Latest from Tech & Learning in Ideas-and-thoughts

The Paradox of Choice

Dean Shareski — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 05:30:00 +0000

One of my favourite TED talks is Barry Schwartz’The Paradox of Choice. Schwartz makes the point that the choice isn’t always a good thing and that at some point too many choices is a bad as no choice at all. His theory is more involved than that but that idea in particular is intriguing.

Thinking about the big challenge of changing the learning landscape in our schools to acknowledge that the world around us has changed, is something that keeps many of us working tirelessly and often being frustrated with the results. Whether it’s a lack of resources, time, commitment or understanding, major barriers continue to exist that has meaningful change held at bay.

Research is pretty clear about the importance of choice, which leads to engagement, which leads to learning. Few would argue against this. I’m not sure I’ve seen any significant change or improvement happen when professionals aren’t given a choice. Professionals, by definition assume a level of expertise and suggest they are responsible for their own growth and development. Professional development that honors choice sees results. However in cultures that choose efficiency over emotion, often choice isn’t seen as essential and professionals get told what to do. What usually happens is that no matter what is told, professionals go back to their classrooms and do what they think is right regardless. We’ve been playing this game in education for a long time.

Those in authority and serious about reform and results focus on monitoring and accountability. They go in classrooms, to make sure teachers are doing their jobs. Not having been part of such a regime but hearing about it, I can’t imagine the morale and culture of these institutions being very inviting. Many will say, “we care about kids” which is often an excuse to treat adults unprofessionally and without care. I don’t think it matters if we work with students or adults. We don’t necessarily treat everyone equal but instead we treat them with the respect they deserve. Professionals deserve a level of respect that should allow them to be able to make choices.

And that’s the problem. As much as I would love to see all the teachers I work with make meaningful change to update their classrooms and curriculum to acknowledge that it’s 2011 and learning has changed, I respect the fact that teachers have choices. I can’t make them change. I don’t want to make the change. AsTschannen-Moransuggest,

Teachers do not resist making changes; they resist people who try to make them change. Once coaches abandon the role of change agent, we can build trust and rapport and engage teachers in nonjudgmental conversations about their experiences, feelings, needs, ambitions, and goals. (Evocative Coaching, page 6)

What’s really frustrating about that statement is that while it’s true, it takes a long time and in the end, there’s no guarantee it will turn out the way we as leaders hope. Some people like to think of themselves as change agents. Sounds like a nice thing but real change happens because we find strength and support to move forward with ideas we’ve adopted. Change agents, whatever they are, might be useful to plant a seed but that’s not the real change. I’ve planted my share of seeds but only in a few cases have I been able to participate directly with seeing teachers change. That’s because that kind of change requires an investment in time to develop and nurture supportive relationships.

What a teacher does in their classroom everyday is directly related to their beliefs about learning. No amount of instruction or PD will matter unless a teacher wants to change. What we’re currently witnessing is pockets of change. Teachers, who for a variety of reasons are embracing what it means to learn today and are willing to make adjustments in their practice to make learning better for their students. Not always perfect but acting as professionals who are in charge of their own learning and understand their obligation to continually improve. They find support in various ways both online and locally. I doubtif any of these teachers were forced to change. They had choice. That’s both a great thing but also a frustrating thing. You may never see the change you’re so invested in if you allow teachers a choice. At the same time even if you had the authority and power to decree change, teachers won’t make those changes just because you tell them to change. Unless we strip teachers from their professional status, we’re going to have to face the dilemma of the paradox of choice. We can change curriculum and design environments and schedules that promote certain types of learning but as long we consider teachers professionals, for better or worse, they will operate as autonomous individuals. Create a culture where change, reflective and innovative practice is prized but allow teachers to make the choice that’s owed to them. In the jurisdictions where teachers are now beingtold precisely how to teach, I would argue they aren’t seen as professionals any longer. I have no faith that meaningful change will occur in such places.

I have no answers, I’m not asking for them. I’m going to continue to plant seeds and when and where I can, build the relationships and supports for those who have chosen to make a change.

Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lori_greig/5331407245

Looking for Positive Deviants

Dean Shareski — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I’m on a mission.

In case you haven’t noticed, high schools often represent the most traditional, stagnant educational spaces. The very structure of that world from the segregated subjects, focus on content, credit acquisition, departmental/state testing all join forces to make change difficult.

In our school district, our High School Learning Support Team is tasked with supporting our high schools in a variety of ways. In particular we face many teachers struggling with student engagement. We have great conversations about the changes that could help these teachers and classrooms move forward but recognize that us simply telling them how them might change may not be the most well received approach. They need to see others in action, thinking differently and making a difference in student’s lives.

They are out there. Sometimes they aren’t easy to find but they’re there. Teachers and schools who stare those structures in the face and decide to challenge them. They do so only because they know its best for kids. It’s much easier to continue on, not make waves and seek compliance. In some cases, their efforts are celebrated and even supported by leadership and in other cases, they do so in hopes no one finds out. In other cases they don’t even realize what they are doing but just do innovative things instinctively. These are the positive deviants.

The Power of Positive Deviance is about finding people and ideas that are making a difference but are happening without an awareness of what they’re doing different from their peers.

Positive Deviance is based on the observation that in every community there are certain individuals or groups whose uncommon behaviors and strategies enable them to find better solutions to problems than their peers, while having access to the same resources and facing similar or worse challenges.

The Positive Deviance approach is an asset-based, problem-solving, and community-driven approach that enables the community to discover these successful behaviors and strategies and develop a plan of action to promote their adoption by all concerned.

As a leader in a school district I do believe much of this exists internally but I also am interested in discovering these folks no matter where they reside. For High Schools here are a couple of great examples of deviance.

