Before we view the main idea of this post let me make a few notes. Again, this blog is not made to dis-respect or insult teachers more so it is made to challenge the educational institution. I realize post number one was very assumptive and somewhat generalized. By no means do all teachers dominate over students. A lot of teachers do not. I realize that teachers have certain "TEKS" they must teach to us. All students empowered by change wishes to do is to reform the way we teach those TEKS by shifting away from test prep and move to more project based learning. Can we not teach the TEKS without pre-prepared worksheets? I would say yes. Now let us get to this weeks topic:
The Politics of Fear: The masked educational villain!
Let us start with history. It starts at the beginning - the time in which progressive educators wish would have never happened. The world introduces standardized tests to measure education in schools. These tests are enforced through out the educational world. The "dark side" has now taken over. The educational world is told, "if you do not teach the mandates of these tests, you shall be fired". Now, here is where the politics of fear come in. Teachers fear that if they do not teach right they will be done away with. What does this lead to? The root cause of all evil in schools: TEST PREP! TEST PREP! TEST PREP! As Sabrina from www.failingschools.wordpress.com puts it: "The fear pushes administrators to crack down on those areas that are most visible to the district. If they don’t, they risk losing their own jobs in a turnaround or school closure. They pass the fear along. For teachers, there’s a difficult choice: should you teach to the Test, or to whatever your principal and district value at the moment, or teach to students’ needs, abilities, and interests? Theoretically, those things should not conflict, but when high-stakes assessments can’t be adjusted to suit different learning styles, only account for a narrow range of subjects, and produce information only after a cohort of students have left a given classroom, conflict is inevitable. The fear looms: is it best to go along with the program–”play the game”– even though it’s not real education? Is it worth it to risk a steady salary/your professional standing/your entire career to stand up for what’s right for the kids?" Failing schools is a marvelous blog spot, and I would encourage readers of Students Empowered by Change to read it as well. Let us get something straight. The politics of fear is not only enforced by tests. There is a surrounding student-to-teacher Relationship that causes, "fear". The teacher has a certain educational relationship with a learner. The learner must always find the way to adapt his/her self to critically recognize the teacher and the way that teacher teaches. In the process of this, the learner begins to become silent so that they can, "follow", the regular educational system. This "following" causes the learner to continually fear speaking out in the classroom environment. The problem in this relationship is students begin to feel that not understanding a concept is only their fault. In turn, the students quit asking questions because they fear their teachers criticism. Is this a healthy student-to-teacher relationship? Absolutely not.
How do we make these relationships better?
The answer to this question is simple.
1. Students must not be scared to rise up and tell the world we are not "OK" with our education to continue in this way. We want a progressive change!
2. Teachers must move away from test prep materials and move to a more progressive project based learning system. The projects will eliminate fear because students are now critically thinking with their classmates and are not afraid of presenting their own ideas or questions. The best part is that the projects can teach students the materials they need to know for their tests! Teachers will be happy as well! I realize that all standardized testing is not going to go away anytime soon. One thing is for sure though, the way students are learning for these tests is evolving! Here is a fantastic example of project based learning in a public texas school!
In response to last weeks blog post entitled "The Student Revolution" I have received many forms of ridicule and criticism from my own teachers. I have been told that this movement is perceived by professional educators as being ignorant and arrogant.
To add insult to injury another teacher told me, "because students do not have have any knowledge about the real world they should have absolutely no say in their education."
In an attempt to silence my voice, and student's voices, I have been told that because I am Ignorant and Arrogant that people will ignore this movement. Over and over again I have been told by teachers that our education can not change because of Austin's requirements for TAKS & STAAR Testing. As an example of the entrenched paradigm that many educators are stuck in, I was told that "if you cannot take a worksheet home and learn from it, then that's your problem." Another response I received from my initial blog post was "Your Blog is crap and any educator who reads this should realize You need help."
Respectful Responses from
Students Empowered by change (SEC)
With full respect to educators I would like to respond politely on behalf of the Students Empowered by Change. I do not wish my voice to be the only voice in this discussion so I encourage readers to voice their responses in the comment section on this blog.
