I had a major light bulb moment yesterday.
For years I had been aware of the seemingly unique problem I had with introducing technology to our staff. There was not necessarily a reluctance but more of a ‘why should I bother’ attitude. They seemed tired of continual change of the advancement of pedagogical twists and turns and how this was reflected in teaching and learning. We tried improving our literacy results by introducing a rigorous planning tool which was, on the whole, not used successfully. It was as though teachers would use it, document their curriculum and then proceeded to do their own thing. The transition to a 1:1 netbook is equally being met with a similar passive resistance. The school mandates the purchase but teachers are not using them in the classroom. It’s easier to use the textbook. One senior teacher remarked to me that there was no use using them in year 11 and 12 because of the written exam.
Probably all this is not new. I imagine schools all over the world are wrestling with similar issues. My problem is that I didn’t see the wood for the trees. I’m like that frog in the tub that’s gradually heating up and can’t escape until it’s too late. It took a new person who has just come into the school to give me some fresh eyes. The issue is that our school is made up of 57 different language groups and the predominant cohort is Asian, that’s not the issue. The major awakening I had is that our student body can be generally described as compliant. Sure, we have our difficulties but generally we don’t get boo out of the kids. I have witnessed this first hand. In some of my courses where students need a step by step (scaffolded) approach to learning, such as a piece of complex software where I put them through a series of videos I have made specifically for the project. These are interspersed with structured activities. When the students are engaged with these, honestly, you can hear a pin drop. It’s spooky. But is this good learning? No, I don’t think so. It’s the ultimate technological sage-on-the-stage.
So, what have been the results of teaching compliant students school wide? Well, for one thing teachers are not challenged to change the way they teach. For them the easy way is to work through the textbook and assess on that learning. Good old traditional teaching. Never fails, and students don’t seem to mind.
We are not disparaging. We have a plan. We aim to get our student body motivated to speak up through workshops, surveys and face to face discussions about how we can improve their learning experiences. We will keep putting research and pedagogical argument in front of the staff and push for change not once or twice but constantly. I’m not going to win this, we are.
