A 21st Century Contradiction

http://www.unr.edu/pathway/learning

    This week I got to see a 21^st century classroom and a 21^st century teacher in action. I had a placement in a grade 8 classroom in a small middle school. The teacher, let’s call her Miss L, was fully embracing the various elements of what it means to be a teacher of this century. Let me set the scene. The classroom was very large and the students sat at round desks with four students at each desk. There were several computers and a smart board within the class, as well as the student’s art work all around. The class had about 26 students from various backgrounds.

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     Miss L started the day with silent reading and the transitioned into a larger English lesson. This lesson consisted of the student writing and editing stories based on a certain theme. When Miss L told the students to start writing the rough draft, I expected the students to get out a pen and paper and work away. But boy was I wrong. The students made their way to the back of the classroom where they all grabbed notebook computers. Miss L explained to me that the previous principal had gotten two carts of these laptops  and this year, with the school size shrinking, her class was able to have one of the carts available at all times. Each student was assigned a computer and they were responsible for the care of the machine. They kids typed away working on their stories and while they were working they were allowed to listen to music on the computer. This helped most of them focus and kept the class surprisingly quiet. Once the students were done their stories the teacher showed me what they were to do next. All the students and teachers had Google accounts, and each student was to upload their work to Google drive. From there the students could see each other’s work and peer edit someone else’s paper. Once all the editing was done they sent it to Miss L on Google drive and she was able to mark and comment on their work online. Google drive was still private so no one outside of the school could access it, but it allowed all the students to work together online. The students were able to receive the comments from the teacher almost immediately and it kept all of the work organized online. Miss L also showed me the wonder of Google classroom; this is pretty much like a class website or blog but it allows the students to comment and upload their work directly to the website. Miss L was posting all the instructions for the lessons online, so the students could refer back if they missed anything. It creates an open dialogue online and connection to the teacher and the rest of the class outside of the school if necessary. Technology was in full swing in this classroom and it was being used well.

     Miss L also worked to involve another part of 21^st century education in her classroom, relevancy. Miss L was able to create connections in her geography class to real world events. The topic was water and water supply, and this triggered the subject of disease and medicine. Doctors without Borders and the relief in Africa became a class discussion, and students asked questions to each other and the teacher. It became a blend of student and teacher directed learning, all while the class was clam and engaged.

   This placement showed me part of what a 21^st century classroom can look like when things are done right.

    So that was the positive aspect of my blog, and now I can’t help but be a little critical. Not critical of my placement, but of my 21^st century education, or lack thereof.

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   In university I have seen professors, mainly education professors, attempting to bring 21^st century learning to their classrooms. New technology is used, topics are presented in real world context and constructivist methods are attempted. However, this style of teaching in university is extremely limited. In my education on education, we are taught that what you don’t want to do is stand up in front of the class and lecture. This only helps a portion of students and is strictly teacher directed. Yet in almost every university classroom you walk into you see a professor talking away and students either frantically writing notes or distracted on their computer. I think I am just confused. If we have worked so hard to change education to a constructivist model and that is what teacher education is about, why does this stop at the high school level? Why is university exempted from this change? What we are going to get are students who thrive in the constructivist ways; working in groups, working with technology, and doing project based learning beyond writing essays. Only to have them fall down as they get back to the old story in university. Why is there little to no change in the post-secondary world if the new story is proving to be so much better?

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    It is like what Jack Whitehead called a living contradiction. In his context it is was when teachers believe in a constructivist approach yet teach in a mainly lecturing style. This happens all too often in education, even with some education professors. But the living contradiction can encapsulate universities as a whole.  Universities are supposed to be institutions promoting progress and the future, yet their teaching styles are often behind the times. Yes I understand that colleges are supposed to be there for the hands on learner, but why does this learning style have to be limited to one institution. With my understanding of the new story, the majority of students learn better with project based hands on learning, so why can’t the majority of post-secondary students have this available as well?

http://constructivism512.pbworks.com 

  You also see this contradiction with grade culture. We are taught to move away from the stress on grades yet this is impossible when grades are still important in post-secondary. To get into a good university or college, students need good grades. If students care about going to university or college they then tend to care about their grades. We won’t be able to get away from grade culture till post-secondary does.

    Changes seem to happen only in elementary and secondary education levels but these changes won’t last in education unless similar changes happen in the post-secondary level. The 21^st century education seems to be forgotten once student graduate from high school.