Teacher Comment:Your Blog is both ignorant and arrogant SEC Response: Students Empowered by Change is neither ignorant nor arrogant. As high school students we are very aware that the real world is coming at us quickly and globalized change is happening fast! As digital citizens of the globe who are connected and possess the digital literacy to see the warp-speed changes in the world that our teachers do not seem to even notice. This knowledge about the lightening speed of change in the world is exactly why we are trying to change the way we are educated. Was it not Ghandi who once said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Students Empowered by Change (SEC) has very specific goals. We want to enjoy learning through a proactive system of experiences and not just another mundane, drill and kill, worksheet. In the previous blog post we presented three ways to improve learning. First, we want to be able to use our technology to access the knowledge base of the world. By interacting with this knowledge we can advance our learning to real world scenarios. The second demand to improve learning was un-schooling and moving away from the useless practice of using worksheet and knowledge based homework assignments with no real world relevance. SEC even presented three alternatives to the present system of learning.
Project-based learning
Socratic Circle Discussions
Student lead learning.
To My Educators I pose this Question: Where are your proposals to improve the education I am receiving?
Finally, we demanded that a student leadership team be formed to improve our schools policies and practices. We demand that this leadership team have real power to make change in our school and not just be a pawn to the present system. The aforementioned goals are not arrogant or ignorant at all. The idea of bright and responsible students having a say in their own education is not ignorant. We are the ones doing the learning and should certainly have a say in how we accomplish the learning. We care about our education but are being bored to death with meaningless work that has no real world relevance.
Teacher Comment:"People will start to ignore Students empowered by change." SEC Response:
People will not ignore us if we keep the movement rolling. People have viewed the initial blog post over 600times! People are looking at this movement and not ignoring it! The Education Service Center at Region 17 in Lubbock, a Texas based education service center, re-tweeted the link to the first blog post as did hundreds of others!
WE ARE BEING HEARD & WE WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE NOISE UNTIL JUSTICE IS SERVED!
Teacher Assertion:"We cannot change because of a standardized testing and rules and regulations imposed by the state." SEC Response:
This is not true! The problem is not increased standards. The problem is that teachers have been drinking the test prep cool-aid of way to long. We can Change and switch to Project-based learning, Socratic circle discussions, and student lead learning and still be successful on the standardized test! In fact the research proves that we will perform even better! Teachers just have to devise sophisticated lessons as projects, socratic circles, and student lead learning We should not allow standardized tests to restrain our learning!
Teacher Comment:"If you cannot take a worksheet home and learn from it, then that's your problem." SEC Response: This is not Learning! This is not teaching! This is not meaningful practice!
Some Quick Shout Outs and Notes
First: I would like to say thank you to everyone who read the first post, re-tweeted it, and told your friends! Every view makes a difference! We had a rock solid 562 views as of November 4th! People are at least talking about the revolution and that is what is important! My hope is that through my expression of my own struggles and beliefs as a student a new conversation can be started on the way to a new way of schooling, teaching, and learning.
Second: I would like to point out that this movement questions the institution of learning not people or individual teachers methodologies. Students Empowered by Change wishes to focus on students having a say when it comes to how we learn and how we are taught. The state goal of this movement is to fundamentally change the educational paradigm and the mindset of teachers and policy makers.
Third: I do not need the kind of help that one of the teachers above suggested. I do not need psychological help or counseling. I am perfectly sane! I promise! I do however need your help in spreading the word and continuing to force the conversation. Please re-tweet, email, talk about, and generally promote the Blog. This is the "help" that I need.
"Students should not be afraid of their schools, schools should
be afraid of their students."
Let us, as students, start a learning revolution.
To My Fellow Students:
We are not pawns in a game - not anymore. It is time for us as individuals to
rise up and let our voices be heard. Are you tired of going to school every day
exhausted from the same old thing? Walking into a school, waiting for a bell to
ring, so you can go to the next class and be educated in ways that you do not
enjoy? Being taught by people that supposedly have more disciplinary power then
you, and that is the reason they can tell you what and how to learn?
