Changing World of Learning
If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow.
John Dewey
What is my job as a teacher? For many years, I saw my role as a provider of instruction. I imparted my knowledge about the French language and Francophone cultures, and I offered my students opportunities to apply what they had learned. That is what I knew, so that was the way I taught.
The problem is that I was taught how to teach in an era when I went to the card catalogue to find the call number for a book and to the Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature to find journal articles. I was a student when the first fiberoptic cables for Internet were installed on my college campus. The Internet was not part of our daily lives. The industrial model of education was still widely excepted because it was difficult to fathom students having access to the endless stream of information that the Internet now provides.
Fast forward two decades, and it is difficult to imagine how we ever survived without the Internet at our fingertips twenty-four hours a day through smart phones, tablets, and laptop computers. Students today learn differently than I did because the world they live in is so vastly changed from the world that existed when I was in high school. This reality presents me with a challenge as a teacher:
How am I going to respond?
Am I going to continue to force students into the educational box of a bygone era, or am I going to allow them to use the tools and opportunities at their disposal to explore the world around them?
In order to meet the needs of today’s learners, teachers need to change the role that they play in the learning environment. Teachers need to become facilitators and coaches to guide their students as they engage in authentic learning projects for a more personalized learning experience.
Changing Mindsets
Through the remainder of this article, you will have the opportunity to consider the changes that I am implementing in my courses in an effort to create a more significant learning environment (CSLE) with choice, ownership, and voice, through authentic learning opportunities (COVA). None of what I am proposing to improve my students’ learning experiences will be effective, however, unless both teacher and students work toward developing a growth mindset.
My high school students have grown up in a system where “learning” is like a check list. Once they have completed an assignment or assessment, they move on and do not take the time to see how what they are learning fits into a larger picture. Helping my students to see that learning is more important than grades is a true challenge that I have addressed in my Growth Mindset Plan. It is important to keep in mind, however, that developing a growth mindset is not a simple or quick process; it requires effort and can be a lifelong endeavor for some.
Innovating
Learning needs to be more personalized. To that end, I have developed an Innovation Plan that will replace full-class lectures with a version of the station rotation model of blended learning, thus allowing students to have more control over their learning experiences. Providing the same instruction to all students in the same way is not as effective as providing individualized learning through in-class stations where students have some choice in the skills that they practice and review based upon their individual learning needs.
Constructing Connections
Implementing learning experiences that are truly meaningful for today’s learners means creating significant learning environments (CSLE). This means Constructing Meaningful Connections among courses, and between coursework and the larger world. Courses can no longer be stand alone entities. For learning environments to be effective, they must recognize the extensive reach and interconnectedness of knowledge that digital media provide to today’s students.
Thinking about Learning
As an undergraduate student, one of the required pieces of my student-teaching portfolio was a teaching philosophy. I would argue that the focus needs to change from teaching to learning. Consequently, I have modified my teaching philosophy into a Learning Philosophy that aligns with the learning goals that I have for my students. As I reflect on how I now see learning and teaching, I have discovered that I have adopted and adapted elements of behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, and social constructivism to create a more effective learning environment for my students.
Developing my Courses
Creating significant learning environments for my students means rethinking how I plan my courses and my lessons. Significant learning environments do not just happen; they are intentional. There are numerous frameworks for curriculum and course development, but the common characteristic of the most effective models is planning with the end goals in mind. Teachers cannot simply design activities and hope that students learn something. Even the most interactive activities will be ineffective if they are not designed with an audacious goal in mind. The Three Column Table is a useful tool for course design, and the Understanding by Design model is effective for unit design. Both require teachers and designers to plan with authentic goals in mind.
Conclusion
Creating a significant learning environment and improving student learning experiences is not a question of merely making a few changes. It will be an ongoing process of continuing to work on my growth mindset, tweaking my short term and long term planning, and seeking engaging, authentic opportunities for my students. This process will continue throughout the remainder of my career. However, when I look at the faces of my students and consider all of the potential that sits in front of me each day, I have not doubt that my kids are worth the effort.
References
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. (1996). Standards for
foreign language learning: Preparing for the 21st century [Pamphlet].
Dweck, C. S. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success (Ballantine Books
Trade Paperback edition. ed.). New York: Ballantine Books.
Fink, L. D. (2003). A self-direct guide to designing course for significant
learning [Pamphlet]. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Piaget, J. (1964). Part I: Cognitive development in children: Piaget. Journal of
Research in Science Teaching, 2, 176-186.
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the
imagination for a world of constant change. Lexington, Ky.: CreateSpace?
Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2008). Understanding by design (2nd ed.).
Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Growing my Classroom 