Centre stage papers – Days 3, 4 & 5: Extending the vision

Respecting 21st century teachers as the source of their own professional growth

 

Abstract

This paper begins with the distinction between the ‘being’ and ‘having’ modes of learning. The opportunities and challenges that 21st century technology poses for educators are discussed. Then the views of some 21st century students about what helps them learn and produce good work are considered. The critical importance of the quality of the teacher-student relationship is then outlined. The concluding comment points to both the difficulty and the importance of using many strategies to create these relationships as the foundation for engagement, motivation and achievement.

The quality of learning

In To Have or To Be, the twentieth century social psychologist, Erich Fromm suggested that we human mammals are able to learn in two vastly different modes, ‘having’ and ‘being’. He argued that schools and universities in his century generally tried to train people to have knowledge as a possession. The more they accumulated, the more likely they were to have prosperous life chances. He saw learning in the ‘having’ mode as lifeless, thoughtless and unquestioning. Instead, he advocated learning in the ‘being’ mode. Learning of this quality is indicated when the learner’s mind responds in an active and productive way. Years before, John Dewey, the American philosopher who has influenced educational reform around the world since he wrote School and Society in 1900, succinctly put the argument against learning in the ‘having’ mode:

Frequently, (knowledge) is treated as an end in itself, and then the goal becomes to heap it up and display it when called for. This static, cold-storage ideal of knowledge is inimical to educative development. It not only lets occasions for thinking go unused, but it swamps thinking.

In the ‘being’ mode, the learner’s own thinking processes are stimulated so new questions, new ideas, and new perspectives arise in their minds. This describes the thinking behaviours that Philosophy in Schools thrives on but the ‘being’ mode of learning can be engaged in any of the ways we learn – searching the internet, reading a history book, listening to a podcast, watching a film, discussing existentialism or evolution, if we choose it instead of the ‘having’ mode.

In some contemporary modes of learning, like writing a blog post or ‘broadcasting yourself’ on YouTube, the distinctions between the ‘being’ and ‘having’ modes may become more important than ever before. A New York Times article, Teenagers Misbehaving, for All Online to Watch (February 13, 2007) recounts examples of violence, other types of criminality and raunch culture behaviour that are being posted to the internet by young people around the world and identifies the dangers. A comment in the article by Nancy E. Willard, author of ‘Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats’, identified a new challenge for the 21st century educator: ‘… a lot of teens have this idea that life is a game and it’s all just entertainment’. This is a new, pernicious and potentially deadly form of the ‘having’ mode. The online persona that is created and put into cyberspace becomes an object, the ‘property’ of all those who care to look at it. The 19th century American humanist, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s sentiments, ‘Life is real! Life is earnest!’, in his ‘A Psalm of Life’ would be unlikely to convince a 21st century teenager (or anyone else for that matter) but conceptualising one’s own or another’s life as either a game or as an entertainment for others must be challenged in the most dramatic way possible. John Dewey’s belief that education is life, not a preparation for life, could be the foundation of bringing the new web tools into classrooms for creative and responsible use. But this is likely to be easier said than done. Bob Seidensticker, in Future Hype, makes the case that ‘schools have had a long-standing immunity against the introduction of new technologies’ by tracing the relationship between new technologies and education since 1922, when Thomas Edison predicted that films would make textbooks obsolete.

So, teachers of the 21st century will need to be adept at learning in the ‘being’ mode themselves and prepared with a plenitude of stimulus material for ‘being’ mode learning. There is nothing new in this: Socrates paved the way long ago. The new challenge is teaching students the wisdom to use the new tools of the blogosphere and YouTube in the ‘being’ mode – asking philosophical questions, creating a persona for themselves that comes out of consideration of how to live their lives, so that they make choices that are intelligent, ethical and safe. In no time, the new tools contained in compact devices with phone, camera, messaging, emails, Foxtel and internet available, and portable 24/7, will be affordable by all. There is a great risk that these will be a source of distraction, and not a source of creativity. When every student carries such a device, the era of the closed classroom and the tightly shut classroom door will finally be pronounced over for good. The challenge for 21st educators is to do all they can to empower young people to make connections with the world beyond the classroom, be they in the virtual and digital worlds, the human world or the natural world, that are benign and to build their capacity to learn in the ‘being’ mode. The relevance of the aphorism attributed to John Dewey is plain: If we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, we rob them of tomorrow. We 21st century teachers need to teach students thinking behaviours such as autonomy, spontaneity, flow, creativity and optimism and learning virtues such as listening to others, giving reasons, logical thinking, open-mindedness, self-knowing and self-evaluation. Then they may flourish as learners in the ‘being’ mode and use the new web tools responsibly.

The students’ voices

In February this year, a team of teachers from eight schools I work with distributed a survey to middle years’ students which asked this question:

‘In your classroom, what helps you or supports you to learn and produce good work?’

The responses covered many aspects of school life. One student identified three sources of help and support: ‘When my teacher encourages me’. ‘Working with friends’. ‘Working with family’.

The importance of the teacher stood out: ‘I listen to the teacher whenever she speaks. Know the fact that I can ask for help. Having persistence in all my work’. A number of students mentioned persistence. The schools working with Habits of Mind certainly had convinced many students of the value of persistence.

This student has a very clear and comprehensive understanding of what is needed for good learning:

‘The teacher helps me learn and especially when we do a project. As long as I have a good idea, a plan and I’m interested in the topic, then my work could turn out good’.

Often, students identified physical resources such as computers, posters and books as being very helpful to their learning. Some liked working with others; some preferred to work alone. One liked both: help from other classmates and sitting alone.

