Some things to keep in mind:
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| http://www.ethanhein.com/wp/2013/music-students-and-maker-culture/ |
In our lecture on the assessment
of RPAT and embedded assessments, one of the charts that struck me was Table
2.9 which describes the creative process.
It discusses what teachers are looking for by breaking it down into
stages and possible activities for the student.
Some of these stages seemed interesting to me such as “challenge and
inspire” or “imagine and generate” because these things must be intrinsically
learned and require student engagement.
Thinking within the frame of the traditional banking model, the first
thing that sprung to my mind was “How on earth would a teacher be able to teach
these skills to a student, let alone go about marking them? Who are they to say that one student is more
inspired than another?” After reflecting
on this, I realized that this is not necessarily a problem in a 21st
century classroom which follows the constructivist model. The teacher isn’t required to teach the
student how to be inspired, but can foster an inspiring environment through
scaffolding and seamless assessment.
With an emphasis on learning rather than grading, teaching and assessing
these stages become practical.
Another
aspect of the 21st century classroom is an emphasis on citizenship
which requires instilling values that will make students good citizens. This coincides well with the Catholic system which
also emphasises additional values such as gratitude which will help students be
better citizens as well. If students
realize how fortunate they are, perhaps they might also be inspired to give
back to their community and help others who are in greater need. Another thing I was considering was the recent
trend in the public system of meditation in the classroom to help students cope
with increasing levels of stress.
Gratitude and History?
In a
similar vein, reflecting on the past can help us better understand the future –
or in this case the virtue of gratitude.
A trip to a historic site that demonstrates how people lived in the past
(or even bringing history into a discussion in a religion or philosophy class) can
be beneficial to students in a variety of ways far beyond memorizing facts; it
could even help students to be thankful and better citizens.
This summer I was privileged to
work at the Laura Secord Homestead in Queenston Heights as a tour guide. I knew that tea was a luxury item 200 years
ago but not the extent of it until I began working there. Did you know that tea was taxed at over 100%
of its value? That means if tea cost $100
to import and produce you would have to pay over $200 to purchase it. Tea was so precious it was kept under lock
and key at all times. It was even reused
again and again until it lost all colour and flavour. These leaves would then be sold to a “char
lady” who re-dyed them black with lovely things like horse manure or toxic
chemicals and then sold them to poor people who impressed their friends by
drinking recycled tea. Why such a lovely
anecdote? Well, I for one never really
appreciated the 2+ cups of tea I have every day until I thought about this. I was throwing a teabag out after using it
for one cup at the time. When I worked
there, I often heard people say, “I’m glad I didn’t live back then” or when
students came through “So where did they charge their I-pods?”
A 21st century classroom which is not
inhibited but the rigidness of independent disciplines can draw on experiences
from other fields to foster learning outside the traditional boundaries of curriculum
topics. A school trip to the Laura
Secord Homestead doesn’t have to just be about history, but can teach students to
be thankful, a value that will help them to be good and moral citizens. As a teacher, you can’t teach your students
to be inspired, but through some creativity and thinking outside the box of the
traditional education model, you can create an environment that fosters learning
– be it learning imagination or appreciation. |
Historic Interpreters at the Laura Secord Homestead are visited by the Travelocity Gnome. http://www.friendsoflaurasecord.com/
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