Introductory Discussion Post

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What is the relationship between the teacher and innovative learning?

While there are many perspectives and things to consider in the relationship between educators and innovative learning, I think one of the more important ones, when it comes to the classroom, is creating space to listen to students and including their voice in creating classroom values and sometimes even curriculum. Matt Goldman spoke to this a bit in the Ted Talk when he talked about creating a safe space for collaboration between teachers, students, and parents. In the context of adult education (community college for me), I think innovation can thrive with teacher-student collaboration. One activity that I’ve used that sets the tone is a “setting classroom norms” activity early in the semester; maybe you all have done something similar but students basically describe a positive learning situation and then establish the underlining values or rules that helped them learn; this then becomes sort of the “class rules” for the semester. Here’s the prompt I use to kick it off: “Think of a time when you were in a learning situation in a community that went very well for you. What were some of the implicit and explicit "rules" or normal group behaviors that supported your participation as a learner? How did these help?” This is a lot easier to do in a face-to-face class since discussions are more free flowing, and I can’t say the discussion boards (where this activity takes place for my distance education classes) are more or even equally as effective with this particular task. In terms of curriculum, I’ve been able to collaborate with students to create alternative assignments with them when they were struggling with what I assigned; for example, instead of writing an interpretive paper on the themes of a play I assigned, one student wrote a creative sequel to the play to illustrate understanding of the core themes. We came up with this assignment together, and the student, who really struggled getting started on the original prompt I assigned, probably wouldn’t have approached me if there wasn’t a certain level of comfortability in idea sharing already established. I can’t say I’ve done enough to collaborate with my students throughout the years, and I’ve found it more difficult to do so in a distance education format, but tools such as surveys and integrated text-messaging apps (like Pronto.) may help, and I could find the time to make more use of them.  

 

I asked you to already think about the current purpose of school. What are your specific goals for your teaching environment? (How) does pedagogy support your process? 

I feel like I spoke to this a bit in my response to the above question, but I can say that I make an intentional effort to put students at ease. Every semester I get students so worried about ‘points being deducted’ for trivial things like submitting work one minute late or not getting the heading on their paper right. While I appreciate the concern, the focus on ‘points’ can distract from—well, the point of learning. This is something that I struggle with; on the one had, points motivate students, but on the other it can just lead to a superficial gathering of points. Some of my colleagues have switched to contract grading where students are guaranteed a particular grade based on a criteria of work to be completed (I’m not exactly clear on all the details of it, which is why I haven’t used it yet, but it is also called labor-based grading). The rationale is similar to that of the no-grade system (for example, The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington replaces grades with teacher and student evaluations); it aims to focus student attention on the learning itself as opposed to the points or grades. In trying to create a learning-centered classroom, I also make an intentional effort to include reading and course material that focuses on issues relevant to contemporary society; in this way, students can engage in ideas and issues that are in circulation today and in an effort to make learning relevant to their everyday lives.  ​

 

What does the environment have to do with it? Matt Goldman focused on the environment. Why? What do his characteristics provide in that environment that may not exist in a typical classroom today? 

Goldman’s list of environment conditions strikes me as similar to those of a learning community. I teach in one called “Umoja” in which student cohorts and teachers are guided by a set of (I believe 15) principles and practices; the three core values that guide our community are being “intentional and deliberate” in what we do, doing everything with an “ethic of love,” and “manifesting” (or sharing) what we learn in the classroom with friends, family, and others in the community. Goldman’s first condition of “clear intent, purpose, and passion” remind me of these learning community principles as well as others, such as “speak in one voice,” which I see as fostering the mutual respect and trust necessary for students to productively collaborate. Teaching in learning communities have always been a rewarding experience, and the idea “why aren’t all classes just run this way?” has always been in the back of my mind. The one idea that I question, however, is Goldman’s inclusion of “grit and perseverance.” While these aspects of pedagogy have been valued in teacher education for many years, they have surfaced in discussions of equity (around 2015 or 16 initially) as having potential adverse effects on low-income and minoritized students. Here’s an article on it: The problem of teaching ‘grit’ to poor kids? And there are several more that will pop up with a quick search, but one of the main points is that minoritized students have more social obstacles to navigate and necessarily have and need more ‘grit’ than mainstream kids; to say that these students need more ‘grit’ without acknowledging the discriminatory barriers they face day to day is kind of a slap in the face.  

 

​What might continuing education need to attend to if students came to our learning spaces with prior experience as described by Matt Goldman?

I think focus on the values and practices of a learning community style of education, similar to that of Goldman, would be valuable. The values themselves should be carefully crafted to uplift, empower, and support student experience and achievement. Crafting practices that guide how students enact these values both within the classroom and in the community would also be a primary goal. Designing learning spaces, both physical and digital, with the intent of supporting togetherness and the values of the community would be integral to the task. 

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