Whip Blog

Just read the CNN on-line summary of the upcoming TIME magazine cover story – How to Build a Student for the 21st Century.  It seems the outside world is starting to listen. 

The difficult part is to convince three groups that we can no longer have our students in rows and subjected to the confines of a text. 

The first group is administrators (and there are many who get it!) who set the vision for schools.  Their support is integral.  While it helps for them to have some basic technoliteracy,  they don’t necessarily have to KNOW about the fine parts. They must be able to grasp the potential for change, see the role of technology in facilitating that change, and chart the course…

Secondly comes the teachers.  Many still have their classes centered on their teaching, not the students learning.  They too have to have some basic tech competencies, but don’t have to be techheads.  What they do need to be is open…open to change, open to their own learning and, most importantly, open to taking a chance with technology.  Students will figure out the technology and apply it in the best way, but they must be given the resources and the opportunity.  Teachers need to flatten their classrooms.

Lastly, comes the “public” in public education.  Governments and school boards are important players, but they only react to parental demands.  The problem is, parents are experts in schooling – after all, they lived through 12+ years of the education system – but their “understandings” are based on their experience – of 20+ years ago.  Most don’t take the time to see the changes in the world (heck, neither do most teachers!) and don’t see that the global economic, social and cultural environment has changed (whether we like it or not!).  Our children’s world will be very different.

A daunting task!