and microscopically examine it to identify where I may have missed a dotted i, or a crossed t, indicating I was an inept professional.  Instead, I was trusted to have my plan and only needed to show it if an issue arose where we needed to reflect on a way to tackle the issue in a different way – going back to the start and looking at a creative alternative to solving a problem instead.

This teaching culture did not look for the deficits in my assessment data, raising an eyebrow if I had some (or in some cases nearly all) students ‘below’ a standard or target….as if I may have been simply slacking off that week causing thus causing the slump in the data graph.  Instead, if I had a concern about the progress of a child (and yes, I was concerned as a teaching professional) I could confidently discuss these with others without fear of being judged in my teaching ability.

As I weave my way around New Zealand, working now with teachers, I am sad that this teaching culture, for many, no longer exists.  This culture of professional trust and professional dignity is being eroded and replaced with one that has teachers……good teachers……looking over their shoulders and feeling devalued as trained professionals. Teachers now are being treated with distrust and contempt…..questioned by those without the knowledge or skills to be able to stand in front of a class of 30 children and get through the day while remaining sane.

The culture of standardisation, ‘outcomes’ and ‘accelerating achievement’ is sucking the very life out of a profession that draws its strength from those who can work in an environment of autonomy, creativity, flexibility, and at times mild-madness.  Many teachers I meet have been working ‘on the shop floor’ for well over 30 years, and who have sound and proven skill as practitioners.  They know how children learn best, and how to establish a learning culture in their room that provides the necessary conditions for children’s successful learning.  And yet they express a frustration that they have lost that autonomy to be the teacher they know to work – because of the requirement to be able to justify and explain every single decision they make. This culture of mistrust is extending its tendrils across the country and into our classrooms in an epidemic manner.

Just as the standards approach sucks the very joy out of learning for our students, so too, does it suck the very joy out of teaching for our most successful and talented teachers.  It does this by communicating to these teachers they are not trusted, not valued and not respected as the qualified and experienced professionals they are.  We often ask our teachers, when they visit a doctors surgery and received a diagnosis – do they challenge the doctor? Do they question the doctor’s credentials, or perhaps suggest that they re-read the text book with which they consulted?  When a plumber responds to the call to fix a blocked pipe – do we suggest they need to use a more appropriate tool from their tool bag, or perhaps a different diameter pipe to better do the job? Do we ask to see their rate of success on previous blocked pipes?

Why, then, are we doing this to our teachers? Why do we allow the culture of teaching to be bullied by those without the professional knowledge, academic understanding or simple courage to stand in front of a class of children on a daily basis?  Perhaps its time, as a profession, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and bravely challenge those challenging us.  For this is what we would tell our students in the face of a bully – stand up for yourselves and be confident in your skills, talents and abilities as the trained professional you are.

 

Play: The Four Letter Word in Primary School

As a researcher, facilitator and advocate of teaching and learning through play in the primary school sector, I am continually asked “it all sounds great, and we know the benefits – but what do we call it….because it can’t just be called play”.

Decades of research provides evidence that play is the most valuable and successful way in which children engage in learning.  Through play, children can build all the necessary skills and knowledge required of them in readiness for adulthood.  Social-learning theory, constructivism, cognitive development theories, socio-emotional theories and physical development theories all uphold the power play has in the holistic development of children.

More recently, neuroscience has also identified the important link between learning through play, physical movement and the successful development of key executive functioning skills now viewed as paramount for the adult workforce.

Yet in the face of the mountain of research, primary school educators still avoid at all cost the use of the word play to describe the teaching and learning pedagogy within their school setting.  In primary-school based literature itself, play is not a useful search term to input.  It simply brings up very little with regards to the play – by researched definition- that equates to powerful learning opportunities for children.

Instead, educators look for ways to camouflage play pedagogy in a myriad of other packaged-type terms.  ‘Enriched curriculum’, ‘discovery’, ‘developmental’, ‘powerful learning activities’, ‘active learning’, ‘student ownership’ – all terms used by schools to justify the use of play pedagogy in their learning environment.

The need to package and market play suggests that educators are yet to truly understand and value the importance and validity of play as a powerful tool to support children’s learning.  It demonstrates an almost embarrassment at something that seems so trivial as being so vital within the school environment.  It also indicates a wariness of image and appearance – that play does not look like ‘real learning’, hence the need to make it sound as important as it is with a more academic title.  Parents, who vote with their feet, may not accept a school’s competency to provide maximal learning opportunities for their children because by all appearances children are ‘just playing’.

