University of Texas professor David Parry is my idea of the future of education. According to Parry:
“The more we try to put those walls up, and say “I’m a professor, I only talk inside the class” the more irrelevant we become.”
I cannot agree more. This is what Paulo Freire was talking about when he talked about pedagogies of praxis (action v. theory). Especially in relation to the web. The evidence of this is clear when we consider that the real source of student disengagement with teachers and learning has much to do with our disconnection from our students’ realities outside of the classroom. This is half of the reason our students are so bored with us.A role for learnersThen there’s the other half. A role for students in their own learning: it’s called ownership. Technology has introduced a new level of distraction that involves training attention and being conscious of our reflexes towards instant gratification (a quick Facebook hit).
Ownership also involves being honest about what you do and do not know and going into class thinking about your long term priorities versus short term pleasures. By longterm, I mean getting a job, paying off your student loans and preparing yourself for a globalised job market.
Let’s make a deal
Educators will commit to turn up the good and turn down the suck - if students can visualise this as a partnership. Let’s rethink the stereotypical (and often adversarial) models of teaching and learning from the past and come up with some new ones that work for all of us.
Further viewing: Howard Rheingold’s Part II of Training Attention 101. This one shows students how they look from our perspective (i.e., bored/disconnected or appropriately engaged?).
Further reading: Q&A with David Parry on Twitter and microblogging
Watching David Parry and Howard Rheingold’s videos makes me want to back to school again–what engaged, creative, top-notch teachers they clearly are!
I’m fascinated by Rheingold’s ongoing exploration of attention, attention training, and I love that teacher’s POV section of video. BUT…why do students need to be on their laptops in the classroom at all? Luckily this trend hasn’t hit the school I teach at yet (Keene State College in New Hampshire).
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