Why bother with change in education?

Enabling learners to create new futures from EDtalks on Vimeo.

My latest Core Education EDtalk. Thanks to all the great thinkers, academics, practitioners and more who have developed my thinking in this area. If you want to know more, I highly recommend you read some of the following:

• Too Big to Know - Weinberger, D. (2011). Too Big to Know. New York: Basic Books.
• Learning futures: Education, technology and social change - Facer, K. (2011). Learning futures: Education, technology and social change. Taylor & Francis.
• Catching the Knowledge Wave? The Knowledge Society and the future of education - Gilbert, J. (2005). Catching the Knowledge Wave? The Knowledge Society and the future of education. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
• Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching - a New Zealand Perspective - Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching - a New Zealand Perspective: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
• Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy - Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2012). Race Against the Machine: How the Digital Revolution is Accelerating Innovation, Driving Productivity, and Irreversibly Transforming Employment and the Economy. Massachusetts: Digital Frontier Press.

Buzzwords are not enough

Visitors to Hobsonville Point Secondary School's beautiful, new modern learning environment are often distracted by the broad open spaces, the bright furniture. However, visiting the school with students in action leaves one with a completely different experience of a modern learning environment. Here are just two examples from my teaching for term three that illustrates this point.

What's a Squircle?

This module combined visual arts and mathematics. Students were exploring geometric properties of shapes, and using these to create screen prints. Using translation, rotation, reflection and in some cases, enlargement, students have created their own tessellations. Students then took a step further and completed a detailed write up, explaining the mathematical principals behind their work of art. 

Student work from 'What's a Squircle?'

 Age of Ultron

This module combined social sciences and science. Together, we have been looking at some of the ideas that sit behind artificial intelligence. In science, we unpacked some of the ideas around circuits including components of circuits, insulators, conductors, types of circuits etc. In other words, the very basic physical aspects of how machines, including smart machines are constructed. Steve Mouldey, my social science co-teacher for this module looked at the sustainability aspects of the rise of the machine, including automation and smart machines. He touched on ideas around economic, social and environmental sustainability. Student learning experiences in this module included modelling of Moore's law and the related chess board problem (see video and images below). We had the team from Thought-Wired in to talk to our students about machine learning. as well as playing with some breadboards, Arduino and also making some wobblebots (checkout the Mindkits website for gear). We deconstructed old computers and servers. Students have even had a go at constructing various parts of a policy statement for New Zealand regarding Artificial Intelligence. 

Student work from 'Age of Ultron'

So what?

I know that the students in 'Age of Ultron' were not just engaged in deep thinking about current, topical ideas, they were engaging with evolving ideas (we have a timeline constructed in class where we track artificial intelligence news as it is released throughout this module). The students were constructing ideas and questions together in spaces and ways where there is no textbook telling them about a single answer, or how to think. These students were dealing with the true complexity of the real world, not some contrived, oversimplified, fake version, and this includes everything from policy statements, killer robots, and even the ethical and social implications of sex robots. In contrast, the students in 'What's a Squircle?' were using existing knowledge of geometry, translation, rotation, properties of shapes etc. to create new meaning, new ideas, new interpretations. Students were not just replicating a method, they explored a method and applied it to create something completely new. Throughout the process, students were able to experience the real problems that occur when physically applying rational mathematical concepts. Students could recognise how two disciplines could find a way to work together.

Intended as a brief snap shot of my practice from last term, I realise that I could easily have turned this post into a buzzword bingo experience. Maker Ed? Check! Authentic and relevant context? Check! Learning from experts (other than teachers)? Check! Project based learning? Check! Elements of design thinking? Check! Blended learning? Check! Robotics and coding? Check! Assessment for learning? Check. Again, much like only looking at the beautiful modern learning environment spaces of schools like Stonefields, Hobsonville Point or Albany Senior, none of these genuinely capture the true complexity of what is going on. Too often in education, we grab the buzzword by the handle, and we leave the very important thinking, the bulk of the suitcase behind (thanks to Creativity Inc. for this metaphor). We look for answers, for recipes, for programmes, rather than actually engaging with the deeper thinking about what is going on, for our students, in the world, in the future. What would our practice look like if rather than talking trends, rolling out literacy programmes and preparing students for the working world (one that is changing so rapidly that this almost seems meaningless)?

The two modules above certainly tick many of the boxes around modern learning practice. I also know that the students were for the most part, highly engaged, they were learning and enjoying it. But is this enough? I hope that the learning experiences that I design changes the way the students think. I hope that the learning experiences I design enables students to collaborate, not just cooperate. I hope that students can recognise diversity (in people, in information, in knowledge, disciplines, experiences, etc.), learn from, and draw on the strengths and weaknesses. I hope to help students discover their passions, so that they may turn them into purpose. I hope to help students tackle challenges, to create brighter futures for themselves, for each other, and the world. I hope that I awake intellectual curiosity and determination. 

Given these hopes, there is no literacy programme roll out that will cover it, and no buzzword without the bulk of its meaning and context that will allow me success. There is no recipe that will allow me to meet these goals. There is however Dr Seuss; "Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you try!". Here's to term four being about taking the thinking about my practice to a whole new level. Join me?

Coming out of the class size closet

image source

Now, before we start, I need you to press the enable button on your growth mindset. This should disable the fixed mindset functions such as making excuses, blaming, anger, frustrations, judgement and belittling. Alternatively, if you find that your growth mindset button is faulty today, I recommend reading this post once the repairs have been made.

