Week 5: How does the culture of your current teaching environment differ from the learning environment you experienced as a student?

As a student, the environment I learned in was what Thomas and Seely Brown refer to as a "teacher-based" environment. The bulk of my k-12 education took place in the 70's, and the practices in education at that time were, on the surface, largely unchanged from what they had always been. The teacher dispensed information, we regurgitated it back and were assessed on how accurately we were able to do that.  No brand new thinking was required or encouraged, but we were rewarded (through grades, advancement, and graduation) for expressing our thinking in the prescribed ways. Behavior also played a large role in our assessment.  If we also exhibited certain behaviors, such as turning in homework in a timely manner and maintaining regular attendance, that also figured prominently in our assessments.

As a teacher, I'd like to be able to say our environment has changed significantly, but unfortunately, I can't say that.  Overall, the environment for teaching and learning in my school operates in the same basic ways that it did 40 years ago.  What has changed visibly, is how that work is done. Teachers often use digital devices to project information, encourage students to do research on the internet instead of in the library, and homework is often completed in some form electronically. These changes have made the act of teaching far more efficient, and to some degree have done so for learning as well.

According to Thomas and Seely Brown, in a mechanistic perspective of education, "the goal is to learn as much as you can, as fast as you can. In this teaching-based approach, standardization is a reasonable way to do this, and testing is a reasonable way to measure the result. The processes that necessarily occur to reach the goal, therefore, are considered of little consequence in and of themselves. They are valued only for the results they provide."

There is a lot of lip service being given to new ways of teaching and learning, and the phrase "21st Century Education" is one we hear often.  Everyone seems to recognize the importance of this, but as we can clearly see, technology is being applied, not in ways that move environments to a learning-based approach, but in ways that re-emphasize, even amplify the mechanistic view. We want to harness new technologies, but often this is encouraged in ways that reiterate the importance of the teacher-led approach (IWB's, digital worksheets). We want to encourage inquiry, project-based learning, and innovation, but then impose testing of "standards" as a way to measure learning. Our actions (policies) counter what we preach.

I think the authors' second description of culture - one that grows organically - is obviously a more appropriate match with the ideals of a 21st century education.  Understanding how to use technology, not merely as a tool of efficiency, but also as a means to construct knowledge, will be the skill set most valued in shifting the culture and environment of schools.  Unfortunately, this is still at odds with our fervent quest to test that knowledge. We are faced with the problem of a tool that does not fit the task.

Resources:
Carlo, M. D. (2012, October 4). Assessing Ourselves To Death. Shanker Blog. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from http://shankerblog.org/?p=6835

homas, D., & SeelyBrown, J. (2011). A new culture of learning: cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky.: CreateSpace.

Boss, S. (2012, April 3). 21st-Century Learning Creates New Roles for Students -- and Parents | Edutopia. Edutopia | K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/21st-century-learning-students-parents-suzie-boss