One identified talking about the work and fun:

‘Things that help me learn and produce good work is discussing about it and having a little bit of fun as well by doing it’.

In contrast, this student was very focused: ‘Concentration without distractions’.

Finally, there was a student who seemed ready to be co-opted to the school’s marketing sub-committee: ‘Smaller class sizes, learning, having fun, better facilities’.

The students’ thoughts remind us that the 21st century teacher needs to be ready for diverse learning and thinking preferences and to endeavour to cater for them all. Also, the 21st century teacher needs to challenge students to use ways of learning and thinking that they do not prefer. A good starting point would be for teachers to know their students’ whole brain thinking preferences, their Glasser needs profile (safety, belonging, fun, power, freedom) and their audio-visual-kinaesthetic preferences. Simple tests can be devised to do this or they can become known by careful observation and listening to students.

Positive relationships between teachers and students

The most important skills needed by educators in this century will be those that allow them to create positive relationships with their students, including those who are difficult and not motivated by the curriculum. As well, they will need to be passionate in communicating to students a sense of wonder about nature and the universe we find ourselves in, be it through geology, ecology, astronomy, evolution, art, poetry, mathematics, outdoor education or something else. They need to see themselves as leaders who share Jerry Starratt’s understanding of leadership as an energising force dispersed throughout the school. They will work with students in ways that minimise coercion and maximise students’ thinking about concepts that are meaningful in their lives, will influence them to develop positive learning dispositions. Thinking creatively and critically, both independently and in a community, will prepare students to become citizens of our increasingly shrinking and globalising world.

To do all this, educators will need high levels of the virtues of courage, kindness and awareness. 

Strategies to meet students’ needs

• create learning environments in which each student’s needs for safety/security, belonging, fun, power and freedom are met
• strive to know each child well and talk with them about many things
• remember that the more disadvantaged the student’s circumstances, the more they are in need of the resources the teacher provides for them to be resilient (a special teacher is not just a teacher of academic subjects, but also a confidante and positive role model with whom they identify)
• manage students with the minimum of coercion
• maintain a ratio of at least four positive interactions for every one negative interaction in the classroom
• create a learning environment with high expectations but low anxiety and stress
• focus their teaching, so that every student is operating in their zone of proximal development, where competence and challenge intersect
• remember that each student longs for a teacher to recognise them in a way that makes them feel like an important person
• provide students with as much choice as possible
• give students meaningful roles and responsibilities in the school and value their contributions
• create opportunities for students to express their concerns
• use relationship building behaviours: checking, exploring, encouraging/inviting, and respecting
• avoid the relationship barrier causing behaviours (assuming, rescuing or explaining, directing, expecting, and assuming young people see issues and goals as we do)
• teach children and adolescents how to challenge ineffective beliefs
• remember that the teacher-student relationship can be easily lost if there is a maze of confusing rules, limits, and required objectives for teachers and students to negotiate
• be consistent and making sure that students know what is expected and about consequences/punishments
• gauge just how much self-disclosure is right with each group of students, so that they see the teacher as genuine
• strike the right balance among firmness, fairness and friendliness.

Strategies to develop students’ skills

• teach children and adolescents the skills needed to be effective coaches and mentors
• teach social-emotional skills to students for resilience and optimal learning, for example, problem-solving, self-control, self-efficacy and conflict resolution
• teach students how to deal with feelings and manage anger
• provide them with tools for self and peer assessment of their school work

Strategies to relate to difficult students

Maintain positive relationships with difficult students by:

• asking them one non-academic question every day
• noticing and commenting on positive behaviours more often than negative ones
• making sure each day brings a fresh start
• having a positive word or greeting ready for the day after dealing with a student’s misbehaviour
• providing extra positive support and conveying care and the belief they can succeed
• not taking misbehaviour personally
• nourishing your sense of humour

Strategies to meet teacher needs and develop skills

• regard the classroom as a site of experimentation and research
• welcome feedback from every available source, including students
• invite and reciprocate coaching with peers to improve classroom dynamics
• look after their own wellbeing – manage stress, keep fit, practise optimism skills.

Concluding remark

In case the simplicity of a list of do’s and don’ts gives the impression that using them to build positive relationships with all students, including the hard to teach, is either easy or a quick-fix, I end with the words of William Glasser MD, whose work on quality schools is reflected in many of the strategies outlined in this paper:

‘Teaching is difficult under the best educational conditions, and the failure to take into account the needs of students or teachers makes what already is a hard job almost impossible. Any method of teaching that ignores the needs of teachers or students is bound to fail’.

References

Dewey, J (1990). Democracy and education. Champaign, Ill: Project Gutenberg.
Fromm, E (1978). To have or to be? London: Jonathon Cape.
Glasser, W (1990). The quality school: managing students without coercion. New York: Perennial Library.
Seidensticker, B (2006). Futurehype: the myths of technology change. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Koehler.
Starratt, RJ (1993). Transforming life in schools. Hawthorn, Vic. Australia: ACEA.
Vitto, JM (2003). Relationship-driven classroom management: strategies to promote student motivation. Thousand Oaks, CA.: Corwin.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Ray Daniels is a former school principal who is currently Cluster Educator for the Clayton-Springvale-Westall Cluster of schools.  He is based at Springvale Secondary College, in Springvale, Victoria, Australia. Dr Daniels is also an international education consultant for Learning Partners: Powerful Peer Coaching for Primary and Secondary Teachers (www.raydaniels.com.au).

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