If you have ask any of these questions, please take a moment to understand my
thoughts and ideas about how we, as individuals, can bind together to not only
change our school but education in the entire world.
Why do we not have power as students?
We walk into school as students
who are the bottom of the power chain. Students have less power than that of a
teacher. A teacher has less power than a principal. A principal has less power
than a superintendent. Power is everywhere around us, but for some reason from
the very day we start school we are at the bottom. We are rendered virtually
powerless. Why? The answer to this question is… Oh wait, there is not an
answer.
Now, I am not saying that students
are belittled; more so that we have no way of changing our own education. We are
told every day to stay quiet, stay still, and to stay in our "place".
Why is it that we must be quiet? Why is it that we must stay still? Why is it
that we have a certain “place” that we must stay in no matter what we want or
what we need? I am not saying that we should completely reject all forms of
being told what to do, because I find that these powers are necessary but only
to a certain extent. We should have a say in how we learn
Why do students not have power to
endorse change in their education? Is it not students who are learning in
school? Shouldn't we have a say in how we learn or how we learn best?
Why we should lead change in our education
As students we are told every day
how to do something new in each class we go to. Information is thrown in our
brains at the speed of light. Every student has that one class that they
struggle with or that one teacher they struggle to understand. These are just
two of many issues in traditional schooling. But what are the solutions to
these many issues? It’s quite simple: WE MUST RISE UP AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT
IT!
Teachers are not listening to us,
to what we need, to what we don’t understand. They teach in the same way every
year and do not change. If they refuse to change, we have no other choice but
to invoke change at a different level. We must change our own education as
students. It starts with banding together, and that, my friends, is why I am
writing to you - a student who wishes to change his education, begin putting in
motion the wheels of an education revolution.
How can we change our education as students?
Let me interject a brief personal thought before I
begin. I do not want to be the only person who presents ideas. Many of the
suggestions I offer are from others that I believe would be good ideas for
change for our school. If you have an idea that you would like for me to blog
about that will change our education in a positive way, I encourage and urge
you to comment on the bottom of the blog.
We will be covering a few main
points in this first post. These are only the beginning of ways we can change
and move education to be student-centered and student-led.
1. Technology in our
school:The
Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD)
Policy.
2. Un-Schooling: Why traditional education is making us
“dumber” instead of smarter.
3. The Student Leadership
Team: Much like the
student council but different in that we have a say in what sort of policies
are passed and enforced throughout our school.
Let’s start with technology in school and BYOD
I do not see why as kids we are restricted in our access to knowledge. We are
the first generation to have access to a wealth of information through the
internet and many devices we own. As students, we must stand up for our
generation. Most adults and most administrators do not understand how we access
the information. Our generation learns more from our smart phones, iPads, Mac
Books, laptops, and tablets than we do from any book. It’s just how our minds
work!
One of the necessary changes that must take place in our school is allowing
student owned technology devices anytime and anywhere for learning. The current
policy allows student to bring electronic devices but requires that they be in
the off position during the school day. We should make sweeping changes to this
policy and allow kids who own their own technology to use that technology in an
educational way. Students should be designing and creating the BYOD Policy.
The National Honor Society and the Student Council should student source the
BYOD policy. Once finalized, students will have anytime, anywhere access to the
vast amounts of global knowledge at their fingertips through the use of
laptops, smart phones, iPods, iPads, Galaxy tablets, Kindles, other devices,
and devices yet invented. Rather than the school spending valuable financial
resources to provide these devices, students will be allowed to bring one or
more devices to school to use as their learning tools. This isn’t to say the
technology is mandatory, but that technology is no longer outlawed – it’s
allowed.
Here is a small video explaining the ins- and outs- of BYOD and how the imperfections
people cling to about why BYOD would not work are debunked to show it will, in
fact, work:
The point of BYOD policy that should be raised by students
is that we feel so restricted in our learning that many of us do not enjoy
going to school five days a week. So how do students start a revolution in this
aspect? We as students must stand up to our school. As many individuals we can
stand together and, perhaps, change the way we use technology to better our
learning. This is our time!
