Is STEM the key? (Part Two)

The call for improved STEM programmes has gained momentum in the past two weeks with an address to the National Press Club by Catherine Livingstone AO of the Business Council of Australia and an occasional paper released by the Office of the Chief Scientist. The message is increasingly unavoidable, Australia must develop its STEM capabilities or be left behind by a global market driven by innovative technology and science. The role of education is understood to be essential in this process but what is to be done to meet the demand remains less clear.

With the Federal Budget came support from both sides of parliament for enhanced STEM programmes with the Government restating its commitment and the opposition offering an alternative plan. Prof. Ian Chubb supports the moves by each party and in his response to the budget announcements called for a bipartisan approach to Science 'Properly supported science must last longer than any parliament and any changes of government. I hope that a bipartisan spirit will be extended to science; after all, it sustains us all.'

The latest round of articles, speeches and papers calling for a new approach to STEM began with the release of the an Occasional Paper by the Office of the Chief Scientists (OCS) published on 29th April. Titled 'Stem skills in the workforce: What do employers want?’ written by Dr. Roslyn Prinsley & Dr. Krisztian Baranyai the paper reports on a survey of employer attitudes to STEM skills and STEM skilled workers. The results agree with previous reports that businesses are seeking and value employees with STEM skills. Eighty-two percent of employers responded that STEM qualifications are valuable even in fields where such qualifications are not a requisite, seventy one percent indicated STEM employees were amongst their most innovative and over fifty percent report an increasing need for STEM qualified staff (either professionals or technicians and trades). Looked at from a ‘skills to needs’ match forty percent reported difficulties finding the right technician or trades workers and thirty one percent had difficulty recruiting STEM graduates while around one in three reported a mismatch between the skills required and those of applicants.

At a finer level the survey reveals the types of skills wanted and valued by employers. Topping the list is a call for more ‘Active Learning’ where learning occurs on the job, this was considered very important by more than 60% of respondents and at least important by over 90%. The top five skills and attributes desired for the workforce where critical thinking, complex problem-solving, creative problem-solving and interpersonal skills. More than fifty percent of respondents ranked occupation-specific STEM skills, lifelong learning and design thinking as at least important while programming was considered at least important by less than 50%. The paper concludes 'This report highlights a mismatch between the skills required by employers and those of job applicants. Clearly, an effort has to be made to minimise this discrepancy. The information presented here should help to identify what needs to be done.' (Prinsley & Baranyai 2015 p4)

Also on 29th April, President of the Business Council of Australia, Catherine Livingstone AO addressed the National Press Club and presented her views on the importance of STEM. Catherine describes an ‘extraordinary disruption that is now upon us’ as a result of mass connectivity, an internet of things and from this rapid innovation fuelled by hyper connectivity. It is the degree of connectivity available to us that will allow for a tie of increased innovation 'Because innovation happens most powerfully at the interface. The more interfaces, the greater the potential for innovation; and the more connectivity the more interfaces.’ Livingstone states 'given the disruption of a hyper-connected world, many of our policy settings are simply not fit for purpose.'

In a similar fashion to the OCS paper, Livingstone identifies a need for a shift in the skills young people leave school with citing the current 400,000 young people out of work and not in full time study as evidence that 'This would suggest that it's not a participation problem, but a jobs and skills match problem we have on our hands.’ Focussing on the educational recommendations of the address Livingstone suggests 'We must move away from the notion that work is something we begin after a long period of study, to one where work is integrated with learning.’ Livingstone adds her voice to an increase in the development of STEM skills including computer coding, computational thinking, problem solving and design thinking. According to Livingstone 'Given that an estimated 75 per cent of the fastest growing occupations, including those in the creative industries and humanities, will require STEM related skills and knowledge, the imperative for introducing these foundational skills into the primary and pre-primary curricula should be unassailable.’ Livingstone calls for a ten-year plan to close the gap between Australia’s digital literacy and that of our competitor nations. She concludes her discussion of educational changes by saying 'In order to achieve these philosophical shifts, we need to move our national preoccupation with class sizes needs to be replaced with a national obsession with teacher quality, teaching standards, learning methods and curriculum.’

Responding to a question by Gareth Hutchens of The Sydney Morning Herald based on teacher quality and wage based strategies for attracting teachers to the profession, Livingstone identified the lack of sufficient numbers of suitably qualified teachers within the STEM disciplines as the key issue. Her solution is to identify and promote technologies that will maximise the impact and collaborative potential of those with the required skills. This would extend the reach of those most skilled in the delivery of STEM learning beyond their classroom or school such that a far larger number of students benefit. This solution has merit but would require a shift in the way school systems operate and an increased openness towards sharing the expertise of highly valued teachers. The profession is generally open to this sort of collaboration but competition between schools may act as a barrier to this occurring on increasingly formalised levels and ongoing emphasis on ‘high-stakes’ testing can only enhance this scenario. Looking beyond Australian schools one sees models such as Korean ‘Hagwons’ where the most valued teachers use technology to reach a mass market and earn considerable salaries in doing so. An alternative model may be a teacher driven market sector that supplies high-quality learning environments, programmes and expertise as a consultancy model similar to that provided by ‘NoTosh’ and ‘IDEO’ where industry knowledge and quality teaching practice merge. It is a shame perhaps that the excellent ‘Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools’ programme of the CSIRO does not gain greater support from industry and government as it has the potential to connect teachers with the level of expertise they require while building opportunities for the sort of situated learning industry is calling for.

