It is easy to talk about what could be, what should be and what other people could do. Instead, I would like to share what I have done, and what we are trying to do, as we engage in and embrace this learning evolution.
I began my career trying to emulate the teachers I remembered most, and through the stories I remembered from my school experiences. The teacher was mixing content, stories and weaving a narrative. While hardly an actor, there was something about the performance of teaching I really did enjoy. I would organize the desks in a circle, and while this was great for students to engage with each other, it also gave me centre stage. I was very focussed on the lesson plan and activities in the classroom. I saw myself as the expert, and it was up to me and the textbook to help students understand the content. Now, here is a true confession — I loved being the ‘sage on the stage’. In my Social Studies and English classes I would often retell the stories my memorable teachers had told me.
As I became more comfortable, I tried to allow students more of an opportunity to tell their stories. I worked to create situations where students could simulate the real world. In History class this might have been a United Nations role-play lesson, or reviewing a series of case studies in Law class. Students loved the examples drawn from the “real world”. In Law, we would study cases making headlines in the news, and other Social Studies’ classes leant themselves ideally to current events. I loved the relevance that came from these lessons, as well as the engagement. Combining my lectures with hands-on activities, like putting Louis Riel on trial, led to an even richer teaching and learning experience.
More recently, I have tried to not only simulate the real world, but give students opportunities in the real world. I often describe it in simple terms as moving to real-real, instead of fake-real (mock trials, case studies etc). My most concrete example of this is one I have shared previously (here) and presented at TEDxUBC:
Lately, I have seen many other wonderful examples of real world teaching. Delta District Principal, Neil Stephenson, shared a number of stories from his experience in Calgary, including this one (here) where Grade 9 students visited local universities in Calgary to convince young voters to go to the polls in their 2010 Civic Election. In our district, there are also many wonderful examples, like the Cypress Park students who participated in real world inquiry around clean water (link to video). Another example is Larry Rosenstock, who presented twice last month challenging the audience with the power of his work at High Tech High in San Diego (link to video). And, although challenging, this push to real world inquiry is very exciting; when given the chance, learners love to engage in the world, and not only to be told about what’s going on in the world or through role simulation.
It is simplistic to think one method of teaching can replace another, and it is disrespectful to conclude there haven’t been wonderful real-real examples in our schools for hundreds of years. But the move to personalized learning, the focus on “the 7 C’s”, and the power of technology to allow us to do things not possible before, have really changed the dynamics.
There is no doubt, when working with students or adults, all three experiences will come into play. There is a time for a teacher to be on stage, a time for learners to simulate the experiences of the world, and a time for learners to be part of the real world. The irony is not lost on me that I often present a lecture in a teacher-centric approach to adults championing the value of teacher guided/facilitated learning. And, if you saw the video attached to my last post, it was very much in the “sage on the stage” tradition.
I went into teaching, in part, to replicate the experience I had from the very best teachers in my school. As our world changes, and notions of student engagement change, it is challenging to teach students and adults in ways that run counter to much of what I experienced growing up. This, for me, is one of the great challenges of the profession today — adjusting the practices at the core of who I am as a teacher to better engage students for a world that is not the one of my youth.
I think the key here is context, rather than “real world.” Real world math is often misdescribed as consumer mathematics, but that is really only one small aspect of “real world” mathematics. Puzzles are an example of context based mathematics.
Problems from the real world are engaging for students, but so are simulations of a portion of the real world. Your example of the United Nations simulation, for example, is drawing on the intersection of gaming, role-playing, and real world context. You would probably find that in an English class, a tribunal of elves, dwarves, and humans discussing the fate of hobbits would have significant appeal to a class reading JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, but it has very little basis in the “real world.”
The context is key in my opinion. Real world problems are an easy way to provide meaningful context, but they aren’t the ONLY way.
I really like how you describe your shift in teaching. We need more stories of the shift(s) people go through during their careers, and a few less “polished” I am already the expert stories. Thank you for sharing some of your pedagogical background.
Thanks David for the comments. I am struck by the amazing level of engagement when the challenges for students seem to be rooted in the world. Another example was how different my students responded when we had a debate with students in Germany regarding the causes of World War II versus what I had done before where we had the conversations in class. It was the connecting beyond the classroom that was very powerful. I would agree that we cannot only have “real world” problems – but they can be part of a powerful program.
