Are you an educator who sometimes feels overwhelmed?
Ever grumble about the way things ought to be?
Ask most teachers what they would like to see changed about education, and the answers will differ, depending on where they are when asked. What teachers might say behind closed doors in the faculty workroom probably is not what they say at a faculty meeting. Teachers understand that if they speak too freely in public, they may face repercussions and reprimands from administrators.
Education remains a top-down system, driven by local and state mandates that are carried out by district-level leaders and building-level administrators. This is a system in which the “lowly workers in the trenches” (the teachers) have little voice and no control over curriculum and policies that govern their schools or their professional practices. And so, in helpless frustration, teachers often grumble privately to each other, although if anyone ever listened, teachers undoubtedly could share valuable insights for educational reform.
My friend, Kobus Van Wyck, a fellow educational technologist in South Africa, works tirelessly to improve the educational system in his country. In response to being “tagged” (i.e. invited to participate), he responded to a discussion question, “What 5 things would you change about education?” In this discussion meme, each “tagged” person has scrutinized education for areas of possible change.
The discussion has grown into a provocative wealth of ideas for improving education. Dr. Bill Graziadei, Professor Emeritus and (e)Learning Consultant at State University of New York, also shared his ideas and tagged me. Like those who perpetuated the meme before me and passed it my way, I will pass the gauntlet after posting my 5 suggestions for change. I look forward to reading everyone’s ideas!
The rules of this discussion meme were set by its originator, TJ Shay:
“List FIVE changes you would like to see in the educational system. Your responses should represent your perspective and your passion for learning and students…Tag people…from a variety of perspectives. If you have been tagged, tag as many people as you choose, but try for a variety.”
Here are my five suggestions for changing the educational system.
1. Administrators should be accomplished teachers with at least seven years’ experience, and they should be widely recognized for their successful “best practices” in the classroom. In addition, at least one-third of any district’s school board members should also be experienced educators.
A powerful leader should be able to perform any job his or her followers are asked to do, and furthermore, should be able to do it better than they can. No mediocre teacher should be allowed to rise to the ranks of school leadership. I’ve known countless exemplary administrators who are exceptional, but some administrators are, sadly, not particularly dynamic teachers themselves. In fact, often they are individuals who disliked teaching and wanted to get out of the classroom and/or were lured by higher salaries; they never experienced any true “calling” to teach.
As instructional leaders, administrators should be able to pass their passion on to their faculty. They should be able to mentor teachers, model techniques, and identify weaknesses and strengths in their teaching staff. Their first love — their calling, their passion — should be the students and the educational process, above all, not their own career advancement.
Likewise, local school boards should include more than one token educator among its members. Education is unique and specialized, and the people who govern the districts should include the experienced perspective of seasoned educators. We can’t keep trying to run school districts like businesses or like political legislative bodies, in which the status quo is preserved at any cost and the newest members strive to make the community comfortable while ignoring the realities of the school system and the gritty, nuts-and-bolts needs of the teachers.
2. Tear down the ivory towers.
Beware the “ivory tower” syndrome! Both school board members and administrators should venture out of their offices to interact with teachers and students in the halls and in the classrooms. Otherwise, they fall out of touch with the reality of their constituents’ world. Such distance isolates them, making them less likely to build a trusting relationship that would allow a natural dialogue between school leaders and classroom teachers.
3. Stop using tests as the main measure of learning! Move toward more formative assessments that truly check for understanding and steer instruction to deeper levels of learning.
In a March 2007 Edutopia article, Milton Chen quoted an educator from India who questioned the American emphasis on standardized testing: “Here, when we want the elephant to grow, we feed the elephant. We don’t weigh the elephant.”
Effective teachers do not spend their time and energy on issuing grades; they create learning opportunities that are rich and meaningful — knowing that if the learning is relevant and effective, the passing grades will naturally follow. This is because effective teachers know the difference between formative and summative assessments. (In a crude nutshell, formative assessments show us what the students are learning during instruction so the lesson can be tweaked to focus more effectively, while summative assessments grade what the students learned after the unit.)
Any teacher who rightfully focuses on student learning will naturally lean more toward formative assessments to guide his or her instruction. Summative assessments, however, drive the politics of education. State mandated tests are standardized and norm-referenced, intended to fairly assess the “success” of a school system’s progress over time and across localities. In order to ensure accountability, standardized testing forces districts to meet minimum requirements and test all students the same way on the same concepts.