A discussion thread on an Association of Independent Schools IT Integrators group touched on the possibility of mass collaboration as a method of circumventing the text book industry and developing a set of resources with genuine value to teachers and students. Such a collaboration is easily possible with the resources available to teachers today. Both YouTube and TED Ed provide tools for sharing lessons in a video format with added features to enhance learning such as questions, discussions, links to information and student tracking. Building on their motto of ‘Ideas worth sharing’ TED Ed embraces the motto ‘lessons worth sharing’. The site provides an open space for teachers to share lessons built on videos from YouTube or TED. The site allows teachers to create, share, explore and build on lessons at a global scale and in doing so create a rich resource for educators to draw upon. Apple is building a similar resource in the form of its iTunes U service that allows educators to create and share entire courses for access on Computer or iPad/iPhone. iTunes U enables teachers and students to share interactive text books they create with iBooks Author in addition to Video or Audio files and as with other services allows uploading of files in PDF along with the proprietary formats used by Apple’ productivity applications (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). What services like this offer that in-house Learning Management Systems do not provide is access to a global community of educators both as a source and destination for collaboratively constructed resources.

In Part Three I will look at the perspective on Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report ‘A Smart Move: Future-proofing Australia’s workforce by growing skills in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and those who call for a cautious approach to a STEM focused education such as Fareed Zakaria of the Washington Post.

By Nigel Coutts

 Read Part One

 

 

Is STEM the key?

Note: With a flood of papers, speeches and articles relevant to the topic, this post is now Part One of a Three Part series on STEM. Part Two will be published Sunday 17th May and Part Three Sunday 24th May.

In June 2014, the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon. Tony Abbott MP acknowledged the significant role that STEM is to play in the nations future. 'There will be significant emphasis in boosting our focus on science, technology, engineering and maths because science is at the heart of a country’s competitiveness and it is important that we do not neglect science as we look at the general educational and training schemes.’ The question now is how will education respond and why is STEM so important to our futures.

Australia’s Chief Scientist, Prof. Ian Chubb, has thrown his voice behind action to enhance STEM education both in public speeches and through the release of a substantial report titled ’Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future’. According to Prof. Chubb 'Science is infrastructure and it is critical to our future. We must align our scientific effort to the national interest; focus on areas of particular importance or need; and do it on a scale that will make a difference to Australia and a changing world, We are the only OECD country without a science or technology strategy. Other countries have realised that such an approach is essential to remaining competitive in a world reliant on science and science-trained people,'

The role that STEM plays in future economic growth is well supported. Roughly half of America’s economic growth is attributed to STEM related advances. In Australia a similar picture is painted in that 65% of our growth per capita can be linked to improvements in our use of capital, labour and technological innovation made possible by STEM. (OCS 2014) Similarly a report by USA’s National Science Board (US NSB) found that:

'The “STEM workforce” is extensive and critical to innovation and competitiveness.'
'STEM knowledge and skills enable multiple, dynamic pathways to STEM and non-STEM occupations alike.'
'Assessing, enabling, and strengthening workforce pathways is essential to the mutually reinforcing goals of individual and national prosperity and competitiveness.'

Forbes reports that the US Department of Commerce found 'STEM creates a nation of innovation and global competitiveness because it drives the generation of ideas and propels the creation of new industries. Moreover, growth in STEM jobs is three times faster than in other jobs; STEM occupations are projected to grow by more than 17 percent.’

According to Prof. Chubb, ‘STEM skills are critical to the management and success of R&D projects as well as the day-to-day operations of competitive firms' and 'There is the lesson for us: top-performing STEM economies are united not by their size or geography but by their capacity to organise then grasp their opportunities.’ If Australia is to maximise its position in the emerging technology and innovation driven economy we must create a climate that supports STEM at all levels. We need to create partnerships between industry, research and education that empower innovation. Globally this cultural climate is taking shape supported by clear directives from government as seen in directives from US President Barack Obama (training of 100,000 excellent STEM teachers over the next decade) and in the UK from the 'Technology Strategy Board’.

Among the four focus areas of 'STEM: Australia’s Future’ is an emphasis on ‘supporting high quality education’. Seen as a means to an end 'Australian education- formal and informal - will prepare a skilled and dynamic STEM workforce and lay the foundations for lifelong STEM literacy in the community.’ The US NSB agree ‘A well-rounded pre-college education that includes significant engagement with STEM unlocks pathways into the technical STEM workforce and pursuit of additional STEM studies at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels.’ In the US ’16.5 million college-educated individuals, including many working in sales, marketing and management, reported that their job required at least a bachelor’s degree level of Science & Engineering training. Many of these people are not employed in fields typically identified as STEM disciplines but they recognise a need for this style of knowledge and thinking in their daily operations.