A further paradox in calling play by its name exists in the mere fact that the light-heartedness of play is key to its very success.  In needing to call play something else – a more formalised label for example – educators contradict the very essence of what makes play so effective.

Children do not see play as difficult.  Play may be a challenge, but often it is the challenge itself that makes play even more enticing.  At no time, however, should true play be rigorous and laborious (as often much of formal schooling tends to be).  The fact that play is light-hearted and fun contributes to its profundity.  By renaming play we extinguish this very characteristic, and in turn reduce its effectiveness.

If we continue to be embarrassed by a term such as play it will never be used as a valid form of teaching and learning.  In avoiding the use of the word play it can only be assumed that educators are embarrassed that something that appears so trivial can in fact have such an impact on students’ learning.

Would this be the case if the terms were ‘reading’ and ‘writing’.  Why are these terms so readily accepted, and play is not?  Reading is not marketed as an ‘Accessing Visual Information for Purpose (AVIP)’ program.  Writing is not validated as an ‘Effective Communication Skill Development (ECSD)’ program.  Yet both reading and writing have a depth of skill and knowledge within their ‘label’ that is not fully understood by those untrained in the teaching of these areas.

Play is the same.  Play, as a teaching and learning tool, cannot be easily defined or explained in a single term.  The teaching skills and learning outcomes associated with authentic play are multi-layered, as is with the teaching skills and learning outcomes associated with reading and writing.  And yet, the terms themselves are widely accepted by all within the greater school community.  Play as a term still struggles to join this party.

How does play become accepted as a valid and powerful teaching and learning tool? By starting with being called what it is.  Play.  Educators need to stop trying to camouflage the pedagogy by calling it something other than what it is.  It should not be embarrassing to say that the way in which children learn best and in a meaningful way is through play.

Teachers know what works for children.  Teachers understand what is developmentally appropriate for their students.  Parents and the wider school community need to be supported to understand this also.  By using the word play as part of an evidence-based, carefully considered and professionally implemented pedagogy, teachers can ensure play gets the recognition it deserves and is accepted as the valid and powerful learning tool it is designed to be.

What’s the Point of School?

Over the past few weeks I have been approached by a number of Mums who have expressed an ongoing concern for the well-being of their children attending school.  They want to hear how we came to the conclusion to home-school our children and the advantages and challenges associated with our new found lifestyle.  While the usual themes come up in the conversation, such as ‘how do you cover the curriculum, how do you ensure your kids socialise’ etc, there is one theme that has me quite stumped.  I say that I get approached by Mums, because this theme is about how best to convince their husbands to consider an alternative option to mainstream schooling.

These Mums share with me their partners’ responses when they have discussed their concerns they have around their children’s declining happiness in attending school.  Sore tummies, disengagement, sadness, tears and inevitable school refusal identified by the Mums are seen by their partners as just ‘a part of being at school’.  Certainly when we first discussed with family members our decision to remove our daughter from school, the typical response was “isn’t that the point of school?  No one actually wants to be at school?”

Why is this so? Why do, particularly grown men, accept without question the occurrence of being miserable at school?  As if some kind of rite of passage, you have not truly experienced childhood until you have woken up with a sore tummy or headache, or simply wished day after day that you didn’t have to go to school.  I say particularly grown men, as this is the part that astounds me most.  School statistics feature boys highly in areas of ‘underachievement’ or those with identified behaviour problems.  ‘Reluctant writers’ are more often than not, boys.  Those referred to services such as Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour, or the Severe Behaviour Team, are more often than not, boys.  It is boys who find it hard to sit still on the mat.  Boys that find school ‘boring’.  But astoundingly as men and fathers, they are the ones reluctant to address why their children are bored or disengaged in school.

If school is to be a place that inspires and creates life-long learners, as our New Zealand Curriculum outlines in its vision statement, then complacency around disengagement should not occur.  Reluctance and anxiety around going to school should not be seen as a rite of passage, but a true indication that the system is not working for all children.  While homeschooling is not for everyone, school environments that are motivating, engaging and inspiring should be.  We should not require our children to ‘harden up’ to the rigors of the institution of school, but rather look to what needs to change in order to best meet the needs of all our students.

