Renowned cultural anthropologist Dr. Michael Wesch gave a TED talk about what schools are requiring students to do today and how and why they need to change. Wesch believes that the world needs to stop simply having students know things and, instead, have them use their own knowledge and critical thinking to form opinions and create meaning in the world they live in, hence the idea of going from knowledgeable to knowledge-able. While I certainly agree with his position, this will not happen unless the content that students are required to know is changed. While some of the skills that are needed in the real world are taught and developed in the classroom, the majority of the skills needed for the real world are self-taught or learned on the fly. As Wesch mentioned in the video, students are only reading 49% of the content but "only 26% is relevant to [their] life" (Wesch, 2010). I know I would have liked a class on how and why to set up a retirement account, how to buy a car, a class on credit cards and creating a budget, a class on health insurance, a how to pay for college class, etc. Even though it would also require that teachers be certified and qualified enough to teach these classes and not give incorrect/bad information, I believe that even just teaching the basics of these--terminology and how-tos--would create better financial and informational literacy in our world. Despite this disconnect between the current content teachers are required to teach and the real-world connections, I would be able to use some of Wesch's ideas as inspiration for implementing some of these real-life skills into my class. For instance, I can have my students research an issue/topic happening now and not only create a community from within our classroom, but branch out to see different global perspectives through the conversations people are having on the Internet. In this way, I would be able to encourage my students to "embrace real problems" (Wesch, 2010) and show that it's okay to not have all the answers. I can take current events and connect them to students’ lives to start a dialogue in the classroom about the changing world. I could even try and incorporate articles/discussions related to financial literacy and planning for the future with units about the American Dream. Hopefully other teachers realize this disconnect and are able to incorporate connections to the real world in their classroom because, after all, teachers preparing students for the greatest test of all--life.
Wesch, M. [TedxKC]. (2010, October 12). From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. [Video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI. Passing Through or Stopping By?: Some Thoughts on Dave White's Visitors and Residents Theory9/19/2015 In Dave White’s video titled “Visitors and Residents,” White discusses a theory concerning how and why people use the Internet in different ways. There are two categories of individuals who use the internet: Visitors and Residents. Providing context for those individuals’ interactions, the two main zones where individuals use the Internet are Institutional (within one’s career/field of expertise) and Non-institutional (personal life). This Visitor/Resident theory explains more than the Native/Immigrant theory (the idea that those individuals exposed early on to the internet have an easier time understanding and using it) because it states how people work with the Internet. It defines the characteristics of people and shows how they use the Internet in different ways. Because people have this sense of wanting to leave their mark on the world for posterity, many people want to post things online and become a Resident. However, some people are Visitors and use the Internet’s resources; they are not concerned with living their lives on the Internet for all to see. Personally, I think that the Native/Immigrant theory and the Visitor/Resident theories both leave out the idea of introvert and extrovert personalities and how they deal with technology. On the Visitor side of the spectrum, personality traits of introverts are listed: private, goal-oriented, and individual. On the Resident side of the spectrum, personality traits of Extroverts are listed: social, personalized, networked, communal, and visible. Visitors look inward and Residents look outward. Visitors see how the Internet can contribute to their lives; Residents see how they can contribute to the IInternet. A screenshot from Dave White’s video: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=0sFBadv04eY On the Visitor-Resident spectrum, I am a proud Visitor non-institutionally and institutionally. While I have different social media I am a part of, I see what other people are doing and rarely contribute. I am constantly observing and evaluating in order to stay “in the know” but the idea of contributing constantly is something I do not choose to do. To me, privacy is crucial; I want to have complete control over what I post, where I post it, and who sees it. White’s analogy of how the Visitor uses the Internet as a “toolbox” (White, 2013) is accurate--the Internet is just another tool I can use to help me grow as a learner and researcher. I mainly use the Internet as a resource rather than as a place I’m living in. So, to all of the Visitors who read this: Thanks for passing through! And to all of the Residents who read this: Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what you think! References White, D. [Dave White]. (2013, May 31). Visitors and Residents [Video file]. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFBadv04eY. Doing what we’ve always done only doing it “better” or radically changing our school system are the two ways Will Richardson, in his work, “Why School?” argues will help improve education. Radically changing our system would be better in the long run but difficult to do in the short run. Conversely, improving our school system would be easier in the short run but not reap as many dividends in the long run. It comes down to what one’s actual goal is--to really improve our educational system or to temporarily give life to a dying system. While Richardson’s ideas are good ideas, it is a more complex issue that the way he simplistically states it. Some obstacles stand in the way of his points, mainly time and money both of which people have little of. Regarding time, Richardson’s ideas would take a long time to implement, leaving many students currently in the school system in the lurch. If, however, improvements were made but nothing was truly changed in the long run, all students would be equally disserviced. Money-wise, both changes require funding. As Richardson discusses regarding Common Core, “Right now, the people with the power and money are bent on limiting, not expanding, the real learning choices for kids. They’re so focused on turning learning into a competition that they’ve lost sight of most of the really good things schools can be about” (Richardson, 2012, p. loc. 559). However, with limited power and money to change things, what must we do? How will changes happen? To truly service our students, although it will be accompanied by growing pains, I believe an overhaul of the entire way education is necessary. It will take a lot of people with great ideas and a willingness to change. As an educator, I will embrace ideas such as: sharing my ideas, having students discover knowledge, modeling life-long learning themselves, and granting students course-related choice in what they study. I enjoy sharing my ideas globally via technology because the entire profession is built on sharing. The thought of being able to have the best ways at their fingertips to help students is something that I as a teacher will wholeheartedly embrace. Additionally, the idea of having discovery as the vehicle by which students learn is not a new one, but it will take many years of perfecting the teaching methods before it can be the best used strategy. Once harnessed it will be a major learning technique that I plan to use in my classroom. In turn, I as a teacher can show students the joy in discovery by being a role-model for life-long learning. I am always learning something new and I am happy to show students new things I am learning. Because students will see me learning new things independently, giving my students the power to study what they want to study (that’s related to the course and the skills one learns in it) is something I would embrace (granted students have learned the basics in their course of study) in order to make them life-long learners. However I would have difficulty committing to the idea of posting student work on the Internet and large projects for “real audiences” (Richardson, 2012, p. loc 497) due to the possible negative impact on the learning environment and time for the projects respectfully. The idea of “talking to strangers” (Richardson, 2012, p. loc 437) is one that I will have difficulty embracing because of the darker places of the internet. If something is made public, it is open to scrutiny, criticism, and inappropriate behavior. Because children--yes, even teenagers are still children--are still learning, this online environment, unless monitored, can be a dangerous place. Also, while Richardson’s idea of “real work for real audiences” (Richardson, 2012, p. loc 497) is a nice idea, there is not enough time in the school year to make everything a project. Additionally, students do not have the energy to continually invest themselves in project after project. Because all students learn differently, I believe there needs to be a mix of different types of learning in the classroom and not solely project-based learning. Richardson’s ideas, while thought-provoking, will require significant changes in the mindsets of both teachers and students if they are to be fully realized and our school system changed for the better. References Richardson, Will. (2012). Why school?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information
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AuthorSarah Connolly is a CSUSM Single Subject Teacher Credential Program student. She is currently studying to become an English teacher at the high school level and is looking into teaching at the community college level later on in her career. Archives
February 2016
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