What the evidence shows is that STEM is both a discrete set of disciplines and career pathways along with a set of broadly relevant capabilities which are increasingly required for career success. STEM encompasses knowledge in areas such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, engineering, skills such as complex reasoning, problem solving, design and programming and broad abilities such as inductive and deductive reasoning, mathematical reasoning and non-cognitive dispositions such as preferences for investigative approaches and independence. (Anthony Carnevale) The US NSB report identifies that 'In addition to having a well-rounded education that includes both STEM and non-STEM subjects, employers indicate that today’s STEM workers must possess a variety of characteristics important for the workplace. These include the ability to work independently and in teams, a willingness to persist in solving hard problems, and an understanding of workplace expectations.’

To meet the needs for a STEM capable workforce Prof. Chubb identifies a need to increase recognition of STEM education, lift the number of STEM teachers, develop ‘Science Literacy’ in schools, build a workforce with industry aligned skills and increase the uptake of STEM across the workforce. For schools the standout points of the 'STEM: Australia’s Future’ report is its call for ‘Inspirational Teaching and ‘Inspired Learning’. To achieve the first of these two goals ‘Inspirational Teaching’ Australia must 'Provide all pre-service and in-service STEM teachers with training and professional development opportunities to deliver contemporary science using contemporary pedagogy, with a focus on creativity and inquiry-based learning- more like science is practised.’ This goal will be in part achieved by increasing incentives to follow a STEM education pathway and that training for pre-service teachers reflects the demand for STEM teachers. The second goal of Inspired Learning’ requires we 'Use curricula and assessment criteria, from primary to tertiary levels, to promote the development of long-lasting skills- including quantitative skills, critical thinking, creativity, and behavioural and social skills- in parallel with disciplinary knowledge.’

The goal of ‘Inspired Learning’ within STEM is worth particular consideration. According to 'STEM: Australia’s Future’ we will 'Develop science literacy in schools by helping schools to teach STEM as it is practised, in ways that engage students, encourage curiosity and reflection, and link classroom topics to the ‘real-world.’ Such a goal is in common with much of the pedagogy described on this site and across those that emphasise an inquiry approach to learning that is driven by student ownership of the problem solving process from the point of imagining questions to be explored through to the testing of solutions. It is this approach to STEM education that will enable our students to experience a process of innovation, which they may call on when they enter a workforce where a ‘start-up’ mentality will be increasingly common.

Robot container loaders at Port Brisbane set productivity record for a straddle terminal

Robot container loaders at Port Brisbane set productivity record for a straddle terminal

Speaking at an Australian Association of Independent Schools STEM conference Dr. Fabio Ramos of Sydney University illustrated the importance of a 'start-up' mentality. In areas such as mining, healthcare and agriculture innovative technologies and processes have brought new products to market out of the research and development of students. These students have been able to utilise their STEM capabilities to rapidly develop new fields and then capitalise on the economic potential of their ideas. Having experiences with this approach to innovative, design thinking from an early age is critical in building a STEM capable workforce. It is in this way that a STEM approach to ‘Inspired Learning’ distinguishes itself from traditional teaching and learning in Science. In STEM the blending of science, technology, engineering and mathematics allows a greater emphasis on real-world applicability of skills. In this model the focus is on the thinking dispositions, an iterative design process with a research foundation that leads to new ways of working and living.

According to ‘Natural Start Alliance’ (a coalition of educators, parents, organisations and others who want to help young children connect with nature) student engagement in STEM learning in a unified, integrated manner is critical as it helps students integrate knowledge across disciplines. Starting this process early is essential according to 'Natural Start’ as 'The secret is to tap into their natural and innate curiosity about the living world. By simply allowing them to investigate, by encouraging them to ask questions about the real world, you are engaging children in STEM.’ and 'The traditional approach of teaching topics in isolation does not support the ways that children learn best.’ 

Undoubtedly then STEM has a place in the educational futures of our students, but will their teachers be ready for this challenge. Australia has an ageing teacher population and education is a field of endeavour with a long tradition of changing slowly. Without adequate training, high levels of support, incentives for teachers to train and re-train into STEM success will be hampered. Unless we build connections with industry and research institutions we risk missing opportunities to maximise learning. Without government incentives and support for the funding of the development of ‘Inspirational Teaching’ STEM learning in Australia is likely to slip further behind and with the speed at which developing nations are moving into this space we could find ourselves trailing a new world order. 

by Nigel Coutts

Read Part Two

What are your students doing?

Recently I read Amanda Ripley’s thought provoking book 'The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way’ in which through a comparative study of foreign exchange students she reports from the inside on the modern powerhouses of education. Amanda set out to explain why some countries are able to outperform others on PISA scores. From the pressure cooker environment of Korea, where students sleep in their regular classes so they can stay awake until 10pm studying in ‘hagwons', to Finland where education and educators are highly valued but change came as a result of a long process not the overnight success sometimes reported, Ripley found that the answer is complex and fails to reveal one right way to educate our children.