Although these are well-intentioned initiatives, I think they’ve played out in disastrous, exaggerated proportions. I’m not entirely against prescribed minimum standards of learning: We need ways to ensure that teachers are teaching the “meat and potatoes” and not just the fluffy-fun-stuff when it comes to academic content.
But we cut into instructional time to administer standardized tests too frequently and too widely! In our district, we give benchmark tests every quarter (4 times a year) and also administer end-of-year state tests. The benchmark tests were originally intended as formative guides to let teachers know whether students are learning the prescribed information; in reality, though, most benchmark tests end up treated as summative, graded tests that are rarely reviewed for instructional tailoring.
Not only do schools scramble to book the computer labs for these tests (blocking the use of the labs for other learning activities), but we steer off-target and develop tunnel-vision instruction. Teachers spend hours of test-driven review to prepare students for the tests. The potential test items — not the big-picture concepts — drive instruction. Students “learn” via shallow memorization of rote facts, a process which is short-lived and unconnected to authentic applications or relevant learning.
4. Sitting in desks can be torture, not to mention counterproductive.
Kevin Honeycutt posted this picture on flickr and commented about it on Plurk.com. He complained that he had to sit in this desk for a couple of hours while judging a forensics competition. Imagine the torture of being a student sitting in this desk for 6 hours, day after day — especially if the student is large, tall, ADHD, or left-handed! Brain research has shown that students learn more effectively when they are not stationary, when they are active and interacting with each other. Recently, innovative designers created desks that allow students to stand during their school day. I found in my classroom that when I switched to tables with chairs that could be moved around, my students were much more engaged and alert than when I had used standard desks in rows. The climate was more conducive to learning and collaboration, and generous workspace led to more creative products as well as happier students.
5. Provide open access to technology for both teachers and students so the classroom can become a rich learning environment related to the real world.
I’ve saved one of my biggest educational pet peeves for last. Today’s culture is inundated with technology. From cell phones to Wii to PC to iPod, students and teachers use technology daily in every facet of their lives …. but when they come through the doors of the school, they usually are required to shut them down and switch to old-fashioned tools such as pen and paper.
Even if the Internet is available in schools, for example, students (and teachers) are usually monitored carefully and even blocked from a long list of sites that have been flagged automatically by programmed firewalls as inappropriate, dangerous, or unrelated to academic objectives. Too often, these blocked sites are actually not dangerous at all. Many are simply “social” web 2.0 sites in which students would be able to post material on the web and register to be members of a virtual web community — sites that are rich in learning possibilities and can encourage students to explore, participate, and create material with an authentic worldwide audience.
Sadly, the reasons students are blocked from web 2.0 sites are based more on distrust and suspicion of the students, not the potential dangers of the internet. I heard a person in my district’s Technology Department say that we must block access to wikis and blogs on the World Wide Web because students will post obscenities or sabotage the sites and we must guard against this type of intellectual abuse by preventing their access. My goodness! That kind of lockdown is usually reserved for pernicious prisoners who are being punished and who are considered a safety threat! We’re talking about the open exchange of ideas and information, such as posting digital storytelling projects, not the exchange of instructions for building bombs and other weaponry!
In addition to free access, I believe schools need to provide teachers with continual specialized training and exposure to technological advancements. The world of technology is exploding by the minute with new applications, new hardware, and new ways to use them instructionally. Keeping up is a full-time job, and it is not a one-shot initiative. It is a perpetual need because of the continuous, daily innovations in technology. Certified teachers who understand the pedagogy of instruction and who have gained extra credentials in Instructional Technology should be hired in school systems to help introduce, train, and support teachers in the use of new technology.
Teachers who learn how to use technology for classroom instruction grow in their educational reach and find that they are able to engage their students more relevantly. In the high-stakes arena of modern education, in which American schools are falling behind in the global standings, we need all the support and all the tools we can muster. We shouldn’t continue doing things the same way, only to fail at the same levels.
(thank you to Peggy Sheehy for sharing this video on No Future Left Behind)
… And now I pass the pen and ask these thinkers for their own ideas. (If you are in this list and have already been tagged, please pass on the invitation to someone else!)
In what 5 ways would you change our educational system?
Ginger Lewman
Ann Thorp
Kevin Honeycutt
Carol Skyring
Jeff Johnson
Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
This blog expresses the personal opinions of the author and is not affiliated
with nor representative of any company, employer, or other entity.