Now that you have your growth mindset enabled... I don't think class sizes matter. Take a breath. Yes I did say that. But fortunately you have your growth mindset enabled, so not only will you hopefully listen to what I have said, but you will also hopefully genuinely consider what I say.

Team teaching with Claire Amos and Steve Mouldey means that I often have to share them with the rest of the country. Inevitably, this means that they are often away. Now, I could request a reliever for our classes of 45+, however, having done it so many times now, I have more and more, that I am not only capable, but even rather enjoy the big class. Of course, there are a few lessons I have learnt that makes this more manageable. Some of these lessons include:

1. Differentiation - Students who are challenged at the right level are less distracted, more on task and more engaged. When students are engaged, behaviour management becomes a non event, it becomes largely unnecessary.
   
2. Know your students - In order to challenge and engage your students, you have to get to know them. This means spending time with them in conversations on duty, going to see their sports games, seeing them in school shows. It means being involved. It also means working much smarter with gathering data. It means using clever tools like your school student management system and learning management system, Socrative, Flubaroo, Hapara, Schoology, Edmodo, Kahoot and Google forms to gather and process data about your students quickly. It means that you can be more responsive to their needs, interests and level.
   
3. Resources - Managing 45 students means that you can not physically help every student that gets stuck. However, considering the 'learnt helplessness' that so many students display, this is actually a great opportunity. Having short explanatory videos, websites, articles and more readily available for students to access, means that students learn to be able to help themselves. The ideas of universal design for learning is crucial here. This makes sure that all students can access the content. It also means that when a student asks a question, I can often point them to the correct resources quickly, rather than explaining it from scratch. I will often run mini lessons within a lesson too. If I notice that a number of students have asked me the same question, I can run a mini lesson whilst other students who do not need it, will continue working.
   
4. Transitions - Ironically, transitions was one of the things an associate teacher recommended I work on back in teachers college. Managing the way students move about a space, deliberately, thoughtfully, and with purpose just preserves sanity. 

The thing to notice about my lessons above is that large classes sizes are completely manageable and doable, it is in fact other factors that makes things hard. It is trying to fit more students in a class that is physically too small to be comfortable. Or the physical space having no acoustic panelling to absorb the voices of these students. Voices that should be given a chance to speak and a chance to be heard. It is about shutting teachers and these classes away behind doors in cell classrooms, rather than open plans where they are visible and have access to support, if it is needed at a moments notice. It is about a lack of access to technology that enables us to quickly get to know our learners, or give them options to access resources. Without a device, they are left to significantly fewer resources. It is also perhaps about not streaming classes, so that the diversity in a class might give more opportunities for peer teaching, for better discussion, for independent learners to lead (if you haven't yet read Steve's post about student echo chambers, do so immediately).

You see, I think the argument about classes sizes is all wrong. I think the class size argument distracts from the real issues. Physical spaces that do not enable learning. Limited or no access to technology. Meaningful data. One size fits all lessons with no differentiation and no universal design for learning.

What do you think?

Where does learning happen?

Why do so many people think that learning happens in rows? Having had my fair share of sharing a class with other teachers, and visiting other classrooms on a regular basis, I have seen the rows over and over again. Why are there still so many classrooms (and yes, I witnessed some again recently), that are still set up in rows? As you can tell, I have a bit of an issue with rows...

Of course, the learning at Hobsonville Point happens in all kinds of places. Just take a look at these photos.

Inspecting 'crime scenes' inside and outside of the school.

Groups working on the gymnasium floor
(tables and chairs were available)

Students working on the auditorium stage
(nothing to do with any kind of performance)

In fact, I think you might be hard pressed to find rows at Hobsonville Point. You have a much better chance of finding campfires, caves and mountain tops (make sure you view this great visual from Core Education). The many visitors that we have at Hobsonville Point Secondary often comment on the size of the spaces, the furniture, the colours, and quite frankly, the sparkling newness of it all. The thing is, the space certainly enables much of the future focussed pedagogy that we strive for, however, the space is only one very, very small ingredient. Stepping back for a few moments recently into a 'traditional' classroom, I thought about what I would do differently if I was to teach in a single cell classroom again. Here is just a very quick list:

1. Scour inorganic day and Trademe for alternative seating options, couches, pillows and more. 
2. Decorate strategically. In fact, I even have a Pinterest board for ideas to construct spaces in a classroom. 
3. Remove the front of the room. Turn the desks to face in various directions. Remove the focus from the front and rather use the whiteboard as just another possible resource. 
4. Buy some of those stickers that you put on desks and then turn them into whiteboards!
5. Get outside of the classroom more. Use the school gardens, local parks, any other space.
6. Use more chalk, outside. Use more window markers. 
7. Move the furniture in the class more often, encourage students to move the furniture to create the spaces they need.
8. Give the students more choice, everyday, in every lesson. Choose where you work, move to an appropriate space that matches your task.
9. Talk to another teacher who teaches the same year group at the same time, split the two classes for a lesson. Students can then have a choice about which option they go to.

There are so many more things that we can do. The real change I have found in teaching in a modern learning environment is that I use the spaces as I do at home. For quiet time, I retreat, for conversations, I sit around the dinner table. For relaxing, I move again. Sitting on a bean bag is my favourite way to read. Essays I prefer typing at my desk. 

What spaces and practices could you create in your class? How would having no front of the room change your practice? I dare you, remove the front for a month and then see how you go!