In the concluding pages Ripley offers advice to parents looking to find the right school for their child, she advises they ask the students two simple questions: ‘What are you doing right now?’ and ‘Why?’

Across all of the systems Ripley visited and in every classroom the consistent measure of success was that the students were paying attention and were engaged. ‘In the best schools, though, boredom was the exception rather than the norm’. In a classroom where the students are engaged and interested in what they are doing asking ‘What are you doing right now, and Why? should illicit a detailed response, the students should know the answer and understand the relevance of what they are doing. What they are doing should be important to them, not just their teacher and certainly not just to some future test scenario.

Digging deeper into how students answer this question will reveal further details. Consider the verbs used in the responses.  If the students are consistently using verbs such as locate, identify, define, or label they are not being asked to apply high order thinking skills. Students who are using high-order thinking skills are likely to respond with answers that include verbs such as devise, design, compose, propose and invent. Looking for evidence of where students are operating on Bloom’s taxonomy is a better use of this hierarchy of thought than displaying it on a classroom wall.

In the best classrooms students should be able to answer the question ‘What are you doing right now?’ with confidence because they played a part in developing their exploration. In these classrooms students have ownership of their learning. According to Chan et al. (2014) 'Classroom transformation will only occur when teachers begin to shift from teacher-focused to student-focused classroom environments.’ to do this students need to be given ownership of the learning process.

'Teachers may fear giving up some of the control of goal setting, progress tracking, and assessment. However, granting students an active role in their learning can increase school completion; teach students valuable skills, like setting and attaining goals; and help students develop independence' (Uphold & Hudson, 2012)

Black and Wiliam (1998) in their analysis of assessment and the role of self-assessment showed the importance of students being able to and required to reflect on their learning and progress. They report that the problem with self-assessment comes not from a lack of reliability but because many pupils do not have ‘a sufficiently clear picture of the target that their learning is meant to attain’. These students would not be able to adequately answer the question ‘What are you doing right now?’

Chi et al. (1994) provide another perspective on this in their study of self-explaining. Self-explaining is the metacognitive process or strategy of generating explanations to oneself such that the integration of new knowledge is facilitated. They report that 'new instruction of either declarative or procedural knowledge cannot always be either instantiated or directly encoded; often it requires the integration of new information with existing knowledge. This integration process can be facilitated by asking students to actively construct what they are learning.’ Students who are learning therefore should be able to answer the question ‘What are you doing right now? and should be used to asking this question of themselves.  

The importance of engagement with and self-motivation towards the learning process is central to quality learning. In self-determination theory (Ryan & Deci 2000) the role of autonomy in this process is placed in equal importance to competence and feelings of safety and positive relations to educators. If our goal is intrinsic motivation for our students autonomy and ownership of the process are essential ingredients. Without ownership the best we can hope for is ‘integrated regulation’ in which students agree with the externally set goals. 

So ‘What are your students doing? and Why?’ Do they know? Is their answer the same as yours?

by Nigel Coutts

References

Chan, P., Graham-Day, K., Ressa, V., Peters, M., & Konrad, M. (2014). Beyond Involvement: Promoting Student Ownership of Learning in Classrooms. Intervention In School And Clinic, 50(2), 105-113. doi:10.1177/1053451214536039

Chi, M., De Leeuw, N., Chiu, M., & Lavancher, C. (1994). Eliciting Self-Explanations Improves Understanding. Cognitive Science, 18(3), 439-477. doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1803_3

Ripley, A. (2013) The smartest kids in the world. New York, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks.

Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68-78. 

Uphold, N., & Hudson, M. (2012). Student-focused planning. In D. W. Test, Evidence-based instructional strategies for transition (pp. 55–78). Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes. 

 

Term One Reflections 2015

With one term down now is the perfect time to look back and identify what has worked and suggest some areas for growth ahead of Term Two. It has undoubtedly been a busy time but in the midst of that have emerged ideas that have really worked and our new programmes have had the desired impact in getting the students started. So in no particular order here are my reflections for term one 2015.

1. Stand Up Meetings - Early in term we decided to implement a daily stand-up meeting with the goal of providing a time each day to share ideas and discuss the day ahead. With a new team member, new programmes for Science, History and Mathematics on top of English programmes that had been updated significantly to integrate with the other new programmes it was set to be a busy time with a lot to stay on top of. These meetings have been a definite success and have allowed us to come together as a supportive team. One of the strengths has been the sharing of what is working well within a programme and the ability for others to adopt strategies that helped a team member deliver a successful lesson. The side benefit of these meetings is that each team member has embraced the opportunity to run a ‘morning lines’ with the students and this has resulted in sessions with more meaning than was present when ownership of this time was shared across five teachers. 'Morning lines' is a short assembly used for distributing messages, it still does this but now it includes reflections on the topics we cover, discussion of pastoral care matters and strategies for effective learning delivered with a personal flair unique to each of us. 

