The word “Passion” is often thrown around by educators when it comes to educational reform. It has also appeared in more and more tweets and Edchat comments. That is probably a result of it being so difficult to promote change within the Educational Community. Ordinary enthusiasm is often not enough to get it done. One reason for this is that, as educators, we have been conditioned to believe that once a movement for change comes banging at our door, if we wait long enough, it will go away. Sometimes, it depends on who has the most passion for their cause, in this world of winners and losers, to wait it out. Whoever has the most passion to hang in the longest wins. Unfortunately, this often takes us to a place where it is about what is best for us, and not what is best for our students.
Since I am passionate about education, and accessible to other educators in several social media venues, many people share with me their stories of wins and losses in the battle for educational reform. That is not a phrase I select without thought. There is passion amongst the 10 to 15 % of people who will always be satisfied with education as it remains today and also as it was yesterday. They are passionate for what some refer to as a comfort level, but it is in reality a call for the “Status Quo”. If it was good enough for me, it’s good enough for my kids!” They attempt to recruit as many to their cause, as do the reformers to theirs. This creates the “us and them” mentality that hurts collaboration. Need I mention the word “PARTISANSHIP”?
An experience shared with me recently, may serve as a good example of the problem faced by passionate reformers. It is a typical story like many told to me on a regular basis. This incident took place in the arena of Higher Education, but it could have taken place at any level. It occurred at a Professional Development workshop conducted by an educator who is interested in integrating technology and learning. The workshop addressed how to incorporate Web 2.0 tools into lessons. Everything seemed to be going well, until the end of the presentation when the participants were asked for questions or reflections.
One professor passionately motivated to share his views stood up before the group to respond. Since this came to me second-hand, I cannot be exact, but he said something to the effect that, if anyone needed to get information to him, they need not text, twitter, message, or email him. They should simply talk to him. It was good enough for him, so it is good enough for his students. Furthermore, what was the need for this tech stuff anyway? These kids know how to do this stuff when they come to us. (So much for formative assessment.) The workshop obviously was not working its magic with that Professor. But wait, there is more! If you believe in edtech reform, the part of the story which may cause you to start “screen-screaming”, is this; the audience of educators applauded the statement.
That might almost be enough for some to run from that room into the streets screaming “All is Lost, All is Lost!” But alas, we must remember these were the words of a “Ten-Percenter” and not necessarily the opinion of the majority. We all have the right to make personal decisions. The nature of these decisions however, is just that, personal. They should be decisions affecting us individually and our families. As educators our decisions have a ripple effect that goes out and touches the lives of many individuals. If we make a personal decision to live in a cave that is fine, it is our right. We do not have a right to make others live in a cave with us.
Tradition, however, falls on the side of the “ten-percenters” when it comes to Education. A majority of our society sat at desks in rows looking at the blackboard, or squinting at an overhead, or listening to scratchy records and tapes. They may have watched movies on film, film strips or video tapes. We were even used to filling out mimeographed worksheets. Those are all familiar tools which made a majority of us comfortable. These tools are also in the process of disappearing. We will no longer see them. Some are gone already. It may be the time to get out of the horse and buggy and ease into the car. YES, it is true a good teacher needs no tech to be good! It is also true that a good teacher with tech can be better!
I hope this is more than a re-hash of things I have said so many times before, but rather, a call to passionate change agents of educational reform, not to be discouraged. The “ten-Percenters” are the reason so many call for the tearing down of the system. The reason so many say we can’t wait for these people to die off. I believe passionately that is a radical approach. We need to keep plugging away at change. These people are dedicated and educated individuals who may need to be cajoled into a level of comfort with technology. To those who totally refuse the call to change, we may need to ignore. They will be revealed as time passes them by. To those who remain passionate in their pursuit of reform, I would say in my best dialect free Latin, ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM, which sounds much more intelligent than its English translation, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down”.
As an administrator who has made (and continues to make) plenty of mistakes when it comes to inspiring my teachers to embrace change, I’ve come to understand a few things, Tom.
+ Listen to what my teachers mean, not just what they say–and don’t allow myself the excuse of disregarding the importance of their meaning because of the nature of their delivery.
+ Show respect for my teachers, especially by, in Covey’s words, “seek[ing] first to understand, then to be understood.”
+ Do all that I can to clear the path for teachers–to make more possible, more likely that they will embrace the change that not only I seek but that the world around us desperately needs.
+ Love these teachers (and the soulful work they do) the way I expect them to love their students–through pain and challenge and upheaval and discontent. Teachers, each and every day, are engaged in transcendent work. I must celebrate, respect and support that.
On my best days I’m successful in a few of these areas. If administrators like me were more successful in living into the points above, our teachers would stand a better chance of embracing the change our children deserve.