Ken Robinson outlines in his TED talk the power of ‘alternative’ education.  Many of these reluctant or disengaged learners inevitably end up in such programs if left to remain reluctant over time.  He highlights how these programs are successful as they are often individualized, tailored to student interests and passions, developmentally appropriate and flexible in their delivery and structure.  He questions, if they are so successful, why do we call them ‘alternative’? Homeschooling is one such alternative.  But so are alternatives that directly result in parents calling into question some of the basic institutionalized practices that remain in our school programs today.  Having children seated for inappropriate lengths of time.  Testing and assessments that are used for purposes other than to inform planning the next step in a child’s learning journey.  Discipline practices that are antiquated and ineffective.  Setting work for children that is developmentally inappropriate or simply not relevant.  The list can go on.

In today’s modern learning environment, now more than ever, with a little creative thinking as a school and a lot of courage and determination, students can have much more of a voice in their learning journey.  And while budgetary constraints, high class sizes and inappropriate expectations from the Ministry of Education all impact on a teacher’s ability to design such programs, much of what is possible is in the hands of the teacher themselves.

So perhaps it is time, as parents, to ask ourselves if it is really ok for our children to be  reluctant, unhappy and disengaged in school?  Is this what we really want for our children?  Or do we want our children to be truly empowered to take charge of their own learning, to realise and connect with their interests and passions and be curious about the world around them?  To become capable and confident young adults that can contribute to society, without a cynical hangover from their time in school?

If so, then we as parents need to work hard to understand what is being asked of our children that is creating this reluctance, and what we can do to assist schools to better respond to our children’s learning needs.  And perhaps those who truly understand what it feels like to be miserable or disconnected with their learning should lead the way in doing this.  Dads need to take it upon themselves to learn more about their children’s reluctance and begin to understand that this is not what childhood happiness should be about.  Our children only get one shot at a childhood full of joy and discovery, curiosity and adventure.  What we learn with joy, we remember and can apply to future contexts.  If a students time in school does not inspire this, then parents need to be asking loudly – why?

 

 

 

Authentic Adventurer or Keeper of All Knowledge?

Today was a culmination of some pretty intense work by our daughter in her home-learning for Term 3.  Following her passion for New Zealand’s native birds, in particular the Karearea (New Zealand Falcon), she completed a 45 page reference book documenting all the local birds living in our immediate neighborhood.  Her reward for the focus and perseverance shown in this was a visit to the Wingspan Birds of Prey Trust in Rotorua.  Here, she was able to appreciate up close and personal the amazing prowess and beauty of these endangered native birds.

Because we are time-limited these school holidays, we chose to do the trip in one day.  300 kilometres each way, it was always going to be a long day.  The car was packed with a variety of entertainment, including an on-tap supply of Lucky Luke magazines (our son’s current favourite) along with notebooks, colouring books, and toys we were off on our next home learning adventure.  As we drove north, the conversation was rich with enthusiasm, curiosity and passion.  In fact, we didn’t put the stereo on for music until well after we passed Taupo (approximately two hours worth of driving).  The topics we covered in that time included the weather patterns observed (we drove through a significant amount of fog); a variety of creature habitats, comparisons regarding various species of animals; observations regarding the different types of plant life we noticed and the change from native bush to human-created pine forests; sustainable farming (why we farm cattle and sheep); fire prevention methods in forests and so on.  One topic led to another and throughout the entire conversation, myself and my husband simply posed ‘I wonder’ questions and interjected with either a fact to compliment the direction of the conversation, or to correct a misunderstood or misquoted fact by the children.  The conversation was rich and centered entirely around the children and their curiosities and wonderings.

We are extremely fortunate to be able to enable these opportunities for our children within our home-learning environment.  And while I am very mindful that being responsible for two children’s education is entirely different to that of 30 children in a classroom, I do wonder how the same principles of wondering and curiosity can be encouraged in a classroom setting.  Many working in such a busy learning environment will find it very difficult to have rich conversations with their students particularly directed at an individual’s interests and passions.  Why is this?  Why do the sheer number of children make this a barrier to being able to scaffold our children’s learning desires?

For many teachers it comes down to the programming.  Focused on teaching to a specific subject in a compartmentalised way, or ensuring that children are working to an arbitrary timetable, teachers are constantly engaged in ‘busy’ work.  ‘Busy’ with groups, ‘busy’ with whole-class, ‘busy’ with those highly challenging individuals,  But simply ‘busy’.  Teachers do not allow themselves time to simply ‘be’ with their learners in the classroom.  When a teacher is the main Traffic Management Controller and Keeper of all Knowledge, they simply do not have the time to listen, observe and most importantly, converse with their students in an authentic manner.