2. Real Science - One of the biggest changes has occurred with the introduction of the New Science Curriculum. Our goal for Term One was to have the students engage in true scientific inquiry linked to an exploration of rapid changes at the earths surface due to events such as earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, bush fires and droughts. After an initial period of exploration and research students were given the challenge of creating experiments that would explore their chosen event in greater detail. At this stage we had little idea of what the students might come up with and while we had back-up plans we knew at this stage we would need to remove ourselves from the process. We did not want this to become ‘science by numbers’ where the students simply follow a recipe. The results have been pleasing and the students have risen to the challenge with some quality scientific thinking. Not everything went to plan and some groups in the end had to report that their experiments produced somewhat inconclusive data but in each case they have shown high order thinking fuelled by reflection on what each phase of experimentation revealed. By approaching the task in a cyclical manner with planning, followed by experimenting, followed by reflection then more planning before further experimentation students saw how scientists build and refine their understanding over time.

(1901). Poster "Don't be in such a hurry gentlemen!". To do with Enabling Acts 1896 leading to 1897 Convention. Deakin Collection. 1901 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22431900

(1901). Poster "Don't be in such a hurry gentlemen!". To do with Enabling Acts 1896 leading to 1897 Convention. Deakin Collection. 1901 - http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/22431900

3. History - We decided to embrace the new History syllabus this term as the changes to Science dictated a rethink of our Units of Inquiry. The result has been a programme that begins with an in-depth look at the reasons for Australia’s  Federation and moves onto exploring the structures of Australian democracy and Government. We are half way through this programme now and will continue next term with visits to Canberra as part of our camp. Students are enjoying the study thus far and their ability to understand historic concepts is pleasing. As a concluding performance of understanding linked to Federation students engaged in a debate of the issues as perceived by each colony. The result revealed a deep understanding of the issues confronted by the colonies as they debated Federation leading up to 1901 and the passion the students applied to their colony’s perspective was impressive.

4. Mathematics - A shift towards an inquiry approach to mathematics has lifted students’ engagement with the subject and allowed us to build a deeper understanding of the concepts. With less time spent on repetitions students are spending more time applying their knowledge and using skills from one strand in another as they solve and create problems with genuine relevance. From re-designing the playground to using real world data in explorations of directed number, distance and speed students have seen the immediate applicability and interconnectedness of their learning. Having students take on the task of creating challenging mathematical questions for their peers to solve has added a new dimension and another opportunity to demonstrate understanding. 

Artwork by Year Six student completed as part of Optional Homework

Artwork by Year Six student completed as part of Optional Homework

5. Optional Homework - Late in term I asked my students to share what they were most enjoying about their time in Year Six, almost all said homework. This term we decided to offer students an option to design part of their homework. The goal was to give them a choice and a say in how they spent their time. We hoped that this would allow students to pursue a personal interest and to take ownership in their learning. We felt that dictating what homework was done and enforcing its completion with detentions or the like was counterproductive and denied the students an opportunity to develop responsibility. The results have been in most cases fantastic. Students have taken on a rich variety of projects each on a scale that can be completed in a week. We have had artworks, poetry, comedy, animations, coding, cooking, journals, websites, short films and documentaries. Feedback from parents has been positive with many stating that homework is no longer a chore as their children take on responsibility for managing it themselves. Part of the success of the overall programme has been a result of keeping some set items and always providing the option of a teacher set task. This option has been used by students when they either can’t think of a better option or don’t have the time that a self selected task requires. The next phase of this will be to add a more deliberate process of reflection to allow students to identify what they have learned from a particular task.

6. Genius Hour and Parent Partnerships - For 2015 we are shifting from a Personal Passion Project (PPP) that was completed during Term Four to a Genius Hour project that will run throughout the year. Based on the lessons learned with the PPP we have revised our processes for introducing the Genius Hour project and created new planning guides for students to use. This process has been an excellent opportunity for us to reflect on what has worked for us in the past and to combine that with ideas from ‘Design Thinking’ and project management. As a team we engaged with the process of designing the new programme as phase one of our Action Research project. Our ideas have been shared through Google Docs and we were able to engage colleagues from the senior school in this process incorporating their expertise in design thinking. So far we have introduced students to the concepts of project management and design by calling on parent experts. We have been fortunate to have three parents give an hour of their time to share their expertise with the students and called on a large number of parents to assist with a visit to the Powerhouse Museum so the students could see great designs. Next term we move on to the serious phase of the programme as students plan their projects guided by a modified version of “The Design Thinking of Educators’ guide produced by IDEO. By the middle of next term students should have moved from big ideas powered by ‘How might we questions’ through to a workable plan with timelines, resource lists and a clear concept of what success will look like and require. Along the way students will take on the task of gathering peer feedback on their ideas, pitching their ideas to their teachers and refining their plans. It should be an exciting process and one that we hope produces spectacular results.