Posted on March 1st, 2009 by Sharon Elin
Filed under: Uncategorized
Sharon,
You have done an excellent job of looking at a wide range of areas that influence education today. Point #1 is a great one. I personally struggle with seeing someone in an admin role that have only been teaching for a year or two because they have not been through the ropes and experienced the up/downs to the degree that other veteran teachers have. Sure, there may be some that are good admin but not well rounded. I also feel that if an admin does not look for ways to meet and exceed the current changes in education including the transparent integration of technology and higher order thinking, problem solving situations; they are failing as true role models.
Sharon, I really enjoyed reading your post. I’m sure I will return several times more. Your points 1 and 2 are important changes, especially about administrators being good teachers and more educator representation on education boards. We must disassemble or at least neutralize the silos in order to move forward. I too hope that rows of chairs/desks wil ldisappear. One thing is certain, change will happen; let’s hope that it’s not change for change’s sake. The goal is effective learning. Hopefully your words fall upon the eyes and minds of those responsible for change. Finally, I’ll close by saying that the entire post is an excellent treatise that I hope many will read and reflect upon. Not all will agree; but, disagreement leads to refelction and that’s good for education. Thank you for carrying the forward the EDU Olympic Torch!
THINGS THAT CAN/SHOULD CHANGE (sacred cows)
1. The school day
Most schools run M-F, start around 8:00 AM and end about 3:00 PM. This has been the case for decades. We know adolescents don’t do particularly well in the morning so why do high schools start so early? Why not create options for students - if they have after-school activities, they can start early but if they don’t, why not let them start later in the day?
http://nysut.org/research/bulletins/981202adolescentsleep.html
2. The school year
Many (most?) school districts still run the Labor Day to Memorial Day schedule, plus or minus a couple of weeks on the ends, with 180-190 school days. Under this scenario many students are “off” for ~10 weeks in the summer. There’s no valid reason for us not to spread those 180-190 days out over the full year.
http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin137.shtml
3. Textbook alternatives
Traditional textbooks are expensive, of variable quality, are generally uninteresting and provide extremely limited resources. Textbooks also encourage teachers to use them as curriculum guides and to narrow the scope/sequence of their course to what fits between the covers of the texts. With so much information available on the web and the ability to collaborate with others so readily available, there are more (and better) options than textbooks. Invest in technology and bandwidth instead,
4. F2F/online
Do students really need to be in a F2F setting with their teachers at the same time every day? What if students meet in a traditional classroom setting MWF and were required to participate in a virtual classroom at other times, both synchronous and asynchronous? This would not only increase options for students and teachers but would be good preparation for learning situations after high school.
I can relate to all of the things you said - it is frightening when one thinks about how much in the education system must change!
Would you consider adding to your list: “stop alienating highly-qualified educators”? There is a steady exit of our best teachers to other professions, simply because the education system is not teacher-friendly any more. I would love to see your views on this.
Excellent post, Sharon! Students are already drawn to and interested in technology, which makes in a natural way to engage them in the classroom. One of our contributors, at the TI-Teachers Lounge, recently wrote about using technology to encourage students to think critically and creatively. She touches on some similar ideas as you have here. If you’d like, you can check out more of her thoughts at: http://timath.com/blog/?p=442
Sharon,
I like the thoughts you have posted and all of the comments as well. I’d add a “5a Open Door policy.” Teachers should take time to visit other teacher’s classrooms. In my experience, those who visit another teacher’s room for even as few as 10 minutes see examples of pedagogy they may not have considered. I therefore propose that we work to “open doors” and encourage teachers to keep their classroom doors open and invite others to visit. It may be the visitor does not see anything of great interest - but on those days when “miracles are happening” I think it would be fantastic for others to see and celebrate with the teacher leading the class?
Thanks for the comments, Dean. I like your point that inexperienced administrators (those who have not spent much time in the actual classroom) are not “well rounded.” The fact that they have not faced and surmounted the same challenges confronted by their faculty makes it more of a poor decision to elevate them to administrative status. I believe the saying “the blind leading the blind” fits here.
Bill, your comments are gratefully appreciated. Your most striking statement should become a mantra for all educators: “The goal is effective learning.” Too often as a technology edugeek, I can get all excited about an application or new gadget and bring it to the classroom with overblown ideas about how it can be used instructionally, but there have been times when these tools simply weren’t as effective or engaging as I thought they would be. Sometimes, “conventional” teaching methods work best. If I keep in mind “The goal is effective learning,” I can sort out the glitter & fluff from the meaningful materials and methods.
