Reigniting the Muse of Fire

It's been a tough week in my district with tragedy befalling our student body prior to an extended weekend coming up. While the shock is still something being processed, the students have been making good use of writing to work toward a sense of catharsis. Blogging, like writing, often offers the chance for reflection and thought. 

This video of a talk by Sir Ken Robinson is something that has this writer thinking about the future and what needs to be done in education. Sometimes in darkness it's incumbent upon us to ignite something if no other illumination can be found. This video is something that's shining a light for me. It's Sir Ken Robinson being given the RSA Animation treatment. 

Mr. Smith's Class and 21st Century Teaching

Sharing Reconciliation with the People Formerly Known as the Audience

Lately there have been a few words that have become ubiquitous in media discussions of education. That's right: standards and data are everywhere when education comes up as a topic. Everything in education is either "standards-based" or "data-driven" no matter what the topic is. Whether it's the adoption of a new set of standards or a supposedly well-intended instance of agitation, in education the words 'standards' and 'data' manage to resurface often. But in being given this opportunity to guest blog, the word that haunted the build-up toward approaching the topic of reconciling standards and 21st century learning was not standards but data. In a fit of 21st century research it can be found that data is defined as 

–noun

1.

a pl. of datum.

2.

(used with a plural verb) individual facts, statistics, or items of information: These data represent 

the results of our analyses. Data are entered by terminal for immediate  processing by the computer.

3.

(used with a singular verb) a body of facts; information: Additional data is 

available from the president of the firm.

In all of the angst that surrounds the lemming rush of educational systems surging to become standard-based data-driven entities the definition of data gains new importance.  If data is simply a set of items of information, educators need to keep this fact in mind when the word 'standard' is wielded as a weapon. It is this writer's fervent belief that educators everywhere really are doing good work with students every day. What has been lacking has been a succinct way to communicate this fact. Cynicism aside, testing and the use of data has arisen as a part of the problem that education wants for ways to articulate what it does. In the midst of heated editorial pages and town-hall levy meetings achievement testing has become a baleful blade possessed of precious few handles. But how much do those strident voices demanding accountability even know about what is on those tests? 

The debate surrounding accountability and standards is often presented within a frame of binary solutions when what is truly needed is reconciliation. Wanting more for students is no more wrong than wanting a real assessment of learning. If education is to move forward and repair relationships with all stakeholders it must be with a sense of reconciliation. As Daniel Pink shows us, some surprising things can be learned from data particularly in relation to motivation. 

But if the tests used to derive the data only reward lower-order thinking how can education survive when its very funding is tied to what some consider to be the antithesis of higher-order thinking? The answer lies within the word 'data'. If data is a body of facts, education must use standards as a basis of learning not as a myopic and duplicitous lens. Data is present in everything education does. Data does not stop with a test score. But then how is the picture to be properly painted to all involved? How can accountability, standards, and the need for 21st Century skills be reconciled for all involved? 

The roots of this repair are present within the very 21st Century skills that are required by a shifting modern world. In the book "Cognitive Surplus" author Clay Shirky calls digital media users "the people formerly known as the audience" because 

When you buy a machine that lets you consume digital content, you also buy a machine to produce it. 

The binary distinction of student and teacher loses focus in the context of 21st Century technology and skills. If education is to repair the schism between 21st Century skills and standards-based education it must come through the sharing of data. The items of information for such sharing can come from the activities already going on in classrooms today. Data doesn't have to come from a one-shot testing window; data can come from qualitative learning experiences that still use educational standards. But such sharing will require a change on the part of educators. 

If educators are to reconcile educational standards in the context of a 21st century world, the "four walls syndrome" must cease. The times of saying that "<insert educational initiative name here> is just a fad" and will pass must become the past. No more closing the doors to the world and teaching within one set of four walls. To begin this reconciliation educators don't have to be Scott McLeod, or Shelly Terrell, or Will Richardson. Your school doesn't need to be on a laptop initiative or have a seamless online class management system. Use your cellphone to record a great student discussion, create a Facebook page for a class, have students concoct a Twitter hashtag to conduct larger discussion, or join a PLN yourself. But educators must share what is going on in their classroom with all stakeholders within the community and world around them. Isolation cannot be the default for those that feel educational data selection is subjective. Karl Fisch and others are taking steps to change educational paradigms; all you need to do is start to share the good that you do. Share this reconciliation of education with the people formerly known as the audience. 

Almost Student-centered: Bootleg Edition

Every teacher has processes that they go through to get ready for the school year. For this writer and educator, there are certain movies that need to be watched before beginning a school year. One that always makes the list is Cameron Crowe's under-appreciated gem "Almost Famous". It's a semi-autobiographical turn for Crowe based upon the time he spent as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. In past viewings the relationship between Crowe's alter-ego main character William, and the rock critic guru Lester Bangs would resonate for their student/teacher qualities and quotes like the following: 

Music, you know, true music -not just rock 'n' roll- it chooses you. It lives in your car, or alone, listening to your headphones, you know, with the vast, scenic bridges and angelic choirs in your brain.

             It's a place apart...

But while viewing the film in readying for this school year another aspect gained prominence; namely that of the journey William's character goes through. William begins with a passion for music, specifically rock 'n roll. He meets a guide in the form of Lester's character, who arranges his work for the magazine which precipitates his journey following the band Stillwater. In the process of covering the band he often calls Lester to vent and get help in overcoming challenges presented by his situation and his goal of being a legitimate writer. Ultimately William's journey is about writing the truth behind his trials and sharing the knowledge gained with others. Does the progression of this plot sound familiar to anything else?

While William's journey strongly parallels that of the mono-mythic hero posited by Joseph Campbell and other scholars it is also an outline for student-centered learning. The student begins with their passion, a mentor arranges experiences to foster growth and engage the student in inquiry, the student undergoes trials in the process of learning, getting aide when needed but ultimately coming to understanding on their own and sharing that understanding with others. 

Maybe it's not possible or desired for all students to possess such an experience. The type of trials and tribulations William goes through clearly aren't for everyone, but if this experience of learning is analogous to the stories of heroes that pre-date Christianity it bears examination and discussion. Right now it feels like the multiple-choice driven assessments present in education are grounded firmly in the "trials & tribulation" aspect of the process and offer absolutely no check or outlet on the element of "sharing knowledge gained with others". A test score is a static number currently being used to evaluate, judge, or at worst shame those involved in the learning process. Isn't learning more than that? 

Factual knowledge is an inextricable part of the learning process. But the trials of a learner are so much more. It's fine to assess and test factual knowledge, but there is an entire part of the process that is being abandoned if this is the only focus. There needs to be a value and assessment for the sharing of knowledge; anything else is only 'almost' - but it's not real learning. Sharing knowledge is of vital import because: 

The only true currency in this bankrupt world... is what you share with someone else when you're uncool.