Pedagogies of the future
The Way Ahead
THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS
By Sharon Boey
True
architecture exists only when man stands in the centre.
-
Alvar Aalto
The more we set our
sights on being future-oriented
and forward-looking in education, the more we find ourselves returning
to the
basics, the fundamentals that define the teacher-learner interaction
and make
teaching and learning sustainable. Is it new that learner voice is
important?
Is it new that the learner needs to take responsibility for his own
learning,
words and deeds? Is it new that the learner needs to engage in learning
head-on, hearts-on ("emotional" element) and hands-on? Is it new that
the teacher needs to facilitate and question and to do that very well?
These
are the fundamentals that are important. However, the landscape has
evolved and
the contexts and issues have changed.
Ready
for Tomorrow; Relevant for Today
It is a matter of
balance. While there is a mandate
to innovate in order to be ready for tomorrow, there is as pressing a
need to
remain relevant for today. However ground-shaking new teaching methods
and
infrastructural supports can be, the school still has to deliver the
national
curriculum and do it well; prepare its students for the national
examination,
the PSLE and do it well; and arm the primary school children with a
decent
academic certificate to be placed in a secondary school of their
choice. The key
is to weave POTF into the design and execution of the curriculum
day-to-day; to
show the way as to how POTF can make more effective and more engaging
the
teaching and learning of English, Mother Tongue, Mathematics, Science
and
others.
Engaging
Teachers in Change: An Immersive Approach
Often, in introducing
an initiative or change,
school leaders will start out with the “big picture” and “explain” the
“whys”
to staff members, give details on implementation; and provide some time
for
Q&A. Often, teachers in the audience go into a passive mode of
receiving,
not necessarily processing, thinking or buying-in. The Q&A
session is
sometimes filled with silence which must surely not be mistaken for
agreement
and satisfaction; and sometimes the session is charged with tension and
cynicism. Often, there will be staffroom talk thereafter; and the
ground
perceptions and actions can be different from the official
story.
In engaging teachers in
POTF, it is necessary to
provide an immersive experience that seeks to renew and transform. The
immersive experience needs to be multi-tied and multi-modal and would
constitute a journey covering strategic planning (how POTF fits into
the
school’s strategic journey ahead), learning from experts (capacity
building
through workshops, conversations and change-context experiences),
learning by
doing (teacher practice in the classroom), team learning (lesson
study), and
deep reflection.
The
Best Marketers in Education
I have been asked if
Cedar has marketed POTF to
parents. This would be important as parents, being partners in
education,
should have a sense of what Cedar provides for their children. However,
what is
of primary focus is to first reach out to the internal audience – the
teachers
and the pupils. The teachers must first understand, appreciate and
practise
POTF in the classroom and model the Cedar way. It is our hope that the
pupils,
after experiencing POTF in the classroom, will talk about their
experiences
with enthusiasm and become good marketers of the Cedar brand of
teaching and
learning.
A
Way of Life
The most uplifting moments in the POTF journey were when the POTF elements and strategies became a way of life among several of our teachers. The POTF journey has raised our consciousness and awaken us to the fundamentals. We story-tell more and now make concerted attempts to evoke emotions and connections (e.g. through videos). We also use metaphors more in our teaching and include pupils’ voice, in our interactions with them. This is inspiring and powerful and has helped to brand the Cedarian culture.
THOUGHTS & REFLECTIONS II
By Charmaine Carrie Ariken
The journey began when
our school sent in our
Future School application and we were short-listed. The end of year
envisioning
exercise in 2006 brought us out of our comfort zone to explore new
frontiers in
futuring educational experiences. Our staff had heard from external
speakers of
the need to constantly innovate as innovation was the main thrust in
moving
businesses forward. The exercise led the core team to consolidate their
thoughts, understanding and management processes in a document that was
presented as our Future School application.
As the validation team
came and interviewed our
team, I shared with the validation team that one of the critical
success
factors that has led our school in its transformation was the agility
and
nimbleness of the teachers and how they were receptive to the ideas put
forth
by the school management as well as the culture of sharing amongst the
different
strata of staff.
Conversations amongst
the team continued and the
culmination of a learning journey to Denmark was only the beginning of
a
pedagogical journey that would change the lenses of the educational
fraternity
at Cedar Primary.
When the team returned, their learnings continued as the team shared their experiences from Denmark that covered the political, economic, educational and social spheres.
What followed was a
trend analysis of the following
sectors of influence that impacts the individual in the domains of
economic,
bioethics, citizenship, literacy, pop culture, inclusivity, work place,
social,
education, morality, identity, virtual and technology at the meta level
with
the common understanding of futuring it to the needs of 21st century
individual.
The dimensions of the new pedagogies were mapped out at the macro level
and the
insights of ethnography at the micro level from both pupils and
teachers were
done to scope the dimensions of the new pedagogies further. The future pedagogies were
developed and the
process of prototyping these pedagogies began at Cedar Primary where
the focus
was pedagogical elements.
Prototyping the
different pedagogical elements
required teachers to think through their processes thoroughly as they
were
prototyping new as well as basic ideas and in instances, we felt a
sense of
déjà vu. The balance between being professionally open to critique
developed in
them a greater sense of collegiality and camaraderie as they delivered
their
proto-lessons as a team. Sharing their insights with different
organizations
gave them a clearer sense of the direction they need to take in their
next
stage of development. The
team has
blended its learning with lesson study and I believe that this is how
our
teachers can balancing these new pedagogies with curriculum and
assessment.
The
Future
I believe that the
journey of monitoring and
reviewing the pedagogies of the future will have to be done at
different levels
catering to the different abilities of students. There will be
situations in
which students will evaluate their own learning and determine for
themselves
research areas that they would embark upon. The
purpose of research would be to develop critical research skills to
prepare them for the future.
The hierarchical structure within the school system would probably remain for accountability’s sake as teachers eventually become more involved action research, collaborative research with higher institutions and projects in collaboration with the international community. We hope that heads of department will pilot more innovative programmes, share with the international community and present their findings to stakeholders.
What
is the next level of engagement and where do we go from here?
The opportunities
presented have made our core team
more reflective, perceptive to their pupils’ understanding and know
that these
pedagogical elements can be infused into their daily lessons. As the proto-lessons have
been designed in
alignment with the national curriculum and syllabuses, teachers have
also been
engaged in deep thinking. Facilitation
and questioning skills have been key in the professional development
model as
teachers deliver their proto-lessons.
For the pupils, the
lesson experience has been more
engaging and has raised their level of awareness of issues. Learning has taken
on a different conduit
that heightens their perspectives on real-world issues.
The journey has been
fruitful and has changed my
understanding, perspective as a leader. It is a pleasure to see a
culture of
innovation growing in the school, through experimentation and the
pushing of
frontiers, with new forms of evaluation of professional development and
our own
brand of research and development.