Required Reading Part II

I have previously written about books that should be required reading for all people going in to administration. Up until recently, I have been searching high and low for books to add to this list. I'm pretty picky and I won't add just any book to this canon of literature because I want to make sure that if my fellow administrators read it, they will be able to apply it immediately to their job. Well, I found the next book and I am not recommending it to just administrators, but also to teachers. Without giving away all of the goods on this book, I have highlighted a few points the author makes and my notes on how it resonated with me.

OPEN: How We'll Work, Live and Learn in the Future
Author: David Price

Accountability
Price defines accountability as "what's left after trust has been removed." As I read this and thought about our current situation in our education system, it is clear to me that policymakers do not trust schools or our extensive training that has led to us being in front of a classroom. They do not trust that we know what we are doing. They do not trust that we will differentiate our instruction based on what our students need. They do not trust that we will meet our students at their skill level and move from there so that growth can occur. Instead, they trust that we will administer standardized test(s) that require nothing more than rote memorization of facts rather than critical thinking that will prepare them for college, career, and life readiness. Price gives a wonderful example of policymakers displaying trust in educators when he writes about the Danish government making a decision in 2009 to access the internet during final exams. Students could use any site they wanted, but they weren't allowed to email or message other students. Their logic behind this decision was that if the internet is such an important part of daily life, it should be included in classrooms and exams.

Global Learning Commons

Price states, "it's often said that a time-traveler from the 19th Century, beamed into today's world, would be bewildered by everything he witnessed, but would instantly feel comfortable in a school" (26). The comment is a tough pill to swallow because schools are supposed to be preparing students for the future world that they will live and work. Unfortunately, according to Price, schools have not kept up with the open learning that we do in the social space. In fact, Price contends that the "preferences for how we learn in the social space are the polar opposites from those enforced by our institutions" (27). He goes on further to explain that being "open" will require a behavior shift by schools and this is not just about saturating a school with technology. In Price's words, "Digital technologies will no more solve the so-called 'crisis in education' than airbags will stop drivers from having accidents" (28). Price dives head first in to the issue of student engagement and spends a considerable amount of time discussing the chasm that exists between formal and informal learning. Is it any wonder why students who have found a passion seek out information and learning opportunities when the topic is relevant to them? It shouldn't be a surprise to any educator. The real issue then is to take those content standards that we are required to teach and hook the learner with individualized content that is relevant to them. We in education, however, are fighting an uphill battle because of the climate that we live in. As Price states, "Whenever education is discussed in the media, politicians and parents alike inevitably retreat into a 'when I was at school' certainty, based upon little more than a nostalgic belief that, if it worked for them, it should work for everyone. They are apparently oblivious to the challenge to formal education that the rise of the informal presents" (37). Price points out politicians and parents, but I would content that another finger needs to be pointed at educators as well. We need to realize that the students we are teaching are not going to respond as well to the same teaching methods that we experienced in our own schooling.

The World Is Going SOFT

Before you get all worked up here and unleash your patriotism on me, understand that SOFT is an acronym for Share, Open, Free, and Trust. Price's prediction is, "We should be in no doubt that businesses, schools and colleges that continue with 'command and control' as their dominant forms of leadership and intellectual property strategies are facing extinction, possibly within five to ten year" (43). One of the more poignant quotes from Price in his explanation of SOFT is in regards to collaboration, or lack thereof, in schools. He states, "We prepare [students] for this interconnected world, by insisting that almost everything they do, every piece of work they submit, is their own work, not the fruits of working with others, because every student has to have an individual, rigorously assessed, accountable grade - if they don't, the entire examinations system collapses like a deck of cards.

This entire notion of SOFT has the potential to turn the education world on its head, and in my opinion, is something that needs to be looked at in great detail. The notion of collaboration in schools is dangerously becoming just another buzzword and is becoming synonymous with collegiality, when in fact, the two are very different from one another. Schools are bastions of collegiality where teachers and administrators share what they are doing in classrooms/schools, collaboration stops. Collegiality is an epidemic in schools is only one part of the collaboration puzzle. Collaboration is messy and requires that people come together, sometimes with very different ideas about how to do things, and solve a problem. The messy part is taking a concept and connecting it across multiple disciplines so students can make connections. Until we can truly break down the silos of our own classrooms at the high school level and make content relevant, our expectations for student engagement and success will remain pipe dreams.

Engagement

Student engagement is the hot topic in education right now. In my school, we define engagement as speaking, writing, creating, or doing something in the classroom that makes learning visible. It is not enough for students to just be sitting at their desk hanging on to a teacher's lecture. There is no evidence of engagement here because students might just be very nice students who are being compliant. Engagement isn't a tricky concept, but it requires educators to give up some control in the classroom and let students discover what they are passionate about and applying the standards to that passion.

Price points out that disengaged students become disengaged employees and sums up the entire issue of engagement eloquently when he states, "Instead of regarding disengagement in school as an inevitable feature of adolescent angst, we should see it for what it really is: a shocking waste of young potential which has life long consequences" (99).

I have written about engagement before and honestly feel that this is the crux of the issue for education in the 21st Century. It is not just an issue for students, but teachers as well. We cannot continue to deliver education in a factory model like we have been the past 150 years. In Price's words, we need to give our students and teachers permission to think and autonomy. We need to trust that they will find their passions and demonstrate their learning as they do in the social space.

There are so many more things that I could ponder in this book, but I don't want to give it all away. I implore you to get this book yourself and really take a hard look at whether you are OPEN to the how people will live and work in the future. The fact of the matter is that the future is now and we have already started down the path. It is never too late to get on the bus.