I spent 18 years teaching high school, 22 years total in a public school, and even though I left a decade ago now, I do remember this: Almost nothing I learned in college prepared me for the realities of the classroom. My first week of student teaching stressed me out so much that I got a total of around 10 hours of sleep Monday thru Thursday. The only reason I survived it was because my co-operating teacher had a party that Friday night at which he made sure to keep a fresh beer in my hand (among other things) until I gained some “perspective.” When he felt I was “ready” to hear it, he slung his arm around my shoulder, looked me straight in the eye and said, “Will, you’re taking this much to seriously,” after which I somehow got myself home, poured myself into bed and slept for like 18 hours.
My “perspective” was much improved on Monday.
Anyway, my initiation into teaching is not the point of this post, at least not the major point.
As I was at ISTE in Denver last week, I started thinking about all of the presenters up there on the various stages or in the front of the breakout rooms, wondering how was it they arrived at that moment. Wondering how much of what they were presenting about had they learned in a formal, classroom, education-y setting. Remembering how I arrived at my first presentation in Dallas at the 2003 Journalism Education Association conference where three people showed up to hear my musings on “Blogging in the Journalism Classroom.” (First question: “What’s a blog?” Sigh.)
When you look through the ISTE program list, you’ll find the occasional research study or paper being shared. But most of what you’ll see is people talking about practice, whether it’s tools or pedagogies, or projects or whatever else. It’s personal experience intended to help others understand the value to kids and how those in the audience might take it for their own.
I’m pretty sure those presenters didn’t figure out how to do the things they were presenting about by taking a course or a workshop and then writing up an application to present at ISTE. Instead, what they’re showing off is the fruits of their own personal (not personalized) learning labor over time, the results of trying, of failing, and of wanting to learn more. Of working with others, comparing notes, reflecting, collecting various forms of data…a soup of primarily tacit learning developed “on the job.”
That’s borne out by a highly scientific survey that I posted on Twitter this morning. Here are the results as I write this:
Fully 90% of the respondents say that most of what they currently do was learned “on the job.”
So, what’s my point? This: Learning for kids in schools should be much more “on the job.” I mean if we ourselves have learned how to learn out of need or desire, in tacit ways with others, for sharing with real audiences, why wouldn’t we create the same conditions for kids?
I was reminded of this today when I watched a presentation by John Moravec, whose concept of Knowmadic Learning and his Manifesto 15 have both been influences on my own thinking. In this particular presentation, he talks about what he calls “invisible learning,” defined as “placing trust in learners and shifting the flow of power from the top-down to the learner-out.” He adds:
We learn more, and do so invisibly, when we separate structures of control that restrict freedom and self-determination from learning experiences.
I love that, and I have a feeling most of the presenters at ISTE this week were self-determined, “invisible” learners who had the freedom to pursue their interests in ways that they designed and structured. And now, they had a chance to present their learning to an audience of interested peers hoping to learn from them. That’s a pretty cool end to a natural cycle of learning.
But, I guess, not appropriate for our kids.
(Image credit: InUseExperience)
I absolutely agree that teachers should learn in their classroom and in collaboration with each other.
What concerns me greatly though, is that the tendency to downplay research and outside expertise can mean that educators don’t know what they don’t know. They can repeat or fail to learn what outside sources have already learned or debunked and waste time or fail to see opportunities to inspire our learners.
I say – in all things – balance! Using outside expertise and knowledge as one/the team needs it and testing it out with students as active feedback providers is a fine balance.
Dear Will,
I just finished up my first year teaching and it was pretty much entirely on the job training. While this was incredibly frustrating at times, it was indeed a far more authentic form of “getting educated”. However, one of things that was the most frustrating to me was the cost that my learning curve had on my students. As a new teacher, there is so much that I still need to learn, and I know that I have to put in a lot of time, energy and effort in order to get my skills where they should be. I know that there is always more learning to be done and improvements to be made. However, I struggle to understand how to accomplish this when everything is go-go-go all the time. I know that my best work and my most creative self come out when I am collaborating with others. However, professional development time always seems to fall short of being even remotely helpful. So my question for you is both personal and general.
How do I gain the skills to take theory and turn it into application? And how can the education system/school district better support teachers, considering that so much of their learning and development take place on the job? How can I teach my students take their learning into their own hands, if I cannot fully model it myself?
Hey Johna,
Thanks for reading and the softball questions. ;0)
Learning on the job in schools is a culture shift. Check out the American School of Bombay, where every teacher is engaged in R&D in every class, trying something new, reflecting, iterating. It’s a part of the DNA in the school, and without it, there’s no doubt it’s tough.
For you, let me ask, what do you believe about how kids learn most powerfully and deeply in their lives? How do you learn most powerfully and deeply? Use the answers to those questions to create conditions in your classroom to make that type of learning happen. To be honest, I think we make this harder than it needs to be. Create cultures of learning in classrooms and in schools, and focus on sustaining and developing that rather than “teaching” to a particular theory or outcome. Probably not what you were taught in preservice, but…
This is my 28th year in public education; every day is a new day and every day I learn something new! While I can say I learned some basic skills around educational pedagogy while in my undergraduate and graduate work, the majority of my learning was definitely “on the job training.”
Several months ago I was having a conversation with the superintendent of schools where I work. In our conversation I talked about the turning point in my career which happened about three years ago. I guess you could say I had an epiphany of sorts and it went something like this: “I’m feeling more at ease with the work I do. Decision-making is not as difficult as it used to be. Problem-solving goes more quickly than it used to. I don’t allow things to keep me awake at night as I did so many times. Something has changed.” The superintendent responded to me, “Do you know what this is called?” Of course I had no idea what he meant. His response, “This is called wisdom!”
As a seasoned educator, we need to be honest with those entering the world of education. You won’t know everything your first day, first year, five years, ten years of teaching. Learning is a life-long process. Embrace the process and learn from your experiences and those around you. It will change your perspective and make each day you walk into the classroom so much better.