7. Growth Mindsets – I have introduced the concept of ‘Growth Mindsets’ and the writings of Carol Dweck to students and parents and while it is early days the results are positive. It is a concept that resonates with learners as they struggle with how to measure their success and learn from the times when it does not go as planned. We have started with the idea that fail should be read as F.A.I.L. or first attempt in learning. Over the term I have spoken the students about these ideas on a number of occasions and it is nice to see some using this sort of language in their reflections. As a school we were able to give a Monday Meeting over to the discussion of Carol’s writing and talk of developing growth mindsets is spreading. It has been interesting to discuss this with parents and many have encountered the concept through their professional lives and are keen to share their perspective.

8. The Learner’s Way - This blog you are reading now has become a tool for reflection and engagement with educational ideas. One of my personal goals has been to post to this site on a weekly basis regardless of how busy the week may be. It has allowed me to share my ideas and those developed from the books and other blogs I read with an audience. Some of the more popular postings include one on Finland’s approach to handwriting, reflections on the idea that knowing is obsolete and the future of schools. A post made late last year documenting our eight years of experience with Personal Passion Projects was well received along with an article on Carol Dweck’s concept of growth mindsets. For me blogging has become a powerful tool for reflection and thinking about my teaching and teaching in general and is a strategy I recommend highly. 

9. An Excellent Team – I am blessed to work with a team of teachers willing to try new methods, to adopt new technologies and share their ideas and passions while critically reflecting on their practice. Teaching is easy when you are surrounded by people who genuinely care about the quality of learning that occurs in their classrooms and are eager to operate as part of a team. 

By Nigel Coutts

The future of Schools

Ask the average adult to describe a school and you are likely to get similar responses. There will be a focus on the places and spaces in which their education occurred, the teachers who taught, the rows of desks, the daily schedule of classes and breaks. They may reflect on the subjects they enjoyed and those they didn’t. If you asked the same question of your typical octogenarian the response would be similar and if you could travel back in time you would receive a similar response from those whose experience of school would not include electric light. It makes you wonder what makes a school and what might a school be like?

Karl Weick the organisational theorist wrote in 1976 an article titled ‘Educational organizations as loosely coupled systems’ in which he asks the questions ‘Why do all educational organisations look the way they do, and why do they all look the same?’ He suggests that the common structural and organisational elements in schools are not a result of the true task of education but a consequence of the certification and registration process. The implication being that if schools were designed to best serve their fundamental task they would look different and there would be differences between schools as a result of their intentions and purposes.

The unflattering description of the physical layout of most schools reveals much in common with factories. Raw product enters at one end, is acted upon through set processes and at the opposite end of the factory processed products exit ready for the workforce. Along the way the child learns how to fit into society, how to complete core tasks required for dutiful citizenship and is presented with the knowledge of content expected of an educated person. Pink Floyd’s gruesome portrayal of a school as a production line for humans resonated with its audience not only for its gore but also its metaphorical accuracy. Thankfully schools have a greater calling and are moving away from this archaic model.

The modern classroom is a space full of light and colour, with flexible furnishings and a degree of comfort not present in the classrooms many adults recall. Students are encouraged to take charge of the space and arrange its physicality to meet their needs. Design decisions are based around engagement, creativity, expression, imagination and an understanding of education as an active process that the student chooses to engage with. So important is the physical space that authors and architects for education OWP/P published a book titled ‘The Third Teacher’ as a tome for anyone wishing to enhance the effectiveness of their learning spaces. 

In this classroom you will likely find the teacher located somewhere amongst the students. The role of the teacher is transforming from the deliverer of content and enforcer of behavioural norms to one of facilitator of learning. Learning as an educational term is under re-evaluation as the profession and society considers what it means to learn. Once defined through connections to the recall of facts and the application of formulas and methods, learning is now seen through a wider lens. Learning is a process that you must learn to do, a process that involves imagination, problem finding, questioning, design thinning, collaboration, reflection and knowledge creation. The modern teacher is skilled in enabling dispositions, attitudes, habits of mind and thinking skills within their diverse learners. A successful lesson will be one that generates a new list of questions, not a set of answers. 

The students in this classroom are adept at asking questions but they do not expect easy answers and they do not rely on their teachers to be the source of their learning. They approach their learning with a sense of possibility and openness that the students in the Pink Floyd clip have had beaten out of them. They should experience a learning system that encourages creativity and prepares them for a world that will value them for their ability to find problems and solve them in unique ways.

What might the school day be like? The ever creative Finns are exploring a model of learning that does away with traditional subjects. Students instead of discretely studying mathematics or language will explore themes with opportunities to develop a wide mix of dispositions and skills around the exploration of central ideas. This model of themed learning is described as having more in common with how individuals learn outside of a school-based setting where they operate within a group to explore a set of closely linked ideas and find solutions to the problems they encounter along the way. Such a change will bring with it fundamental adjustments to the timetabling of the school day, the structure of schools around faculties and the compartmentalisation of knowledge that comes with this. The skill set of the art teacher, the mathematician, the scientist and the language specialist will be combined around a central theme with the students benefiting from the sharing of knowledge that this model creates as their teachers collaborate. 