In my circle we use the metaphor of a river with boats – you have the speedboats, the sailboats, the barges, and the rocks. The speedboats move right along with the changes – sometimes ahead of the changes. The sailboats can go with the changes – sometimes the wind changes the directions. The barges come along, but slowly. The rocks let the current run over them – refusing to move; however, they do get “molded” over time – and eventually the current is strong enough they can get swept away with it.
The key for me, as an administrator, is to not get caught up on the rocks – but steer clear so I can help the speedboats keep going, be the wind to help steer the sailboats in the right direction, and keep leading the barges.
Thanks for your thoughtful post!
Mr. Whitby,
I am just a student and I think what the professor at the workshop said was apalling!! I can’t believe he got an applause for what he said. I am in an educational media class at my university and we are learning some of the basics of technology so that we can integrate it into our classrooms when we become teachers. And since I have started this class I have begun to see how important moving forward and “keeping up with the times” is, especially for educators!
You put it the right way when saying its our choice to live in the cave, not our choice to bring others to live in there with us! Thanks for another great insight!
Another fabulous, insightful post. The only way to remain passionate about reform is to continue to implement change every day in our own way whenever and wherever we can. The hope is that others will get caught up in the forward thinking energy of our actions and take these changes even one step further….but they may not.
Our job is not to change the thinking of others but to remain true to our own beliefs. We have no power over what others want to believe, for as you stated, they are just as passionate about not reforming the system as we are passionate about reform. It’s useless to get caught up in a debate with those who will not listen. Nothing you say or do will change their mindset.
It’s important to put all of your energy toward what you believe in. Speak to those who will listen and give them the support they need instead of fighting or arguing with those who choose not to listen. Use your time and energy efficiently on those who are ready to hear you and support them when they are ready to act.
Being as you and I are singing from the same hymn sheet, or perhaps more appropriately “banging the same drum”, should we form a marching band to carry this message? 😉
Very appropriate post for me as I have given up on getting the whole staff to use more technology – I am now focusing on those that I can show an immediate improvement, either in instruction or the management of instruction by using technology as a tool.
Unfortunately, I am worried that the generation of teachers that will follow me will be as clueless as those that are nearing retirement. I see less willingness to keep learning as a professional, a very flip attitude that makes me want to scream.
Twitter @novemberMonster
This is a great post. As a technology coordinator at a small school, I struggle with getting teachers to adopt technology. Some of the them are still working on Copy and Paste (really). Which would be fine if they had some enthusiasm to learn it. It makes my job difficult, to say the least.
I recently attended the CUE 2010 conference and had the pleasure of listening to Carol Anne McGuire speak. I’ll paraphrase a particularly apt comment she made.
She said something to the effect of, “My grandmother was a brain surgeon at the top of her field. That was 50 years ago. Would you have her perform brain surgery on you?”
Obviously not. Too much has changed.
Then she said, and again I’m paraphrasing, “No, actually my grandmother was a teacher. Would you have her substitute for you?”
The answer is the same. Too much has changed. We are not in the same society or world as 50 years ago. It doesn’t do anyone, especially students, any good to go on teaching like we still live in that world.
Things change. Education should change too.
Matt, I think you bring up an excellent point. A surgeon 50 years ago would not be able to practice today without up-to-date training and PD. There is an expectation and professional responsibility to keep up with the latest advances. Same in the legal profession. Don’t know today’s laws? Can’t practice.
In our profession of education it has always been different. It should not be. A couple of years ago I was consulting in a school and a teacher said to me “I don’t believe in professional development.” Try that in other professions and one’s career would dissipate. But in many cases, not in ours.
In recent years we have seen the advent of small schools with non-mainstream principals (by that I mean younger, not steeped in the bureaucracy of their district) with hand-picked, dedicated staffs. In my experience these school seem to be trying to do things differently (time will tell if they are successful). But for now they are a small minority. Change is slow, and our profession of education needs standards that include the expectation that teachers will learn, embrace, and use the latest methods.
This is the kind of response I get sometimes from church leaders when I recommend social media as a way of communicating and listening within the educational and social missions of the church. Often we are talking about two completely different issues, on which we fundamentally agree:
1) Relevance demands that any truth can be communicated to any group of people in a way that conforms with their ability to understand, adopt, respond, and transmit. This is the core motivation of Bible translators, anthropologists, and social media promoters (this year).
2) AT the same time, core needs of people to be touched, interact with human faces, and intimately know a few other human beings will never go away.
If I use social media to increase the quantity of my relationships and the scope of my education, that’s great! If I use social media to enhance my existing relationships, that’s also great! If I use social media to replace face to face, verbal, and tactile interactions with live people, I am starving both myself and others.
Many of our students no longer know how to look a a person in the eye and say “I need help,” or “I think you’re wrong,” or even “I love you.” Many adults are blaming social media for this inability. We must be careful to teach to the student’s real needs.
