Another Fad in Education?

Are we experiencing yet another fad in education?  Streaming to de-streaming back to streaming. Hooked on phonics to whole language.  Letter grades to percentages to levels. Individualized to cooperative learning. New math to new new-math.  One-size-fits-all to differentiated for learning styles recently debunked by none other than Howard Gardner ~ Washington Post, Oct. 16, 2013).  Are we in the midst of another fad?

Experienced teachers are collectively rolling their eyes as the wave of resources, money, professional development, and rhetoric brings its crushing weight down with "integrating educational technology," "critical thinking skills," "problem based learning," "global education," "authentic assessment," and/or "flipped classrooms."

Such "new" approaches to education, and their early adopters, are charged with energy. Those who are blogging, tweeting, connecting, ed-camping, and then reinventing their teaching styles find the process rewarding.  They find each other and build PLCs that transcend distance, grade, and subject. They are reminded why they became teachers and feel empowered.

New teachers graduate from faculties of education armed with iPads and determination. They enter classrooms and quickly become disillusioned by blank stares from students, skill gaps, and standardized tests. Sometimes they are encouraged by colleagues and administrators.  More likely, they find themselves drowning in the divide and trying to do it all: teach the way their more traditional mentors teach and incorporate new approaches. They lack confidence in their pedagogy, and students smell the fear.

Experienced teachers who have ridden other waves are cynical. They stick with what they know, with what they have tried and tested, with what resources they have developed.  They may substitute here and there with a modernized version of an old assessment or lesson - youtube videos instead of VHS tapes or projecting a quiz on the interactive whiteboard instead of handing out dittos. But all-in-all they expect these "new" methods shall also pass and be replaced.  They see no evidence that these methods yield better student results (the evidence is only now being gathered and is still soft). When they do begrudgingly try something "innovative" that someone gave them, it flops - and is deemed a waste of time.

However, just because something is a fad, is trending, is charged with rhetoric, does not mean that it lacks value.  What all fads should have taught us is that there is no panacea for education. Experienced teachers who want students to learn are constantly adjusting their methods, day-to-day, student-to-student, year-to-year. They seek ways to make content relevant and to help students engage.  They respond to a changing world in the best way they can.

The world has changed immensely in recent years.  The proliferation of the internet, mobile devices, and computer tools will not pass in time. It can be a great opportunity for educators to maximize student learning. Yet this world is completely overwhelming even for the best-intentioned educators (including me). Each of us needs a focus that can guide our decision-making, evaluate our effectiveness, and help us determine next steps.

I am not choosing particular tools, methods, or fads to guide me.  I am carefully considering the question "What should I do next to help my students become capable learners in this new world?"

So far, my answers are:
1) Talk to them.
2) Figure out this new world for myself.

What else can I do to help my students become capable learners in this new world?

Culture of Learning: Creating Trust

Semester One just ended and the paper recycling bin are brimming with discarded notes and projects from completed courses.  Well-intentioned students tab and organize binders for the new course line-up.  Well-meaning teachers reinforce these fledgling organization skills with clear expectations and periodic notebook checks.  Sugar coating.

The best definition of learning I have encountered:

There are three components to the definition of Learning:

1. “Learning is a process, not a product.”
   Exam scores and term papers are measures of learning, but they are not the process of learning itself.
2. “Learning is a change in knowledge, beliefs, behaviors or attitudes.”
   This change requires time, particularly when one is dealing with changes to core beliefs, behaviors, and attitudes. Don’t interpret a lack of sea change in your students’ beliefs or attitudes immediately following a lesson as a lack of learning on their part, but instead, consider that such a change will take time – perhaps a few weeks, perhaps until the end of the term, or even longer.
3. “Learning is not something done to students, but something that students themselves do.”
   If you have ever carefully planned a lesson, only to find that your students just didn’t “get it,” consider that your lesson should be designed not just to impart knowledge but also to lead students through the process of their own learning (Ambrose 2010:3).

We assume that when we teach, students will try to learn.  This is not usually true.  When we teach, some students try to cooperate… regurgitate… trust us… compete… pass… and excel…  Most students do not actually try to learn. Thus the grade nine math student complacently says, "I don't get it, but I am passing."

Schools are trying (within their outdated model) to create an authentic culture of learning.  At the same time, these same schools are working to create an inclusive environment and feed students and provide emotional support and so on.  School are called upon to try to be all things to all students, as well as ensure students acquire knowledge and skills.

How can teachers and administrators create an environment in which sustained learning and growth are realized?  Research on the adolescent brain definitively states that teens learn when they personally engage (emotionally invested, physically interacting, and intellectual solving problems) while supported by clear behavioural expectation, feedback, and responsive explicit instruction. What does that look like in reality?

Individual Goal Setting: By Secondary School, students know where their weaknesses are.  Engaging in frequent, honest dialogues to ascertain curriculum related needs (prior knowledge, skill deficits, readiness, etc.) that will move the student forward requires trust. But with small steps and responsive instructive and feedback, students will start to believe that they can learn and that the classroom can support them. Goal setting dialogues can grow to long-term and life-long goals as trust builds.


Quality over Quantity: No longer a perpetual production line of tasks, students can focus on extended projects that allow time for investment, depth, feedback, revision, and re-teaching. There is a time for intensive practice, when this strategy will build confidence and competence for the student. Again, honest dialogue, trust, and student ownership are paramount.

Student Ownership:  Giving students a voice in what and how they learn content and acquire skills is crucial to create meaningful learning. This will be a gradual process because many students will not trust our commitment, and others will not know where to begin.  Students need to be guided as they learn to exercise choice.  They need to learn how to discover their interests, how to ask great questions, how to formulate a personal plan, how to identify their own learning needs, how to evaluate resources, and how to assess their own progress.  We need to teach teens how to own learning.

What Gets Celebrated, Gets Repeated: The annual student awards, the honour roll, scholarships all recognize marks.  It is time we start to reward the learning. Casual recognition of staff or student learning in conversations by unexpected teachers and administrators will shift school culture towards learning.  Celebrating student projects in progress will generate excitement. Actual plaques, trophies, and certificates for evidence of significant, innovative learning will place value on learning - not marks.

A subtle but significant culture shift is happening in pockets of education. We will start to regain the trust of students as we emphasize authentic learning over marks.  More and more teachers and administrators want to be a part of moving schools away from the production line model, and they will lead the way in restoring meaning into the education system.