If the process of modernising schools identifies a clear intent for schools with an equally clear model for how this is best achieved will schools still all look the same? Will a shift from schools as factories for the fodder of the industrial age workforce to a focus on the production of creative problem finders and solvers produce a greater variety of schools? Will Weick see a diversity of organisational structures? As we shift from the one-model fits all system of the past to a new model that celebrates flexibility and individuality will this be reflected by a diversity of school systems that follow? Will there be a common experience of school in the future or will the loosely connected structures, tasks, intents and people of a yet to be invented educational model centred on the networked individual even form an organisation that we can meaningfully refer to as a school?

By Nigel Coutts

 

If knowing is obsolete. . .

Speaking in 2013 at ‘TED’ Sugata Mitra (2013) posed the question ‘Could it be that at the point in time when you need to know something, you can find out in two minutes? Could it be that we are heading towards or maybe in a time when knowing is obsolete?’. This question has merit and far reaching implications for education. 

A range of factors make this question worth exploring. Firstly is the matter of what we teach and the curriculum documents we follow. For those in Australia we have the new syllabus to implement and while this makes progress in some regards by placing such things as concepts and skills at the centre of our focus there remains a good degree of content to be taught. Secondly the technology that makes it possible to ‘know’ something on demand is with us today. Through the devices we carry with us, with the resources of the Internet and thanks to the power of search it is possible to find any chunk of knowledge whenever and wherever it is needed. 

Speaking to a group of Year Six students the director of digital for a large Australian telco described the near future of technology. He started with a brief history of technology and described in pictures how computers have changed from the time he was a teen experiencing computing for the first time to the technology we all carry with us today. He described how Gordon Moore of Intel had predicted a doubling of chip speeds every two years and how this came to be known as ‘Moore’s Law’. He demonstrated how computing technology has continued to shrink and described how this has allowed for technology that we can not only carry in a pocket but also wear. If the tech companies are right and wearables begin to gain traction in the market our reliance on ‘knowing’ will only further decrease. Once the watch or glasses that I wear are able to provide me with the answer to my knowledge based questions why would I burden my memory with these details?

The New Media Consortium, Horizon Report: 2014 K-12 Edition identifies Wearable Technology as one of the important developments in technology for school with a time to adoption in the four to five year category. Wearable technology is defined by the report as technology that can be worn in the form of jewelry, sunglasses, backpacks or items of clothing. The impact is described as being most significant in the enhancement of field trips and excursions and augmented reality. But this ignores the great ease of access to information that this style of device offers and ignores the potential for these devices to provide context aware notifications. How far can it be from a time when my watch or my glasses prompts me with potentially relevant ‘knowledge’ based on the data it is gathering from my environment, my online presence and the online presence of the people and things around me.

As we move towards a Web 3.0 world we will increasingly rely on machine learning to access and present data from diverse sources, including an expanding ‘Internet of Things’ in ways that we are able to make use of. The early signs of an internet populated by articles and sources created purely by computer are the ‘Knowledge Graph’ results Google provides and the emergence of articles written by algorithms. The ‘Knowledge Graph’ presents information based on a search query and compiled from a mix of sources as a result of Google’s algorithms. Steven Levy wrote an article for ‘Wired’ titled ‘Can an algorithm write a better news story than a human reporter?’ in which he describes technology produced by ‘Narrative Science’ that produces articles based on the data fed to its algorithms. A BBC report from 2014 describes the writing of an article for the LA Times that is reportedly the first written for a newspaper by a robot. The challenge for machine generated content will be finding an audience for the content that is generated and most likely this will be facilitated by models of content delivery where the information finds its user rather than relying on the user finding the content.

The implications of the evolution of technology, of search, machine learning and of ubiquitous access to knowledge are yet to be fully understood and explored but are part of the rationale for Ian Jukes to declare, while speaking at EduTech in Brisbane in 2014, that knowledge work or routine cognitive work will become a thing of the past at least in Western nations and that schools need to stop preparing students for jobs that will not exist. We need a greater emphasis on what Ian and others refer to as ‘Long Life Skills’ (creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving and social intelligence) and an ability for individuals and even groups to learn and unlearn the skills required for specific tasks. New opportunities for enterprise bring with them new challenges for learners e.g the birth and growth of the app developer. But this does not mean we teach app design in the same way we taught grammar, the skills needed now will be outmoded by next year or sooner, according to Ian we need teach the mind set required for app design.

Ian says ‘Our present system is not broken, it is obsolete, outmoded. We cannot make little modifications, it is time to redesign’ and that if schools are in the content delivery business then we are going to be out of work soon. Looking for the silver lining in this the future of education and of teaching is exciting. Freed of the need to teach content we can focus on teaching what matters most, what excites and challenges our students and builds capacity for creativity, knowledge creation and innovation. 

By Nigel Coutts

 

 

 

 

 

Schools, learning, innovation and student futures

For all of us, learning was an innate part of life. It was something we just did, that was as natural to us as breathing. If not for this innate desire to learn and with it the ability to do so, we would never learn to walk, or speak or interact with others.

