So the school year is officially over. Students, with their report cards in hand and memories quickly fading are out the door and teachers have relocated to the cottage or the patios and are sighing deeply. What now?
My summer seldom starts this way. Again, I have spent much of this first week of summer back at my school preparing for September and attempting to build strategies based on “new” pedagogies for the coming year - both for me and for the teachers I attempt to support. Two things have popped into my mind these last few days. One - it is amazing how “new pedagogies” aren’t that new .. from Dewey in the early 1900s to authors in the 60s and 70s (ie Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed; Illich’s Deschooling Society; Postman’s Teaching as a Subversive Activity, etc ) that speak of the need to modernize learning. Currently there is a deluge of new books in the marketplace, reviewing, reconstructing, and restoring the concepts explored at these earlier times. While I enjoy reading these new entries into the effort to build modern learning, I am struck by the realization that little momentum has been established. As the phrase “What’s old is new again” suggests, we are constantly trying to fuel the fire of change and are still, seemingly, fighting a losing battle. As the starfish story illustrates however, each teacher or school that embraces modern learning makes a difference for those learners and for this reason I applaud these new books and their place in building some momentum, however minimal it might seem. The second is related. It’s the word “congruence”. It seems that when adults (including educators) are surveyed about their experiences in meaningful learning or their reflection on their public school years, virtually all of them speak to personal and choice driven learning where they utilized resources, coupled with their passions or questions, to build knowledge and capacities that were both valuable and meaningful (and in contrast to their lived experiences in most formal education). Yet, when asked about changing schools, many feel uncomfortable with really changing very much at all (some teachers and the systems in which they work are often the worst for this resistance). This brings me to the word congruence - what can I do to be more congruent - having my teaching experiences match my beliefs about learning and how can I support or encourage that in the colleagues within my sphere of influence? So, while I would like to pen the next great tome in the realm of educational wisdom, I wonder if this would be the best course of action. Maybe I just need to do what I know is right. Do it with passion. Build connections with others and with the resources available and encourage true congruence of belief and action and see if, together, we can make a difference.. Thoughts? PS. I hope to read several books this summer to fuel my passions, equip my intellect, and direct my actions. I hope to add some of these reflections in future posts. Enjoy the sun.
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CategoriesJames KlassenI am a teacher. I have held various teaching positions, mostly in Abbotsford, BC, Canada, since 1987. I believe that teachers have the opportunity to inspire deep and meaningful learning and that all learners create their knowledge in ways that are connected to their interests and within their social context. I have observed many waves of educational "reform" come and go and remain hopeful that schools will be transformed into places where all learners desire to be creators and consumers of knowledge and that, together, each member of this community will become prepared to face their world in both skills and attitudes. |