Tell a group of teachers that change is necessary and you’ll get a whole lot of agreement. After all, teachers work directly with kids – they see the changes that are occurring in access to knowledge and they certainly see the potential of technology as a tool for research, recording and presentation. It’s a no brainer and teachers have the foresight to see it. So, if we see it so readily, why are there not huge changes occurring in all classrooms? Why are we so reluctant to mix up the straight rows, allow for the volume to go higher and get students to work collaboratively? It seems to me that it comes down to two things – Comfort zones and control.
A lot of teachers, and I include myself in these numbers, have known nothing but school. We have come through the traditional classroom as a student, trained in traditionally based Universities to teach in traditional ways and gone in to our own classrooms to teach in a traditional manner. Guess what? We’re comfortable in the traditional world. We’ve seen students be successful in their learning and go on to great things. Pretty hard to simply jump out of that comfort zone that has been so much a part of what we see as schooling. Heck, it’s who we are. We have created an image of ourselves as a teacher. One who imparts our knowledge and wisdom, and I use that term loosely in looking at myself, to an eager vessel, dying to be filled.
Now we are being asked to re-evaluate our practice in light of all the changes that have occurred in the last decade and guess what, we feel a little uncomfortable. That is natural. Embrace your discomfort but see it for what it is. Discomfort is merely a gut reaction to change. Discomfort does not mean you do not need to change, it just means it may be a little difficult. So, embrace it for what it is, the first step in a journey.
It’s not simply the discomfort that we have to deal with however, it is the actual physical environment in the room. Classrooms have, by and large, been set up to be places of teacher control. Straight lines, desks facing forward and relatively little noise. Students work silently as the teacher walks through the aisle to ensure that students are working in an appropriate manner – learning what counts! Now, teachers are being asked to give up a little of that control and allow students to ask questions and pursue the answers on their own, asynchronously. Potentially, a classroom could have 20 different projects being presented in 20 different ways, looking for entirely different outcomes from each learner. . . control seems to be a little hard to manage here! To give up the control over learning to the learner is VERY difficult for us. When we live in a traditional classroom, it is so easy to know where the students are and what they are learning. In a more progressive classroom, it takes a lot of work and frankly, it is not always very pretty. Especially when teachers are just learning to manage it.
This is where we have to stop, breath deep and remember what we are trying to do as educators. We are trying to allow students to be life long learners, citizens who ask questions and can follow up on solving them. Citizens who are engaged in their communities, not simply droids, programmed to do what the are told. When we put learning in this light, we can justify a little more messiness. Think long term, think who we want running the country when we are seniors.
Change does not mean putting a bomb in all you do. It simply means you’re moving forward and really considering what your students will be faced with as adults. As Dorthy says, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”
Open yourself to change, to growth and . . .
Keep on learning.
D
Comfort Zones and Control
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