Monday 12 November 2012

Blow it up... or crumble it down?


imgres.jpgDr. John Abbott spoke to the combined staffs of Quamichan, Mt. Prevost middles and Cowichan Secondary in lieu of our monthly staff meetings last week. As expected, the feedback was mixed with some people liking his approach, others not as much. That said, his talk on "Personalized Learning" was a success in my mind based on the number of conversations I had with different people coming from different angles in the days that followed. This got me thinking, are the barriers to making some significant changes breaking down?


Firstly is the willingness of teachers to look at curriculum differently. This process has been evolving slowly for many years, contrary to those who say we are in the same schools from 1950's. While the buildings may look similar on the outside, the pedagogy, programs and expectations on the inside are much, much different. Kids are given opportunity to work at different rates and skill levels as structures like the IEP (Individual Education Plan) have become a regular part of practice.

The expectations of parents is the next important step. The default position of most parents is to want school to look like it was for them, especially when their experience with school was a positive one. This is where the tension between experimenting with the system to make potential improvements can conflict with the parents' view of "thats great, but I don't want chances taken with my kid's education". So how does the system take chances without damaging individuals along the way?

The answer is not to "blow up the system" but to give the freedoms to make changes a bit at a time. If we are leaving Math and Science stable, could we combine English and Socials as an experiment? The integrated curriculum could free up time to go deeper into concepts while building skills, and if it works we continue if it doesn't then we rework the concept. If we had done that with the whole program, any problems would lead for calls to abandon all of the changes. 

Could we look at delivering electives in a package format where the kids naturally rotate between disciplines as opposed to a rigid 8 to 10 week time period? The package could be Stage Craft where 80-90 students are assigned to three teachers who will split them up into Drama, Wood Work and Art to create a big production with acting, set design, back drop and lighting. The school Yearbook could again be structured the same as kids move between Computer Studies, Photography, Creative Writing and Art. Music, Video and Technology can be worked into kids learning to play instruments, produce recordings and create music videos that could be posted. Does Marketing fit into any of these projects?

In this case, the "boiled frog" analogy can be a positive one. Regular, graduated changes can lead us to one day waking up to the realization that the system around us has fundamentally and permanently changed for the better. 

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