And authentic is the key concept.  Sure, teachers will engage in an ‘oral language’ activity with their students.  They will facilitate a discussion regarding the lesson focus.  But how many teachers can say with any conviction that they sat alongside their students while they were engaged in topics they were very passionate about, and simply conversed with them?  That they were able to talk about an enormous array of topics and authentically allow the conversation to go where the students directed it?  For many teachers, while the desire to do this is very real, the reality is that the pressures of school timetables and external policies means that time is far too precious to engage in authentic activities.

So how can teachers create these more authentic learning opportunities and rich conversations with children?  How can they pose ‘wonderings’ and ‘curiosities’ that enable them to learn more about the students they are responsible for and their passions?  How can they even spark a passion or an interest?

By changing the classroom program.

Rather than being in control  – the Keeper of all Knowledge, or Traffic Management Control – that the reins are handed over to the students to do their own ‘wonderings’.  The role of the teacher then becomes a much more active and equal one within the authentic learning the children engage in.  Rather than directing the learning, the teacher becomes an observer of the learning, judging when it is appropriate to provide a scaffold to new ideas and knowledge, when to be a resource provider, when to be a commentator and when to be a silent partner in the process.

It is a far trickier role to have, as the students’ ‘guide’ than the traditional role teachers have held since the establishment of the western schooling system.  In fact, it can be absolutely and utterly exhausting.  I find, with the intensity of our children’s learning passions, my brain is somewhat of a quagmire as I have had to keep one step ahead of the children’s learning throughout the day! I have to be able to recall where to find interesting facts and figures that might extend the curiosity of our children’s areas of learning.  I have to be able to quickly think of possible suggestions, terminology and resources to point my children towards in order to further their learning experiences.  And this is exhausting.  So times by 30 and this is a potentially very intimidating concept for even the most adventurous of teachers.

And yet, it can be done.  And the more children are supported to take control of their learning passions, the more enjoyable teaching becomes for the teacher.  The role changes, but if it is to be anything like what we experience as home learners, it is so much more rewarding to see how far children will extend themselves when truly passionate and engaged in their own self-chosen learning.  The possibilities are endless.

So look for authentic learning opportunities and reconsider your role as a teacher…….Keeper of All Knowledge……Traffic Management Controller……or Authentic Adventurer alongside the students themselves?

What About What THEY Want to Learn?

Motivating children to learn.  Planning an exciting and engaging lesson.  Wondering how to provide a learning experience.  All the bane of a primary teachers’ life when approaching a new topic for the term or school year.  Too often, I see teachers wondering what sorts of activities to offer their students in the hope that they will be engaged and motivated to participate and demonstrate the learning outcomes sought after.

What activity shall we do?  What will they find interesting?  All sound questions on the part of a well-intentioned teacher.  Yet these questions demonstrate a fundamentally different approach to the organisation of a classroom program than what theory would suggest regarding the way children learn.

If we are to assume that children attend school with a deficit of knowledge, that only school and parents can address by ‘filling the children up’ with content, then the approach of planning engaging activities is relevant.  Children simply would not think of engaging in activities themselves that might initiate and direct their own learning, and therefore it is only right that the adults responsible for their health and well-being provide an array of activities that will ensure their educational needs are suitably met.

However, if we position ourselves to consider what children have already experienced in their few years here, as well as understand the basic biological programming within each human being, we may view the capabilities of children directing their own learning in an entirely different way.  Children, when left to their own devices, naturally inquire about the world around them.  If given freedom to explore, strangely enough, children will engage in activities from which they will learn from and make connections to their already existing bank of knowledge.

The question is, however, is the learning that they engage with through their own explorations valued and suitable to society’s general expectation of what constitutes knowledge?  This is often where educators come unstuck.  Many will agree that children, when left to explore and inquire, can’t help but learn new things.  But are those things important and moreover, can they be measured to demonstrate the progress the children are making?  This is where many run into difficulty.  The only manageable and reasonable way in which to measure knowledge is firstly to define what is valued and then how it will be measured.

Cue the traditional ‘subject’ paradigm.  For decades, knowledge has been compartmentalised into areas to be studied.  Primarily these areas have been associated with vocational pathways and key skills identified and therefore taught.  Qualifications attained as a result of the demonstration of the knowledge of these subjects are sought after in order to improve an individuals likelihood of employment in their chosen areas.