Great post!
I am inspired by Ken Robinson who talks about the need to find our passion. I know I am passionate about my teaching and learning (for it is a truth that you need first to be a learner before you can be a teacher) and I hope to pass that passion on to my students.
I like the analogy that Janet Avery said about “…speedboats, the sailboats, the barges, and the rocks…” – there’s a few rocks at my school but thankfully both DP & Principal are either speedboats or sailboats.
This discourse is well and fine but let’s be clear what we’re talking about here. Technology is already in the schools. Schools and classrooms are full of computers and most have computer labs. So what, then are we demanding here? Student ability to use MSOffice to develop writing and editorial skills, ability to create databases and to develop graphics in PaintPro? Student ability to research effectively in databses like ProQuest and Lexis? Are we talking about students using proprietary (non internet based) software to learn complex math and science concepts?
Or, are we talking about indulging our selfish ‘internet addiction’ by insisting our collective intellectual future is inextricably tied to being able to spend not only all our personal down time, but our time at our jobs, as teachers, playing on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and other social media games and toys and calling it teaching?
I say we call a spade a spade and label the thrashing wail for “more technology in the schools” exactly what it is. Americans with access are hooked on the internet. At my school, administrators, teachers and students alike spend most of their days on their social media-connected cellphones and iPods of various incarnations while chomping-at-the-bit for opportunities to whip out the laptops and netbooks to get back on the internet. To the chagrin of many, for the moment, the school district has blocked FaceBook and MySpace, although the most egregious of addicts simply “hack” through a back door to feed their fix.
Although I am young-ish, I might be described as a 10-15%er. This may be because in addition to being a teacher, I am also an African American primarily concerned with the widening achievement gaps (in basics like reading, writing, math and science) between the haves (mostly suburban white Americans) and the have nots (most everyone else in this country). The deafening drumbeat to substitute teaching and educating students with widespread internet surfing is troubling at best. It gives me pause for thought that an educator’s desire for a “passionate” teacher primarily interested in the fundamentals would be “we can’t wait for these people to die off.”
If there was data to support the assumption that “technology” i.e. playing around in social media would close the achievement gap between the rich and the poor and raise national test scores for Americans I would take out a home equity loan on my house and buy every poor kid I know a laptop instead of a book…assuming their families could afford the $70 a month for broadband on a credit rating-based contract. –African American educator
Tom….this is a fine exhortation to never give up….especially when it comes to issues like these.
There’s that old Churchill saying, too….”Never, never, never give up!”
Tom King
Is there anything better than the actual audience that social media provides to provoke passionate writing? Look at LG’s fine dissent up above there! Here Tom has written a lively exhortation to persevere in the face of opposition, and the blog format itself provides a forum for ardent dissent a full day later, and now I’ve been able to participate even later, as if we were in the same room. My own internet addiction is about participating in conversations that I think are important; surely that can be useful when teaching the fundamentals.
OK, here is my opening statement, “I kind of agree with the professor…” Hopefully, you are not “screen-screaming” at me. First, we have 1-to-1 in our high school, I teach a college class via a distance learning system, and I believe we need technology in education that matches its use in the work world. Saying that, I will take face-to-face interaction over technology anytime. Of course I don’t agree with the total rejection of communication by any technological means. Yet, I do see a decline in students’ ability to communicate face-to-face. There has to be a balance. My “Passion” is in helping students be the best people they can be, to give them an education that has value in and out of the classroom. I will use what ever tool is available and right for the situation. Be it a computer, a chalkboard, a crayon or a video iChat (Yes, a face-to-face technological moment…).
Thanks for sharing. As a parent and company coach, I see three things that the audience may have applauded to:
1. simply talk (where possible – applauseworthy)
2. It was good enough for him, so it is good enough for his students. (denying progress – boooh)
3. Furthermore, what was the need for this tech stuff anyway? These kids know how to do this stuff when they come to us. (true, to a degree, but denying educator’s duty – no applause)
If we approach, learn and teach this tech stuff professionally, how much much better would we prepare our kids for the changes we only sense in their future?
“Passionate professors, please provide practical progress-ed.”
I love your reference to getting out of the horse and buggy and into the car! A very insightful post. I’ve recently returned to school after a 5 year hiatus, and I’m taking an educational media course. I was naive and unaware of so many of the things I’m going to be using as a teacher, but I’ve learned about so many new tools and I’m excited and I share the enthusiasm of teachers becoming comfortable with technology. Luckily, I’ve gotten out of the buggy, but my car is slow right now, moving faster and faster everyday. I will be leaving a summary of my thoughts on your posts on my blog http://www.longeneckerhollyedm310.blogspot.com
Thank you for your passion, you will make a difference in the lives of many people, I am sure.