Edubook Review: Catching the Knowledge Wave?

Gilbert, Jane (2005). Catching the Knowledge Wave? The Knowledge Society and the future of education.

“We can more usefully think of schools for the knowledge age as organic systems that, in the context of a clear understanding of what it is they are trying to achieve, will constantly evolve, experiment, evaluate, and change what they do to reach that goal.”

In a post-modern "knowledge society," an industrial-age schooling system is inadequate. Catching the Knowledge Wave? argues that we live in a post-industrial-age, post-modern society, which emphasises "difference, diversity, and plurality over homogeneity and sameness." An analysis of practices and demands of this "knowledge society," Gilbert suggests, is "deeply unsettling our one-size-fits-all, assembly line style of schooling that, by offering every student the same pre-packaged knowledge, in the same order, at the same time, aims to turn them out as clones.” The paradigm within which most schools operate is out of date, and it is crucial that we re-evaluate the most basic concepts within the discourses of education. Previously unambiguous (unquestioned?) terms like knowledge and learning, which are at the foundation of our understanding of education, says Gilbert, need to be regarded as evolving and multifarious. Knowledge, suggests Gilbert, should be presented to students "not as something monolithic, fixed and finished, but as something organic, something that is always developing and always in process."

How can this be done? The discussion of this question needs to be ongoing among educators, politicians, academics, families, students (this, partly, is the point of the book). While she leaves the question open, Gilbert suggests starting points, and contributes her own ideas towards how this might look.  

Drawing on Dewey, Gilbert proposes that we need to create authentic problem-solving scenarios for students. Dewey, says Gilbert, suggested that, "The activity of problem solving is what expands the mind, not the acquiring and storing away of existing knowledge." The problem in the implementation of this concept in schools is that the problems students are given to solve have not been authentic - they have, typically, been problems with definite solutions, which the teacher supplies at the end. Gilbert then suggests that Carl Bereiter's concept of schools as places of "knowledge creation" - places where genuinely new knowledge is built in collaborative research teams, not where knowledge is downloaded by students for later use. (I'm interested in reading a bit more on the details of just how Bereiter sees this working; Gilbert, understandably, quickly glosses over this. A quick Google search shows that Bereiter is now a proponent of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning).

Interestingly, Gilbert also critiques the sloppy implementation of ICTs in schools. She suggests that the real potential of ICTs lies in the domain of communication, relationship building and collaboration, not in enhancing the old, industrial-age model of "content delivery." This is food for thought. I have scratched the surface of using some social media (like Edmodo, Twitter), and collaborative online documents (Google Docs), but there is awesome potential here that I have not even begun to exploit in my teaching, and we really need to get together as educators to figure out how we can make the most of it!

This is an inspiring and intriguing read, both for the historical and philosophical context it gives for the present condition of education, and for the vision (however fuzzy and uncertain) it provides of the future of education. Certainly, it suggests that change in schools needs to be a priority if we are to become a socially cohesive, flourishing community within the global knowledge society.

Edubook Review: What's the Point of School

What's the Point of School? By Guy Claxton

“In times of change, learners will inherit the earth, while the learned will find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”

Claxton seems to be aiming to do two things with this book: demonstrate the need for a fundamental change in our thinking about education, and provide a starting point for how we could begin to effect this change in classrooms, school communities and homes.

The first half of this book sets out to show that the mainstream Western educational system is flawed and failing. It is, he says, “in dereliction of its duty to the next generation.” It is not in line with current, research-based understandings. The dated conception of aptitude and intelligence as stable and unchanging attributes of students, for example, is still evident in many practices we see in schools, and in the language used by many teachers. “Words like ‘low-ability’ and ‘lazy,’” says Claxton, “are actually sloppy and unhelpful. They do not describe the problem; they are part of the problem.” He goes on to say that, “The fatalistic idea that education is a game at which a large proportion of young people are bound to fail is antiquated, untrue and unacceptable.” Claxton gets to the root of these problems. I repeatedly found myself cringing as I recognised some of my own practices in Claxton’s long list of ways in which teachers routinely undermine the healthy learning habits of students.

The latter half of the book suggests that the change needed can be achieved without a major overhaul of infrastructure or implementation of expensive new technologies. What is required is a shift in the thinking of educators and parents. This shift will involve a movement away from tinkering aimed at improving achievement to basic changes in how we conceptualise learning, which might allow us to develop a culture that nurtures and stretches students’ learning “muscles.” Claxton provides evidence that “Learning itself is learnable,” and that such learning is a step in the right direction if we are to equip young people to thrive in the world that awaits them.

Why a teacher should read the book...

As a teacher, it is very easy to do the done thing. The stakes are high: all that we do in the classroom is having an impact on our students' learning. The risk is that students will miss out on vital learning if our experiments fail. What’s the Point of School? not only supports an approach of informed experimentation, it demands it. It suggests that a paradigm shift is needed, and that what we do in the classroom can contribute to this shift in thinking. This is an exciting prospect!