But is this relevant in today’s age of ‘Google’?  When we have, at our very finger tips, access to any and all types of knowledge possible.  With a volatile employment market, that is exponentially changing, what skills do our children need as they face their future world of work?  Is a subject-based approach relevant now to our learners?

Piaget argues that intelligence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do.  Knowing how to source information needed, applying knowledge in creative and expressive ways, communicating with others, negotiating, thinking, asking for help …. all skills reflective of what is now deemed to be a ’21st century ‘learner’.

How do students develop these skills?  There is significant research that now points to the concept of self-discovery, self-direction and exploration as key components of building such social, emotional and cognitive skills increasingly valued in the adult workforce.  These skills can only be realised and developed ‘in situ’ – that is, in the moment in which they are needed.  No amount of planning or teaching can possibly provide the same authentic learning experience to a student than when they are in the midst of their own discovery and needing the very skill that is required at the time.  When else does one learn to negotiate through disagreement?  When the very need arises in disagreement.  When is knowledge most creatively applied to new learning – when students are given the freedom to explore and create without barriers or limitations.  When does a student learn to ask for help?  When a student reaches a point where they realise they cannot access new knowledge or skills without seeking the help of others.  If students are continually taught ‘to’ as if they are large receptacles for facts and figures, they will never be given the opportunity to be able to seek out and explore learning that is relevant to their own passions and interests.  And if they do not face these opportunities, they will, in turn, be limited in the authentic experiences needed to develop the key ’21st Century skills’ in a meaningful and relevant way.

So when we, as teachers, consider our planning for the day, week, or term, and the first question we ask of ourselves is ‘what am I going to teach them now’, or ‘how can I deliver this topic to my students’ – ask yourself two further questions: ‘What might my students want to learn about?’ and ‘how can I help them discover what they would like to learn?’  It is a challenging and at times very scary place to start – the beginning of the unknown.  At times teachers do not go to that place for fear that children may not respond as we would like.  But then what if they did?  What if the children took hold of the opportunity and rose to the challenge – seeking out new knowledge and building on important learning skills needed? By asking yourself ‘what about what THEY want to learn’ you will nevitably start on a journey into planning a far more authentic learning experience for your students that might just allow them to independently build the skills and traits needed in the 21st century.  You may even assist them to develop a disposition for learning that fosters the life-long learner we all are striving to grow in our students.

Learning In Chunks

In the four months since we have become a home-schooling family, the depth and breadth of topics and content we have covered has truly astounded me.  Our first few weeks centered around Greek mythology, with Greek shields and mythological fact cards being researched and made.  As this interest began to wane, a new interest began around endangered animals, exotic creatures and conservation, which has most recently morphed into a fascination around New Zealand’s native bird species.  Significant research has been undertaken on habitat and conservation issues.  Persuasive arguments have been written as to the importance of Zoo organisations.  Flyers have been constructed and books made.  Within numeracy, geometric concepts, basic facts, multiplication, division and fractions have been adequately covered as we move on towards basic percentage knowledge.  Within greater exploratory play, measurement has been a big focus, with the children exploring their urges to mix and concoct a variety of potions, mixtures and recipes.

The rate of learning and the way in which the children move quickly through their various interests has made me reflect on the way in which I planned as a classroom teacher with my own students.  At the beginning of the year the long-term plan would be set out, with term plans, unit plans, weekly and daily plans whittled away to ensure I was well and truly covered for every event possible.  The curriculum would be divided up and topics would be assigned blocks of time for coverage.

From what I have since observed, the way these blocks of topics, themes or ‘unit foci’ were planned does not do justice to the way in which children learn.  Children, when ‘hooked’ learn with such enthusiasm and veracity they cannot be interrupted or stopped to think about another unrelated topic.  To truly be engaged in the learning, they appear to almost need to live ‘in’ the material, breathing it, tasting it, touching and listening to it.  And then it is done.  Without warning, the interest is over and a new one takes its place.  How long this process takes is entirely up to the child, but certainly does not appear to be a long and drawn out commitment.  It is short but intense and if well-supported, deeply engaging.

