I just listened to a fabulous online session (through Elluminate) with Tony Wagner. Now I want to run out and buy his book!
I have always sort of lumped closing the achievement gap with bridging the difference between under performing schools in poor districts with so-called better schools in more affluent communities. Yes, that may be a problem, but, in this interview Wagner points out issues in schools that are, or are not, problems in ANY school. He spoke about how with teaching and learning we need to focus less on test scores and more on attainment. He spoke about how we are too focused on answers and not the questions. He believes that schools today are too content driven. He states it is not what you know, it’s about what you do with what you know. The essential things to focus on should not be scores but critical thinking skills, problem solving, accessing and analysis of knowledge, independent learning and writing. He wonders why we spend so much time on “timeless learning” – teaching what we have always thought to be important like content, instead of “just in time learning” which he relates to the 21st century skills such as writing, collaborating, creativity, problem solving, analyzing, evaluating, critical thinking, etc. He believes both to be valuable, but wonders how to mix the two. He thinks we need to talk about the pedagogy and methodology around combing these two.
He also got me thinking about how we measure student’s skills, why advanced placement courses are so content driven, why there is a preference for college admittance based on advanced math scores instead of thinking and writing – when most people never do advanced math, but almost everyone writes in the work place and even as a citizen!
What I really loved was how he talked about research and development and how that is missing in the educational field. He points out how in businesses they continually evaluate and tweak the product, yet, we don’t have opportunities for teachers around research, development and implementation. In businesses, such as google, employees get a day a week to work on their own projects and innovative ideas. He thinks districts should have lab schools, that they should engage the communities on deciding on the priorities, that teachers should team and be accountable for a group together, that they should be given time for the development of their own ideas, etc. He firmly believes that teachers are only as effective as the leadership they are given.
I agree. We, teachers, should do more to work together to decide on priorities and goals, pilot programs, team-teach, and share our thinking! Let’s get more money for research and development and run our business like a product-driven company!
I could go on, maybe I will – after I read Wagner’s book "The Global Achievement Gap".
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Arna- Your post is so thought provoking. I want to read this book too! A few things you highlighted in your post really made me reflect on what we are doing day to day in our classrooms. Some points I loved were:
ReplyDelete1. We are too focused on the answers and not the questions.
2.We are too content driven.
3.Research and development is missing in the educational field.
That last point brought me back to a grad course in my Master's program called Action Research. I loved having to pick out something I do with my students and measure its efficacy and results. We NEVER have the opportunity to do that. A program is given out and we are told to use it. I'm thinking of one right now that I would LOVE to research further or have more collaboration and training to see if it's the best fit for our students. I appreciate your comments and your enthusiasm. Let's start up a research committee to get things moving!