What’s the Point of School? gives some basis and suggestions for the form our experimentation might take, or at least what the aim of our experiments in the classroom should be. On pages 123-126, Claxton sets out, what he calls the “Magnificent Eight Qualities,” that he has developed alongside researchers, teachers and students as qualities that we should be aiming to nurture and encourage in students, to help them develop their “learning power.” He explains what he means by curiosity and courage, exploration, investigation, experimentation, imagination, reason and discipline, sociability and reflection, and he proposes that education should be aimed at developing these qualities in students. In the classroom, he suggests, we should be engaging in activities that actively and explicitly foster these.

A point that really stuck with me was the notion that we, as teachers, should be more transparent about our status as individuals engaged in a learning process. We can explain to students that we are “trying this out” with the class, we can recruit students to support us in our role as learners by asking for regular feedback, or even having them monitor our language: “Students can be invited to help coach their teachers in shifting their language habits…” says Claxton; teachers can “Get them to point out when their teacher inadvertently uses the ‘old’ words.” If students can see us ‘stretching our learning muscles’ then we are modelling the types of behaviour we want to foster in the classroom. Even in our “failed” classroom experiments, we are showing that it is ok to be fallible, that failure and mistakes are something to be valued in the learning process. We are also encouraging the type of thinking about learning, and learning about learning that research (and Claxton has laid out plenty in this book!) has shown will help to foster successful, motivated learners.

“In a complicated, fast-changing world,” says Claxton, “the intelligent path is to let go of being a Knower, and embrace being a Learner. And we should create organisations, whether they be families, offices or schools, where Learning is routinely valued over Knowing.” This quote applies as much to us as it does to our students. I think one of the main points that I got out of this book was that we should take an honest look at what we do in the classroom and why we do it. And we should ask ourselves: is this the way it has to be done? Claxton’s book suggests that, in many cases, not only does it not have to be done this way, it shouldn’t be done this way. There is a better way. What’s the Point of School? gives us a well-researched, clearly articulated starting point directing us towards this better way.

#edchatnz 12/3/15 Reflection: On Teaching How to Learn

Last Thursday's #edchatnz chat focused on developing independent learners. When asked what we are not doing enough of to encourage learners to become independent, I posted the following tweet:

The question was then posed whether I thought that learning how to learn was subject-specific, or whether it is more about developing general dispositions to learn. My answer to this question is complicated (too complicated, I found, to express clearly in a series of short tweets). Perhaps, I thought, without the claustrophic 140 character limit, this idea could be explored a little further.

Firstly, I do think that general dispositions do need to be developed - and many of us have been asking ourselves just how this can best be achieved. I have been a part of many school-wide efforts to inspire positive dispositions towards learning. These have included conferences with learners and their parents, weekly reflections on focused learning blogs, regular meetings with form teachers, or learning coaches, to assess and assist with the process of reflecting and focusing on learning, goal-setting sessions, etc. Some of these have had outstanding results, really driving students towards thinking about their learning, and equipping them with great tools to become more powerful learners. The dispositions developed in this process are often transferable from subject to subject, and can provide an excellent starting point for tackling new challenges.

In recent years, I have been involved mainly with teaching senior classes - year 12 and year 13. These students are often focused on getting the most out of their classes, but even positive, engaged learners struggle with (or roll their eyes at) the notion of taking time out of their crazy timetables to engage in general metacognitive development. As subject teachers, however, we need to equip students with the more advanced tools required to become an efficient learner in our subject. I think different learning areas have their own set of strategies and processes for learning, and I think that one of the really excellent things about high school is that it is a place where learners are required to engage their mind in different forms of learning, and in developing the metacognitive tools required for mastering different skills and concepts in different subjects. These overlap, of course, and are sometimes transferable.

For example, I have recently come to thinking about self-explanation strategies during problem solving in physics. To get a sense of what this is about, have a look at this interesting study investigating different forms of self-explanation in physics. These have been shown to have a profound effect on learners' ability to master complex problem solving in physics. Students who develop a sound method of self-explanation may develop a deeper understanding of concepts in physics more quickly than students who don't. Some students develop skills akin to this spontaneously, but by teaching them explicitly I think it is possible for them to build their learning power - to borrow Claxton's metaphor - more quickly and efficiently.

One of the most frustrating experiences I have had as a teacher is discovering that in trying to master concepts, students are dedicating many unrewarding hours to learning strategies that are easy to do, but which do not work: things like mindlessly "copying out notes" or making flash-cards to facilitate low-level memorisation. These students lack the strategies required to learn, and are not independent learners. I think teachers have a good sense of what the key strategies are for effective learning in their particular subject, but I think we too often neglect making these strategies explicit (at least I do), leaving students to fend for themselves in discovering techniques, which work (or not) for them. This is what I meant when I said that I think we need make learning how to learn in our respective subjects an explicit part of what we do in the classroom. A part of my job is to be (and become) an expert in how learning happens in my subjects (and in general). This expertise should inform my planning and practice. Moreover, and this was what I meant by the tweet, I think there is a sound argument for making it more openly accessible to students. 

In trying to inspire in students wonder and excitement towards my subject it is easy to get caught up in "covering the content;" I need also to equip students with the tools required to gain access to the awesome and often complex concepts, which they encounter in physics.

Thanks to @AKeenReader for questioning, and for making me think more deeply on this!