Hi Chris!
This is a post that many of us can relate to. I think one of the most salient points that you make is that frequently, we teach the way that we were taught. To this end, I think one of the biggest challenges to changing educational practice stems from the fact that we were taught in a certain way, and ‘it worked for us’.
A few weeks ago, I was giving a PD session to our administrators on 21st Century Skills. When I first began to design the lesson, I reverted to the ‘sage on the sage’ style of teaching. However, I caught myself early on, and had to completely revamp my approach to the learners in my session to make it much more hands-on, experiential learning. I had to think in a totally different way. I had to make the presentation urgent and relevant, it needed to connect to prior learning, and roll out in such a way that it maximized interactions amongst the participators en route to creating a useable product. But the bottom line was, preparing for a lesson like that was HARD! And it was different than how I would have approached a lesson when I started out as a teacher.
Your post resonates with me, and I am sure it will with many others.
No doubt, the challenge of creating these learning experiences does seem much more difficult – not only is the giving of control hard, the setting of meaningful tasks is challenging. Of course, the shift to problem based learning, or “real world” learning, or whatever one calls it, does not replace the need for a range of experiences. I would love to see more concrete examples of what this real world learning is looking like in our classrooms.
Wow. I stumbled across this via Twitter and felt like I was reading my own story. The journey to “unschool” ourselves as teachers is a difficult one. What we believed was good teaching continues to change and evolve with our students. Making the jump from fake to real problems has been the most trying and rewarding switch I have ever made it my teaching. Once you see students working on things that matter, it is really tough to go back. The “real-real” is a great expression of where education needs to be moving, but convincing teachers to move past the simulation is tough.
Thanks Vince for the comment. You are absolutely right, once kids are working on projects that are real, and matter, it is quite addictive for them and for me as the teacher. No doubt our memories of schooling is one of the main things holding us back – we so easily and quickly often revert back to how we were taught.
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Thank you for sharing your journey in teaching! It was wonderful to see the changes you have gone through and how you shifted to a more student-centered learning environment in which you connect students to the world they live in. I appreciate your story.
Bob Ryshke
Center for Teaching
Thanks Bob. It is exciting to find ways to better connect students to their world. And, as I work more with the adults, the same holds true for them.
[…] How My Teaching Has Changed by Chris Kennedy — This is a beautiful and balanced blog post reflecting on the shifts in education and the changing role of the teacher. Kennedy writes, “It is simplistic to think one method of teaching can replace another, and it is disrespectful to conclude there haven’t been wonderful real-real examples in our schools for hundreds of years. But the move to personalized learning, the focus on “the 7 C’s”, and the power of technology to allow us to do things not possible before, have really changed the dynamics.” […]
Interesting that this progressive change in one’s teaching style has come to be WITHOUT the implementation of the BC Education Plan. Dare I suggest that we teachers just may be capable of being good teachers without the government telling us how?
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I just returned from giving a few workshops in California & Arizona called “Social Media Effects on our Changing Society, Business, & Education” and found that over 1/2 of their schools & school districts block use of Facebook, YouTube, and TeacherTube by both students and teachers. Incredible! I’m glad there are forward thinking school districts like West Van and Coquitlam that encourage the use of social media for learning. I used your blogging use by your elementary schools to encourage literacy. I follow & support your initiatives in West Van. I also watch the work of Gary Kern. (another ex-Coquitlam innovator).
Thanks Ken for the comment – it is interesting, that it seems so many US school jurisdictions take such a different view of social media than most jurisdictions in Canada. We have really embraced the view of opening up networks and teaching kids the skills, and when they make mistakes, working with them to help them make better choices. I feel very fortunate to have had my Coquitlam experience, there was clearly a culture of innovation and risk-taking. I think we also have that here in West Vancouver.
Glad you are staying so connected – all the best.
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i lived your story and I’m doing a blog in class my teacher is miss brown she is the best teacher and a don’t want that teaching changed
Thanks Anne – glad to hear your experience with Miss Brown is so positive.
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