Why we need a change to Un-Schooling
I know many of you are asking: What
is Un-Schooling?
Un-Schooling is a range of educational philosophies and
practices centered on allowing children to learn through their natural life
experiences, to include play, game play, household responsibilities, work
experience, and social interaction, rather than through a more traditional school
curriculum. Un-Schooling encourages exploration of activities often initiated
by the children themselves and facilitated by adults. Un-Schooling differs from
conventional schooling principally in the concept that standard curricula and
conventional grading methods, as well as other traditionally accepted notions
of education, are counterproductive to the goal of maximizing the education of
each child. (Source. VIA: wiki)
According to Un-Schooling pioneer John Holt, "the anxiety children feel at
constantly being tested, their fear of failure, punishment, and disgrace, severely
reduces their ability both to perceive and to remember, and drives them away
from the material being studied into strategies for fooling teachers into
thinking they know what they really don't know." Proponents of Un-schooling
assert that individualized, child-led learning is more efficient and respectful
of children's time, takes advantage of their interests, and allows deeper
exploration of subjects than what is possible in conventional education.
What are the alternatives to traditional school that we can implement to begin
Un-Schooling? Project-based learning, Socratic circle discussions, and student
lead learning. I have found in my everyday school life that when a teacher
gives me group discussion work or a project to do, I learn significantly more
than I do completing a worksheet by myself.
Has it ever occurred to you that you learn more from your fellow students than
you do your teachers? Think about it…Yes, you do!
Our teachers believe that they must throw worksheets at us and give us large
quantities of homework. But we can change this! This is not just so we can get
out of our homework. It is to expand our knowledge and to help us learn better.
Mundane worksheets and irrelevant homework makes students hate school and hate
learning. As students, we should love learning.
Justine Tart is a nationally acclaimed and award winning instructional technologist. He is an instructional technologist and administrator who appears regularly on the technology conference circuit and is considered an expert in the use and development of instructional technology in the United States. His views on homework are exceptional and appear below. (http://www.justintarte.com/2011/08/my-thoughts-on-homework.html)
- More times than not homework adds little value when it comes to student
learning.
- There is pressure from society to continue giving homework because that is
the way it has always been done.
- Assigned homework rarely has any true relevancy or purpose for students, thus
completion rates are negatively affected.
- When a student receives a zero for not completing homework, he/she is NOT
learning about responsibility and "the real world."
- Grading homework on completion typically inflates grades and ultimately distorts
overall content mastery.
- Homework should be an extension of the learning
environment that provides students the opportunity to explore and discover.
- Homework can be a valuable tool in schools, but I believe too often homework
is misused and ultimately detracts from the learning environment.
- More homework does NOT equal more learning.
- Students should not spend all night every night doing homework. I don't know
many people who work 8 a.m. until 10 p.m., so why should students be subjected
to that?
- The natural love and curiosity of learning are destroyed by too much
irrelevant and unproductive homework...
So
what do we do as students???
We Un-School our school. No, not literally deconstruct our school. We have to
take a stand and join together as a student community and let our school
leaders know that we do not like learning in a traditional way. They must
acknowledge our cries to better our education. As students, we have nothing to
lose. This joint effort brings me to the third and final point of this post:
The Student Leadership Team!
The above two projects will not work without an organizing
body - the Student Leadership Team. We have Student Council and National Honor
society, but we do not have at our school an open group that can be joined and
accessed by everyone to produce change in our school. This is why the Student
Leadership Team in necessary. As individuals are voices are small, but as a
team with one might voice, we can be heard. We will not make "ranks"
or "representatives" that segregate our one voice. Instead, we will discuss
issues and find solutions together.
The current say we have in our school policies does not
currently exist. We have made petitions for things we felt should be enforced
differently but to no avail The names on the piece of paper where but names on
a page to our leaders.
IT IS TIME TO BAND TOGETHER AND KNOCK DOWN THE DOOR!
IT IS TIME TO LEAD OUR EDUCATION WITH STUDENT VOICES!