When my daughter was 5 years of age, her entire junior syndicate initiated an inquiry of ‘maps’.  She spent over a term investigating maps, drawing maps, learning about atlases and so forth.  A term of over 10 weeks.  While I like to consider my child to be of above average ability, even I know that at age 5 maps did not rock her world.  At age 5, fairies did. Fairies who wrote to her at home and who visited her in the garden.  And yet, for over 10 weeks, she plodded away at ‘maps’ at school.  She, like many above average girls, quietly and obediently followed the classroom program.  But her levels of motivation and enthusiasm for what she was learning were far from high.  In fact, it grew dangerously close to her not ever wanting to pick up an atlas again.

Why, as teachers, do we feel the need to ‘chunk’ big blocks of time on one set topic, when children simply don’t learn in this way?  By ensuring we cover the curriculum, we are in fact, not truly responsive to the learning needs of our children.  We are not offering a flexible learning environment.  For the child that is not at all interested in maps, what options have they got to explore what truly interests them – when we are locked in to the structure of long term planning and unit/theme plans?  What do we do with that child that says ‘no thanks’ to maps but ‘yes please’ to the wild west, native flora and fauna, or princesses?

It is time to reconsider the way we plan for and teach the students we have, and the interests they hold about the world around them.  Rather than asking yourself as a teacher ‘what will interest my students’, ‘what kind of activity can I plan for today’ or ‘what are some different ways I can teach ….’ – ask them.  Get them thinking about what matters to them.  Get them wondering and noticing and observing and then connecting, investigating and exploring these wonderings and noticings with others.  This is where true learning happens at its best.  Connecting with what matters to the individual, making sense of it, and then sharing that knowledge with others.

This process does not happen in 10 week blocks, nor in a nice and neatly structured framework whereby there is a tidy beginning, middle and end.  The process at times is chaotic but calm and tidy but messy.  Students drive their learning and are actively engaged in seeking out understanding to their own knowledge, that is meaningful and relevant to them.  This process cannot be ‘chunked’ into allocated time blocks, but allowed to happen until the end of the process naturally occurs.

In adopting this method of student-directed learning, very often the ceiling and walls come down around a child and what they are capable of knowing.  Passion for learning is ignited and the child becomes the driver of their own inquiry.  ‘Learning’ then becomes a truly intrinsic and motivating event.

Learning Misunderstood

What learning is and what it looks like.  The apparent endless debate between all those with a vested interest in any kind of education system around the world.  The search for the ideal approach to learning provision by governments intent on raising educational outcomes for their young and future workforce.  And yet, with education having existed for so very long now, why is the search continuing?  Surely we’ve had enough time to define learning and in turn know how to ensure it happens?

As I continue to explore literature surrounding teaching practice and learning needs of students, one key factor is becoming abundantly clear.  Practitioners and policy makers cannot reach agreement on what ‘learning’ actually is, and what it looks like.  Simplistically put, it would appear there are two major camps of thought with a significant chasm between them.

In the first camp are those who view ‘learning’ as the serious business of the three ‘rs’ (and other such significant and important subject areas).  That children who are actually doing the business of learning are heads down, bums on seats and pencil firmly gripped as they plod away on the task set for them by the highly knowledgeable and expert teacher.  That learning is measured on the output of the student, and on the final product – usually in some manner of written format.  Reading levels, writing production, aptitude in solving equations all indicate a child’s progress in their learning and if a child cannot demonstrate these under test conditions, then they clearly have not consolidated the lessons they have been exposed to in their classroom setting.  Heaven forbid if a child is not kept busy with a focused task (again, usually written) and any time is wasted in opportunities for ‘learning’.  They will not seek out any learning independently and as such need to be corralled into lessons in order to fill them up with the knowledge those in this camp feel necessary for a successful working life ahead.

The second camp advocates for a more developmental approach to a child’s learning progression.  It argues that children are natural learners, and that, if left to their own devices (but not on their own completely) they will begin to inquire and adopt a curiosity to the world around them.  They will seek to understand phenomena, concepts, events and issues that will require them to learn tools and skills in order to find answers to their own questions.  They will learn to research, they will consider ways to communicate their learning or messages (this might actually include some writing) and they will endeavor to solve mathematical problems, when required, to address real-life problems they themselves have posed.  And through all of this, they will only consider themselves ‘playing’.  Their learning will be a haphazard approach sometimes, and at other times fiercely intensive and passionate.  It will be messy and loud, and other times quiet and calm.  It will be big and fast and active, and other times small, slow and passive.  Those in this camp of thought advocate for children to be supported to explore and engage with their interests and passions and to drive their own learning, often through play, drawing from the skills of adults around them that can help scaffold their knowledge and learning further.

