As part of my current class, I've been asked to look at how we as online teachers can use Learning Management systems to design the ultimate educational experience that suits the needs of a variety of learners with a variety of needs. Naturally, this means I need to actually analyze and develop my philosophy of education - a clear credo.
Over a decade ago, when I was a beginning teacher working on Haida Gwaii, I had the opportunity to be the District Literacy Representative. Part of what this entailed was attending regional meetings, which corresponded with meetings of the Network of Performance Based Schools (now called the Network of Inquiry and Innovation). The Network was my first introduction to Inquiry Based Learning, and it was a revelation to someone fighting to get her head above water in a new and challenging position. I completed a few Inquiry projects with the Network, and learned immensely from the experiences. One idea that was formative for me came from Linda Kaser and Judy Halbert in one of their announcements at a Network meeting. They announced that their goal was to improve education to the point where each student had the chance to cross the stage (graduate) with dignity, purpose, and options. These words are absolutely crucial to my personal education credo, and key in how I design my classroom and my lessons. They're the backbone of a strong philosophy of education, and crucial to learner-centered design. Dignity, purpose, and options: how can I create an educational environment that encourages these? I think the key comes down to two things I've written about before: authenticity and relationships. Being authentic in our design means creating activities that are meaningful for the student, and have, if possible, real application to their lives. I think it also means being up-front and clear - respectful of their context, their strengths, and their challenges. This ties beautifully into relationships, as you can't design properly for students without an understanding of where they're coming from. So how do we do this online? If we build discussion and plenty of opportunity for student feedback into our courses, we can start to build social presence and relationships. If we design units around student choice and gradually increase their responsibility, we begin to see tasks take on an authenticity that we as teachers might not be able to conceive of. If we allow for different ways of knowing, and different ways of showing learning, we can build trust and strength in our relationships, while giving students the opportunity to spend time finding their passions, which could in turn develop into a sense of purpose for their future. Students who are treated as equal partners in the learning experience are a wonder to behold. They advocate for themselves. They begin to disconnect from an extrinsic motivation for learning (grades) to one that is more intrinsic (fun!). They will surprise you with their great ideas and their ability to interpret the learning outcomes into demonstrations of knowledge and skill. They will also make you learn a lot about yourself while they're doing it. A last facet of my credo deals with feedback and criticism. My wish for my students is that they will learn how to gracefully accept and give quality feedback and criticism. I want them to learn to look for the comments on an assignment instead of a grade, and to have the grit to keep revising until they are proud of their work. This preserves dignity for the individual by disconnecting their value as a human being from their academic achievement. Detailed feedback and the ability to interpret it and make changes as a result is a lifelong skill that I hope all of my students can carry with them into their lives after high school, along with a belief in themselves as capable learners. Learning Management Systems are a tool for teachers to design quality learning experiences for students, in ways that provide lots of options, preserve and enhance individual dignity, and allow students to follow their passions and discover purpose. The design is more important than the tools we use, but allowing for choice and flexibility can be one important way that online and blended learning gives students their own tools to prepare for a successful future.
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Leslie McCurrachEnthusiastic Learner. Avid Gardener. DL Teacher. Archives
March 2018
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