I'd love to teach...

Rodd Lucier made a great post over at his blog, The Clever Sheep, that I related to. He listed 15 things he'd love to teach others if given the chance.

And it got me thinking, if I could teach my peers just 15 things, what would my list look like? A lot of my 15 would be the same as Rodd's (coloured blue on his list), however there are some others I'd like to include - either because of my personal passions or because our situation. So, here goes, my top five:

1. That it's okay to ask questions and not be the "sage on the stage"
2. Play = learning (for you and your students - this transcends age, subject area and any other percieved barriers)
3. It's highly unlikely you will break it, most technology was designed to be USED not stared at. Besides if you break it chances are a student will know how to fix it before anyone knows any differently.
4. Your students will be able to figure it out - if you give them the starting point and time to figure out the rest. And they're great at teaching each other...use them!
5. Transparency is not a dirty word. Instead of imagining me out to rat you out as a "crap" teacher (chances are you're not, by the way), see this as an opportunity to draw from a wider resouce base, you're not limited to your classroom/desk/files any more

Do we need to change?

A couple of days ago TheCleverSheep responded to George Sieman's recent post asking for answers to a few seemingly simple questions:

1. Does education need to change?
2. Why or why not?
3. If it should change, what should it become? How should education (k-12, higher, or corporate) look like in the future?"

Below are my responses:

1. Does education need to change?

“If we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll always get what we’ve always got.”

In light of that quote I have to ask, is what we’re producing now good enough for the future? Will our current structures (buildings, timetables, curriculum) prepare our young adults for a future where:
knowledge is accessed with relevant keywords and the press of a button
the lines defining maps and time zones don’t really apply to who you’re able to work with on projects
the available jobs haven’t even been dreamed up yet?

Personally, I don’t think so. I think we’re very good at producing citizens equipped to work within the lines, who believe that their power to recall knowledge defines how ‘smart’ they are, and who look to others to solve their problems.

So, in short, yes I believe our approach to education needs to change.

2. Why or why not?

If education does not shift to align itself with the present and prepare itself for the future I feel that an increasingly wide divide between educated and “drop out” will grow because more and more students will disengage from the system. We need to give our students the best opportunities to succeed in life – that’s the bottom line. If we’re not doing that, we’re failing them.

3. If it should change, what should it become? How should education (k-12, higher, or corporate) look like in the future?"

Something more than it is now - something collaborative, with the teacher acting more as a mentor with smaller groups, inspiring, creative, flexible... Personally, I'd love something like the picture as my classroom...

Image by: Amit Gupta @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/48600091327@N01/579033711