One of the key ways by which we make sense of our world is by analysing the stories that we and others use to describe it. These stories are a construct of our experiences, our beliefs, our cultural perspectives and the interactions between these things. Even when the context in which the story is set is the same, the details and nature of the story that particular individuals or collective share can differ vastly. Only by listening to each story with empathy and genuine desire to understand each individual's telling of this story do we develop true insights.
Making sense of the stories of education should be a key process for all educators.
When we take the time to ask individuals about their story of education or school a great deal is revealed. Too often the story is not what we might hope to hear. We have all heard quotes such as this from author Mark Twain “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education”. Or from Albert Einstein who reportedly stated that "Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” And, we hear stories of a similar vein when we speak to friends and colleagues about their experience of school.
Part A of the first assignments that participants in Project Zero’s “Creating Cultures of Thinking” course engage with, is to share their reflections on the story of learning they were told when they were in school. "What were the messages you received about learning, schooling, and what it means to be smart?” The overwhelming trend in responses is that school was about knowing the correct answers and smart was the capacity to provide these answers on cue and at speed. We might hope that school would be described as a time through which one accumulates knowledge and capabilities and dispositions that empower one to become thriving self-navigating lifelong learners. Instead school is described as being all about achieving grades and passing tests, a time where our spark of curiosity and creativity is extinguished. And, this is the story told by people who have gone on to become educators with the opportunity to study at Harvard Graduate School of Education. What story might be told those who are failed by the system?
Asking an adult the question, “What is your story of school?” has certain value, asking the same question of a current student has another. This is what Erika Lusky and Julie Rains did when they sought to understand the impact that their interventions as educators of students with additional learning needs was having. Asking this question allowed them to understand the feeling of disenfranchisement that their students felt and the sense that education was done to them rather than with them.
Asking this question led them to ask “How might we tell a new story of learning?”, and specifically, how might they move their students and themselves from “learned dependence to empowered independence”. This process echoes Part B of the assignment that commences the “Creating Cultures of Thinking” course in which participants are asked "How do they (the messages you received about learning . . .) differ from the messages you hope to be sending your students about learning?” At this point we are moving beyond telling stories from experience and imaging what stories we might tell in a tomorrow we shape by our individual and collective actions. This is transforming story telling from reflective practice into agentic action.
For Erika & Julie this process led to them unpacking their core beliefs as shared in a recent webinar with Cameron Paterson of PZ Sydney Network. These beliefs are:
We believe that no matter what skills and abilities children bring to the classroom they can demonstrate growth.
We believe that along with weaknesses, all students have strengths and that its our to find those in them and let them shine.
We believe that participatory collective learning and a mutual respect of ideas should be a part of everything we do and say.
We believe that all students can learn to think deeply and for themselves and we encourage them to prove it.
We believe students can meaningfully participate and contribute their voices to their class, to their community and maybe to the world.
And, we believe we can do all of these things in some of our new virtual spaces.
With a clear focus on the essential beliefs that they hold as educators, Erika and Julie engaged in the process of imagining a new story of learning for the students that they serve. Where some saw laziness, they saw learners communicating their feelings of disenfranchisement. Amidst a system focused on deficit and a need to “fix problems” they saw strengths and the potential for growth. They realised the need to change the culture they and their learners experienced. To shift the dial from dependence to independence. With this in mind, Erika and Julie took action to bring their new story to life. You can learn more about this new story and the actions Erika and Julie have taken HERE.
When we take the time to empathetically listen to the stories that are told about things that matter, we create opportunities for change. When we begin to imagine new stories we begin to see a brighter future. When we take actions to move ourselves and those who share these stories with us, we move towards bringing new stories into reality.
By Nigel Coutts