“Their learning will be a haphazard approach sometimes and at other times fiercely intensive and passionate”

As both a teacher and a new Mum to homeschooling, I continue to be amazed at the insidious nature the first camp of thought has had on my expectations of learners……most recently my own children.  I firmly sit in the second camp – trusting that my children will have enough gumption to explore their passions, if I create the right conditions for them to do so.  I do not sit them down from 9am – 3pm with worksheets, text books and pens and paper and have them do their ‘schoolwork’.  Instead, we make learning relevant, active, purposeful and meaningful – at all hours of the day and night.  We cover a variety of topics and have no time frame as to when these begin and end.  I do not run a formal reading time or maths lesson.  We use the tools of reading, writing and mathematics to access information required to continue driving forward with the interests and passions the children have.  Accurate measurement, for example, is required when making anything involving food.  Inaccuracy in measurement results in very different baking as we have discovered.  Key skills such as how to compose a letter are important to get right when advocating the need for conservation measures for the Bobcat, for example.

It is a hard ask to have those firmly ensconced in the first camp to consider that the traditional methods of teaching and learning are now facing considerable and significant research that contradicts their foundation.  Those that are beginning to move in their philosophy and pedagogy from this camp qualify this decision as recognising the learners of today learn differently to those of yesteryear.  And yet, put simply, it is that we in fact now have the knowledge, backed by significant evidence, to understand how children actually learn.  That they are not empty vessels ready for the filling – but unique and curious and inquiring minds eager to make connections with their world around them.

If we know how children learn, and have access to clear research around the effect play-based child-centred learning has on the motivation and engagement of our learners, then what makes it so hard to shake those from their well-established camp of traditional education delivery?  Government policy doesn’t help.  Reporting to arbitrary standards and comparing progress of students to teacher competency are such policies that do not allow teachers the opportunity to bravely pack up their gear and embark across the chasm to the opposing camp.  The fear of failure in either of these areas reflects directly on the personal capability of the teacher.

A lack of control as well as a lack of trust also limit teachers in taking chances to allow children to take control and trust their own abilities with their learning.  And let’s face it – if you’re a clean freak, the idea of mess and chaos within the four walls of the classroom with 30+ children is nothing sort of coronary-inducing.  It takes a significantly brave control-freak to let go of the brakes and start the process of becoming a facilitator to the learning needs of each individual student in their large and loud class.

“And let’s face it – if you’re a clean freak, the idea of mess and chaos within the four walls of the classroom with 30+ children is nothing sort of coronary-inducing.”

Children learn.  In all interaction and in all situations there is learning to be had.  With the right conditions and support, learning can be joyous and meaningful.  It can build foundations for further learning, or it can provide pathways to entirely new learning areas.  Educators need to decamp and work together to respond to the individual and valid needs of the learners they have in front of them.  Motivation and enjoyment need to be at the core of any classroom program.  Not outcomes, not levels or standards.  If a child is happy and can be given the opportunity to inquire and explore, learning will occur in its most natural and meaningful state.  Reading, writing and ‘rithmatic will be accessed as tools to further knowledge and understanding, skills will develop with meaning and purpose.  With appropriate scaffolding from adults around them, students have the potential to make significant progress – if it interests them and if they see meaning in their learning.  And throughout their entire experience they will be engaged in the very purpose of childhood – play.

Reading Readiness Has To Do With The Body

Once again another discussion around the importance of readiness before introducing children to formal academic learning.

Laura Grace Weldon

Sitting down. (public domain by Jusben)

Today’s kids sit more than ever. Babies spend hours confined in car seats and carriers rather than crawling, toddling, or being carried. As they get older their days are often heavily scheduled between educational activities and organized events. Children have 25 percent less time for free play than they did a generation ago, and that’s before factoring in distractions like TV or video games.

Left to their own devices, children move. They hold hands and whirl in a circle till they fall down laughing. They beg to take part in interesting tasks with adults. They want to face challenges and try again after making mistakes. They climb, dig, and run. When they’re tired they like to be rocked or snuggled. Stifling these full body needs actually impairs their ability to learn.

Sensory experience and fun. (CC by 2.0 Micah Sittig)

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When ‘Why’ Infiltrates Your Daily Thoughts……

It has been a while since my last post.  I have undertaken a number of additional responsibilities, and crazy projects.  Such as beginning my Doctoral degree.  And deciding to home-school our two youngest children.  As a result, while many ideas for posts have come to mind, I simply have not been able to sit and record them all – due in part to ‘idea overload’.

