Why is the world becoming flat?
After reading chapter one, I believe that according to the Linda Darling-Hammond- the world is becoming flat because of a gap that is happening in education in relation to the job market. The world is changing so rapidly and developing new information and ideas all the time, and education has largely remained the same. I must say that I don't ultimately agree with Darling on all of her points, because I do see education changing a ton right before my own eyes and even in my own classroom as recently as this school year. I believe that people are responding to the call and claims she is making in this book, that many other researchers and educators have become aware of in the recent years. This summer I was trained in AVID strategies, attended a math workshop with Jo Boaler, was trained on a brand new common core English Language Arts curriculum, have seen policies on homework change at my site, and have felt encouraged to allow students freedom, conversation, and ownership in their learning. Looking at the publish date of this book (2010) I am actually more aware of the phenomena she is describing here, because when I think back to 2010- I was in college learning to teach and earning my credential. Common core wasn't officially on the table yet ( I didn't hear about it until student teaching in 2012), I had never heard the words "growth mindset" and I was learning to teach algorithms in math and how to get students to memorize and recall information. There was a sprinkling, through my college education, of getting students to talk with each other, to own their learning, and explore different ways of sharing information- but as I reflect back on the year 2010 I can see so much positive growth between then and now in my little world of education, that I get excited about what our future holds. I do agree with the author that there is a problem, and not everyone is doing something about it. I also understand that I am very lucky to have attended all the trainings I did this year, and that not every teacher has access to this kind of professional development. I agree that other countries have dug more deeply into the problem of educating students for careers that are not even invented yet- but I do feel that we are making some really exciting progress, at the very least at my school site, but I'd like to imagine as a country. I just hope that the scope of this change and progress increases, and the pace of the spread of new ideas increases rapidly so that the whole nation of educators can become aware of the problem and making progress together toward solving it. What are the problems? The problems are that the world has been changing so much, even when education changes it is hard for us to keep up with the pace of the current technological advances and changes in our society. The problem is that even today's finest educators were educated in a "flat world" kind of environment. We tend to fall back on what we know, and what we know is not what today's student's need. The problem is that we are in charge of shaping their future, and we're scared of the unknown economy, job market, finance and technology industry that their futures hold. The problem is we are teaching something we don't know ourselves; we can't physically teach things nobody knows yet. What we need is to be able to equip students with skills for leadership, management, business, math, science, art, communication, collaboration, innovative critical thinking, creative problem solving, and so much more so that they can thrive in this ever changing world we live in. My current third graders will graduate high school in 2027. Looking back on the past 10 years and thinking forward to the next 10- we have absolutely no understanding of what anything will be like. My students will be doing jobs that I can't even imagine at this moment in time. It is now my responsibility to make sure they can adapt to change, and take with them the life, math, science, reading, writing, technology skills and mindset that they are going to need. I can't teach them how to do things I don't know how to do- but I can equip them for their future, and do it well, when I keep in mind that these are the important skills for them to take from this year. What would you change? I felt while reading this chapter, that the tone of the book was largely negative. I am hoping that this was a strategy to get the reader hooked as they realize the problems with education and that we will be offered ideas and solutions as we continue reading the book. Another thing I would change if I could- is teacher's mindsets. We were basically all taught with a fixed mindset about learning and achievement. We were taught one way to add, one way to participate in class, one way to do algebra, or think about science. We need to open our minds to the new possibilities this exciting, scary, ever changing world has for our students and for ourselves as educators.
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AuthorKayla Bryant is an elementary school teacher in Napa, CA. This year she teaches a 2/3 combo class. She keeps a journal with funny quotes from her students, and enjoys learning and laughing alongside them. Some of her main educational interests are related to goal setting, growth mindset, and creativity. Archives
July 2018
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