A new class begins in less than an hour! EDUC 5P42. A Masters class at Brock University. I am excited about this class and hope that the students are excited too. I believe that we really are entering a new phase in education that will be fundamentally different from education as we have known it. I believe this because I have met so many educators who are doing fantastic things in their classroom.
So what's wrong with education now? Just today CEA (Canadian Education Association) released information about an international study that reported that Canada is SECOND in the world after Finland in education and skills. We are doing well. But CEA also did a study on student engagement that shows that students do not feel engaged in school. The older they are, the less engaged they feel. Another CEA study shows that teachers feel caught in bureaucratic demands and can't teach the way that they aspire to teach.
Something isn't right in 2013. Yet in some places, it is right. It is right in the classrooms of the 21st Century educators that I recently interviewed. (You can meet them too if you follow them on Twitter or read their blogs.) These teachers are interested in how they can best teach their students to reach their potential. Helping students learn is their personal/ professional accountability measure. To do this they follow accountability mandates. They begin curriculum design by planning backwards from curriculum expectations. Assessment for and as learning are important to them and always in mind during planning. Most of them use technology to enhance the learning - but emphasize that technology is a useful tool and that pedagogy always comes first.
During this course I may ask you to do some things that are not comfortable to you. There will be times when I what I hope to happen will not happen through my lack of knowledge or skills. But in true 21st Century style I hope that this is classroom offers a culture of learning where effort is valued and making mistakes is an opportunity to learn. Welcome. May we enjoy a learning journey together.