How my brain looks at present…..

I wanted to share a personal journey I feel I am on regarding my philosophy as a educator.  I am only slowly accepting that this is somewhat of a journey…..although I suspect this journey started long before I realised I was on it.  As a primary trained teacher, I have long been a supporter of the importance a good education has in the future success and happiness of our children and the part school plays in this.  As a specialist teacher of behaviour, I am a strong supporter of a behaviourist approach in understanding and managing children in the classroom (and as a parent).  I worked in classrooms where I adopted evidence-based behaviour management approaches to ensure my students were on-task, engaged and productive during the school day. Wherever possible, I connected with my students on a personal level, promoting a sense of belonging in my classroom.  This, I believe, helped me to have engaged and positive learners – despite the varying home backgrounds they left each school morning.

As a teacher now working to support my fellow colleagues with their behaviour management skills, I am now beginning to find myself in somewhat of a transition.  In the early days of this part of my career, I would support a teacher to put in place systems that would address a child’s lack of engagement.  A child was deemed a ‘reluctant writer’, and so, rather than looking at the task required (other than to determine if it matched ability), strategies were employed to coerce the child into completing the tasks required.  This was for their own good – as they ultimately had to develop sound literacy skills in order to be a productive member of the school/adult community.

If children didn’t sit still on the mat……if children didn’t line up quietly….if children called out.  These were all areas of concern for teachers in order to be seen to be managing their classrooms effectively, so that they could ‘get on’ with delivering the curriculum.

And now, in my philosophical ‘transition’ – I find I do an awful lot of asking ‘why’.  Why do we expect children to be able to manage themselves by sitting quietly on the mat?  Why is it so important for children to line up compliantly and quietly?  Why is it so prevalent that children call out?  Why do we expect children to all do the same as every other child in our room?

These questions almost make it sound like I don’t approve of having children learn to follow rules and expectations in a classroom setting!!  They almost sound like I don’t see compliant behaviour as important.  And yet this couldn’t be further from the truth.  The reality is, children, just like adults, need to comply at certain times and in certain ways.  This is an important feature of modern society – knowing when and how to follow the rules.

What I am struggling with though, within an educational context, is asking our students to do things that appear to have little purpose to them.  Doing things for doing’s sake.  Doing things to look like we’re teaching right.  Doing things because that’s how they’ve always been done.  The questions that seems to be lost amongst many classroom and school activities I see is why and how will this encourage new learning with my students? What is the purpose of this activity?

Once we, as educators, begin to have ‘why’ infiltrate our thoughts and challenge every decision we make for our students, our classroom programs should start be reflective of a more meaningful process in learning.  When we race to photocopy that worksheet needed as a ‘follow-up’ activity for our reading group……ask why do they need this?  What purpose does it have?  Who is being served by the use of this?  Much of our planning revolves around ensuring we know the children are learning.  That we have a firm handle on where our children are at, and the amount of knowledge they are accumulating. Much more of our program is around keeping our students busy while we can get to the kids that need our attention the most.  Filling-time up during those ‘independent learning moments’.  Often, these moments are where most of the lack-of-purpose activities lie.

What if, we were able to establish a program of learning in our classrooms that enabled us to be freed-up from the ‘lead position’ in the room?  If we were merely the facilitator, the resource provider and the scaffolder – the injector of extended knowledge as and when it arose?  We would not only enable ourselves to truly have time to observe the learning that our children are doing, but we would also enable our students to direct their own learning.  Students would begin to experience learning that is meaningful to them.  As a result, there would be little reason to be off-task and disengaged.

No longer would we need to coerce students into completing a task that they are ‘reluctant’ to do. When learning conditions are right, children are natural learners.  They have a natural desire to create meaning from the world around them.  Yes, even those from the most horrific of backgrounds.  These students may take longer (they have enough to deal with)….and they may need more support…..but as human beings, they too have an innate desire to learn.  As teachers, it is simply about us providing the right conditions for this to occur.  These conditions do not include activities that to a child have no purpose to them.  Rather than fighting the very nature of childhood – that is, the world revolves around the child – lets work with it.  Let’s encapsulate those natural learning desires and work with these passions……rather than putting them to one side so that we can get on with the job of teaching to our students.