But at some point learning stops being something we do and becomes more like something that happens to us. Our initial self-drive to learn is replaced by learning as a part of our life that is highly regulated, controlled, monitored and externalised. For some people this compartmentalisation of our lives with learning as a self contained piece that takes place inside of schools results in the belief that it is something we can opt out of. 

Learning becomes the ability to absorb and make use of information and skills that are presented to us in a manner that another person or group of people decides is best. Learning becomes something we do in a specific place and at a specific time, for a set number of years and via a lockstep sequence with a group of peers sharing a common age.

From this model of learning comes a string of consequences. It separates learning from the control of the individual, it places the decision making process about learning priorities into the hands of others and it dictates what is and is not success. It divides us into people who are skilled at learning and those who are not skilled at it according to this model and subsequently for the first time it forces us to evaluate our ability to learn. This assessment of our ability to learn and indeed our ability in general is placed into the hands of others and this assessment of us by others for many plays a critical role in determining our self worth. 

All of this does not stop learning from happening outside this controlled environment. Children continue to play games, to learn from their peers, to discover ideas for themselves, but this model does separate and devalue this learning from the supposedly real learning that occurs in schools. 

Many have written and spoken about the current education paradigm as being modeled around the needs of the industrial revolution; that schools are modeled after factories with students entering as raw product, teachers performing the routine labour of transferring information and skills and adults leaving at the other end as product ready for the needs of the industry.  It is also well documented that the world we once prepared children for no longer exists. Through a mix of economic forces, changing priorities, technological change and globalisation our children will leave school requiring a different skill set marked by an ability to creatively identify opportunities and develop creative solutions to capitalise on these. In his book ‘Creating Innovators’ Tony Wagner describes the mindset and orientation of an individual prepared for this world. He identifies what is required to be an innovator as ‘some of the qualities of innovators that I now understand as essential such as perseverance, a willingness to experiment, take calculated risks, and tolerate failure, and the capacity for design thinking, in addition to critical thinking.’ These are not skills developed through even the most judicious application of a ‘chalk and talk’ methodology which while less prevalent today remains a common pedagogy. A similar set of skills required of the innovator is offered by Tim Brown CEO of IDEO writing for Harvard Business Review and cited by Tony Wagner, is ‘empathy, integrative thinking (the ability to see all the salient and sometimes contradictory aspects of a problem), optimism, experimentalism and collaboration. Tim states that ‘My experience is that many people outside professional design have a natural aptitude for design thinking, which the right developmentand experiences can unlock.’  Sir Ken Robinson’s often cited comment on creativity and education reveals his beliefs on why there are not more people leaving school equipped with the skills of the innovator: ‘I believe this passionately: that we don't grow into creativity, we grow out of it. Or rather, we get educated out if it’.

Through a series of interviews with successful innovators Tony Wagner describes the forces and people that shaped them and influenced their development. In most cases these influencers fell outside of the normal systems of school and college, educators and mentors described as ‘outliers’ by Tony, educators who despite the system, manage to encourage young innovators to follow their passion and seek out challenges that matter. 

Ian Jukes is another educator calling for change to educational systems. At ‘Edutech’ in Brisbane last year, he described the disappearance from western nations of careers based upon routine cognitive tasks, the traditional office jobs which are so easily relocated to countries with cheap labour. Tony Wagner echoes this ‘A growing number of our good-paying blue-collar and even white-collar jobs are now being done in other countries that have increasingly well-educated and far-less-expensive labour forces’. Ian calls for an educational paradigm through which students develop an ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn and to do so rapidly. Students leave this system not with a pool of knowledge but with what Ian calls ‘Headware skills’ creative skills that are rapidly adaptable and within the control of the individual. Ian calls for educational systems to not just shift teachings to new ideas delivered in the same mode but for a shift in the focus towards providing opportunities for students to become creative problem finders and solvers. As an example a school may identify the emerging App economy and desire to teach students this new skill but this does not mean we teach app design in the same way we taught grammar, the skills needed now will be outmoded by next year or sooner, we need to teach the mindset required for app design; a problem solving, design process with inquiry skills and the ability to quickly learn and unlearn skills to suit the needs of the task.

To meet these challenges and to ensure the learner is at the centre of the learning with a voice and opportunities to self-assess and self-direct, schools need to change focus. Ian describes two sets of skills, short life and long life. Short life skills are the ones that quickly become redundant or outdated. Long life skills are creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving and social intelligence and have value to the individual even as circumstances change. These are the skills schools need to develop but these skills will not develop in a system where the teacher is a content delivery mechanism.

They may be developed in a system that embraces Sugata Mitra’s view of learning as an 'edge of chaos phenomenon'. In this, the individual is provided with opportunities to discover and solve problems that matter but in allowing learners to imagine the problems, the control and organisation loved by too many schools is lost.  Only by understanding that the value of these experiences lies in the life long skills that students will apply and experience and by not focusing on the content lessons missed as a result of the chaos will schools truly prepare their students for the tomorrow that already exists just outside their classrooms. When schools do this, maybe learning will remain an innate and natural part of ones life.

By Nigel Coutts