The Classics Academy

The Classics Academy is a cross-curricular experience integrating English, History, Mathematics and Science. Through the Classics Academy students explore the Greek and Roman civilizations through three core course and a series of suggested offerings. The Academy experience affords students the opportunity to study classical literature, history, mathematics, art, religion and philosophy. Students participating in the Academy learn to produce and consume new knowledge while synthesizing complex understandings of the human experience. All Academy students conclude this year-long experience by composing a final exhibition related to their studies.

Here’s the 15 minute documentary of their program.

The Innovation Lab

This was an experiment that I heard about before but spend several hours on the weekend examining their work. Monika Hardy and team are doing some fascinating things. It’s a multi-faceted approach to personal and passion based learning built around the idea that “nothing is for everyone”. There’s some really thoughtful work that’s gone into this and they are in their 2nd year of implementation. The documentation of this is outstanding. Videos, writing, presentations and student work is all available. I’d encourage folks to spend some time exploring. Share this with others.

Here's a slide deck that helps tell some of their story.

Sttory of the Lab

The Independent Project

Just watch the video and discuss.

Project Based Learning in Prairie South

In my own district we’ve got some teachers making some inroads in attacking the system. This video is a couple of years old but these same teachers are continuing their work and I may need to make another video showcasing their work.

While in the true sense of the word “deviance” these may not be pure examples. These teachers aren’t doing things in private and they’ve done a fair bit of thinking before jumping in. However in the larger context of traditional education, they indeed represent the deviants. Lest you missed the link to technology, these efforts wouldn't be possible without it. In many cases their links are explicit:

Technology is a vital part of The Academy. Students and teachers bring in personal devices or borrow iPads provided by the school. The iPads enrich the educational experience and prepare the seniors for their entry into college. Latin teacher Mr. Gutkowski said, “The instant access to the Internet revolutionizes the way information is used in class.” The essential use of technology, within MHS, also allows for interesting classroom discussions, quick note-taking and the ability to access information from the Internet thereby enhancing overall classroom dialogue.

Who are the deviants in your school or district? Find them and help tell their stories.

Attention: Attention issues

Dean Shareski — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 13:18:16 +0000

Howard Rheingold has been talking about attention literacy for a while now. Whether you think it’s a literacy or a skill, it’s continuing to be something that needs to be embedded into learning.

Currently our best strategies for dealing with attention literacy is telling students to close their laptops, turn off their cellphones, or simply reminded folks to “pay attention”. As Dr. Phi would ask, “how’s that workin’ for ya?”

Part of our struggles around this topic has to do with our perceptions of attention. Ze Frank asks us to not be to quick to judge what we might consider to be a bad trend in society.

Everyone is struggling with what it means to be attentive.

Howard, along with people like Linda Stone, Sherry Turkle and others are looking quite deeply at this and exploring what it means for us a society. I’ll leave their research for you to explore but I think my attention as an educator needs to revolve around three things: content, delivery and space.

Content:
This one might be the easiest to consider. We’ve known for a while that much of our curriculum is not only outdated but what we ask students to do is often irrelevant to their lives. I’ve been pleased to see more and more curriculum shift from knowledge to skills and application. That’s certainly a positive step but moreover curricula needs an injection of personalization. No longer can we expect students to care about content simply because we tell them to. They are highly aware of the ubiquitous nature of information and realize it is easily accessible outside the classroom. The longer we avoid this truth, the more school becomes a game. Allowing students to take ownership and have choice has to lead to greater attention. Simple questions asking students what they want to learn and how they want to learn it, is a big step towards improved attention.

Delivery:
Be it the flipped classroom, Inquiry learning or simply using more visuals in your classroom, there are many ways to provide learning in rich ways. We know that many of our traditional instructional strategies need a makeover. Worksheets, lectures, copying notes may never have been great strategies but they dominated educational pedagogy for years and sadly, I think are still hanging around. It’s not simple to do all the time but certainly it acknowledges the idea that we learn by doing and being active. One of the many affordances of emerging and even older technologies is that we don’t rely on a single teacher to deliver content. Making this shift alone should improve attention.

Space:
This might be the most overlooked, yet important aspect of dealing with attention. When I think of space, I’m thinking physical, virtual and mental. A month ago I participated in an event called Unplugd. Basically 36 of the most wired, most passionate Canadian educators spent 3 days unplugging and attending to some pretty intense conversations. The space played a major role in the success and focus of the event. A quiet, serene space but more than anything it broke away from our routines. It was also a neutral space. None of us owned it and we all were able to explore it together. So in thinking about learning spaces, we need to consider breaking routines and finding and creating environments where serenity exists, playfulness thrives and conversations are natural. Sometimes that does mean unplugging, but it’s purposeful unplugging and it’s not all the time. Even virtually, thinking about where we hang out and what we’re doing there matters. Twitter and Facebook can be used in a variety of ways. If you find yourself using it to socialize, that’s great and important. Have fun, ask silly questions, respond to others but don’t confuse it with deep learning. Be conscious of where you are online and what you’re doing. Teach your students to do the same. Dealing with the mental space would certainly be the most challenging. Getting the physical and virtual space right helps but your mind can still wander. Metacognition, thinking about thinking, is a start. Have your students and yourself reflect often about their attention. Knowing when you need to stay on one activity or take a break is a simple example but training your mind to be attentive is plain hard work.

Each of these three areas need to be examined more deeply. For me, articulating and being mindful of what I attend to and what I don’t, is a big step. Considering how to help our students do the same is going to take more work than simply asking them to shut off their devices. They are going to be dealing with this for the rest of their lives. Shouldn't we as caring adults be there to help them? In turn, we’ll likely be helping ourselves as well.