Given a choice I would always go for the “convential teaching methods” with a teacher’s years of experience knowing his/her student over tools as the best way to effective learning.
Oh, boy, Jeff, you touched on some important and sensitive areas about reforming school hours and yearly schedules! You’re so right that teenagers need more sleep in the mornings and that overall, allowing flexibility and tailoring of the daily schedules of schools might be an alternative that would actually help students attend classes when they’re most ready to learn instead of when they’re sleepwalking.
Tourism is a huge industry in my state (Virginia), so starting the school year before Labor Day is almost an established taboo. Tourism needs the summer workers and will not give them up before the season ends!
Your points about textbooks are also dear to my heart. What an enormous, wasteful expense when there are so many viable alternatives online!
Finally, I think you make a valuable suggestion about encouraging teachers and students to use virtual classrooms in addition to meeting in a synchronous environment. Think of the money saved in transportation and capital overhead! There would be new expenses for the technical infrastructure, but overall, I think distance learning has many advantages, especially, as you pointed out, in preparing students for their future world in college and the workplace.
Thanks for commenting and thanks, also, for your links!
Great suggestion to add a #6 (“stop alienating highly-qualified educators”) Kobus, and sadly, you’re so right about the exodus of teachers from the profession because of the overwhelming, conflicting tangle of demands and obstacles facing them. It’s one of the many problems facing education that will not be easily fixed without radical, systemic change.
TI Teachers, thank you for your comment and the link to your insightful and impressive blog post. It is remarkable that a post sponsored by Texas Instruments, a company specializing in tools that might often be used in tests, promotes the emphasis on conceptual teaching — with personal connections and relevance. How refreshing!
An open-door policy between teachers is an excellent suggestion, Glenn. Whenever I’ve had the privileged opportunity to visit another teacher’s class, I witness methods and ideas that inspire me to try something new in my own teaching. There’s a wealth of expertise and resources just down the hall! Teachers too often are like little islands, isolated from each other and tied down to their own rooms. In addition to blocking themselves off from getting new ideas, this isolation also means that teachers are not able to invite peer review and critiques of their instructional methods. Honest and supportive feedback would help us all grow and connect.
Hi Sharon
I am fascinated by the idea of changing anything in the education system and thank you for making me conscious of the ways in which I have changed things in my own classroom without much consciousness, e.g. spending lots of time out of the desks and trying to assess kids in ways other than tests. However, I feel really challenged by the changes you have suggested to spend the rest of my teaching career being a little more proactive about change. I have often in the past been too much a people-pleaser and, as a result, been a little afraid to share some of what I do in case my colleagues don’t like it, or worse still, been afraid that experimentation may fail and then I’ll have no marks at the year-end. Your outspoken suggestions have made me take stock of my own faults and fired me with a new enthusiasm.
Thank you.
Thanks, Lindsay, for stepping outside the traditional desk zone and getting your students moving and assessing them in unconventional ways!
I know what you mean about being a people-pleaser and not wanting to rock the boat. Maybe that’s one of the hindrances to teachers and educational reform. The type of person attracted to teaching is usually altruistic and kind-hearted (at least I hope so), and stirring up controversy is not comfortable. But to make any impact on the existing educational model, teachers are the very ones who need to start articulating the need for change, because (1) we’re specially trained in teaching and pedagogy and (2) we are the ones in the trenches and we see the students more than anyone (sometimes more than their parents see them!).
I’m frustrated that oftentimes in the U.S., policymakers and politicians are setting standards and policies in the schools and they are not educators nor trained in educational theory or teaching methods. Those of us who are trained and who have direct experience need to speak out and tell them what works and what doesn’t work in the current system. We’ve been silent far too long.
I see that you’re in South Africa, so I don’t know if your educational system has a similar power structure as ours. I read an interesting blog post the other day that made the observation that the U.S. education system is patriarchal, an obvious throwback to our earliest roots in public education. (http://www.edutopia.org/empowering-status-teaching-profession) This top-down model has fostered teachers’ quiet submission and our unfortunate, blind willingness to follow policy while grumbling about it privately. If Big Daddy tells us to do something, we put our eyes to the ground and go do it.
I don’t believe in radical transformation or rowdy rebellion, but I do believe in speaking up and learning to assert ourselves and express the truth as we see it. Educators are the experts about education, not legislators. We should mature and grow in our ability to get involved politically to help set the policy that guides us.
Thanks for commenting!