My, how my beliefs have grown! Here's my original beliefs statement, and below is the evolution of my educational beliefs:
In order to understand how students learn, I think students first need to be provided with the opportunities to learn. External factors (such as adequate sleep, nutrition, home environments, etc.) are often times out of our direct control. (Not to say that we avoid addressing and attempting to remedy these potential deficiencies, but if we are incapable of combating these external factors in our oftentimes limited roles as teachers, we need to acknowledge and accept that our children are plagued by these ills.) We can, however, focus our attention on providing all the resources necessary in our own classrooms for students to learn at their peak individual levels.
In order to understand how students learn, I think students first need to be provided with the opportunities to learn. External factors (such as adequate sleep, nutrition, home environments, etc.) are often times out of our direct control. (Not to say that we avoid addressing and attempting to remedy these potential deficiencies, but if we are incapable of combating these external factors in our oftentimes limited roles as teachers, we need to acknowledge and accept that our children are plagued by these ills.) We can, however, focus our attention on providing all the resources necessary in our own classrooms for students to learn at their peak individual levels.
First,
students must feel safe in order to learn.
Besides the (hopefully) obvious protection from physical harm, we must
stay attuned to whether students feel safe sharing themselves with us, their
peers, and (most often overlooked) themselves.
From cultivating classroom environments in which mistakes are honorable,
multiple viewpoints are valued, and challenging and questioning are encouraged,
students can feel safe growing mentally, socially, and emotionally.
Second,
students must feel respected. It kills
me inside when I see and hear teachers refer to our young people as “our students.” Just the nomenclature of “student” strips
these people of all qualities unrelated to learning in a school building. Our kids are so much more than that! They are artists, athletes, big sisters,
interpreters, musicians, caregivers, the list goes on and on. Our kids need to be recognized as people, not
students. Once our children see that the
adults in their lives view them as people, as equal human beings (besides, you
know, that whole “I’m in charge of the classroom” kind of thing), their respect
level for those adults soar. In doing so, these adults make enormous
strides in bridging any cultural, gender, or age gap between themselves and
their students. Once this happens, students
will begin to feel that their ideas and themselves are valued in the eyes of
the adult. (Oh, and it completely cuts
down on classroom management issues, too!)
Most
importantly, students must feel empowered in order to create their own
knowledge. Anything – animals, insects,
even machines – can learn to mimic behavior, complete tasks, or memorize data,
but we as humans have the capability to reflect (haHA!), critique, connect, and
reinterpret passive knowledge. We must
continually encourage and show our kids that regurgitating information is not a
meaningful demonstration of what one knows – it is when a learner relates to
material, adapts it to fit their needs and drives in life, and allows that
knowledge to lead them to self-discovery that they accomplish real
knowledge! Even when students create
active knowledge, they need to see us model and feel safe themselves in
battling uncomfortable uncertainties, wrestling with questions that challenge
our beliefs, and, to be cliché, “stepping outside their comfort zones.” Only then can students create their own
knowledge!
Once
we see how students learn, we need to ensure our instruction affords and
strengthens opportunities for that learning to occur. The first step is teaching students to consider
how they think and learn so that they can be empowered with that knowledge to
interpret and reinterpret instruction. Making
sure that students feel that they have control over how they create knowledge
from our instruction provides students with ownership of their learning
processes. Once students feel empowered
to create their own knowledge, then we, as teachers, lead and guide them to
creating new connections and exploring challenging conundrums. Sometimes guiding and leading involves
lecturing and explicit, prescriptive modes of transferring information. Often times, though, guiding and leading
learning relies heavily upon student interest and choice, openness to multiple
methods to demonstrate mastery, and “confined freedom” to apply and explore new
skills. (By confined freedom, I mean
providing young people with flexibly wide parameters to choose how and what
they explore with respect to new material.
Our kids need structure (some more than others) to limit an overwhelming
plethora of possibilities, but they also need the freedom to create knowledge
as it relates to their lives and their interests.)
Most
importantly, our instruction must, as I said before, challenge them to consider
new ideas, question their beliefs, and explore the sometimes uncomfortable
perspectives of other people (all developmentally appropriate, of course). It pains me when teachers shy away from
conflict the curriculum or their students.
Unproductive conflict can be obviously detrimental to the education
process for all involved, but productive conflict – conflict in which we remain
open-minded and respectful – is how our society grows. We don’t grow in conflict-free environments –
we stagnate. From a national level of
battling political parties to an individual level of cognitive dissonance, we
utilize the gifts of disagreement and differences to forge new territory and
blaze a new path.
But
now let’s say that one wants to improve on enabling student learning or
enhancing classroom instruction: how does one do that? Through careful reflection of one’s
position. For reflection to make any
positive difference, it must be truthful.
Individuals, teachers especially, need to be comfortable enough with themselves
to confront the oftentimes grim realization that, lo and behold, things may not
be as they seem. If teachers are not
genuine in their examination of the faults and their triumphs, there is no
foundation for reflection; any half-brained attempt to reflect will crumble
like a sandcastle. When we consider our
own actions merely at face value, we lose the opportunity to flip our
perspectives, empathize with our students, and explore ourselves and our craft
through multiple lenses. Without
reflecting critically and carefully hunting assumptions and considering viable
alternatives, we only reflect to check reflecting off our checklist or drop the
“reflect” buzzword into our resume.
Critical reflection takes energy, effort, and patience, not a
half-brained attempt at shrugging off our practice as “proficient” and moving
on.
And
to transform that half-brained attempt into a full-fledged inquiry involves
utilizing systemic processes. Sometimes
those procedures follow the prescriptive systems designed by philosophers and
researchers. Other times, those reflective
practices are rooted in personalized systems that enable the individual to
carefully mull over interpretations, perspectives, alternatives, and reactions
to improve their craft. Whatever
reflective systems make sense for the teacher, they should rely on some type of
data. And no, not necessarily data in
the sense of spreadsheets or grade books (but if those are helpful to
individuals or individual situations, use ‘em!), but observations, conversations,
and other qualitative, informal “data” that can be recorded in some way for
future analysis and consideration. Long
story short, to improve student learning and classroom instruction, teachers
need to remember that they’ll “get out what they put in.” If you do what you always do, you’ll get what
you always get. But if you’re willing to
challenge assumptions, utilize referential resources, and experiment with new
approaches and techniques, you’re in store for something different in the least
but probably something great!
