Creating a learning culture in a culture of grading

A goal for EDUC 4P19 is for students to experience, if ever so fleetingly, a culture of learning. This is a real challenge for all of us and for society. Arguably you have been in a culture of grading for a very long time. What really matters in not what you learn, but what grade you got. It is not your fault because it is a deeply embedded cultural story reinforced by the practices of the traditional educational model. But what good are grades if you don't really learn? Or be willing to enter new territory to learn something deeply when the territory is guaranteed to be fraught with difficulty. 

In the new story there is a new philosophy. It is learning that dominates the landscape and not grades. It is so hard for all of us to find our way. I am trying by using techniques that are recommended by the AfL community. No grades, for example. No grades for blogs with lots of feedback. It is the feedback from both your instructor AND peers that help you to improve.  You choose to improve because you want to - not because the grade will improve and that is the end of it. 

Allthingslearning.wordpress.com

No hands is another instructional strategy that acts as an assessment too. (Seamless connection of curriculum, instruction and assessment). The rule is no hands except for questions. Popsicle sticks are one version of this strategy where random students are chosen. Another is for the instructor just ask students who do not raise their hands unless the have a question. 

Of course human nature gets in the way. Many students who are used to the culture of grading become anxious because even if they know the answer they might "blow it".  A few are upset because they know the answers and aren't picked so can't show that they know it. Tension fills the "air". What happens to my participation mark if I say "pass"? The instructor's body language is closely monitored to determine the rightness or wrongness of each answer. The instructor, being human, seems to favour some answers more than others. It's unfair - what happens to the grade? 

The above paragraph would not be written in a culture of learning where we would all be in it to learn together. The power dynamic would be minimized as students would trust the instructor and one another as having each others'  backs. The students would trust the instructor to give a fair grade and to do everything possible to insure learners learn. The instructor would trust that students would do everything they can do to learn what is required .... not minute details ... but the basics. 

  

How possible is it to create a culture of learning in EDUC 4P19? The instructor implements instructional strategies aligned with the "new pedagogy" but is forced to do so in an environment of traditional education (73 students who have been acclimatized to a culture of grading in locked down desks with the teacher at the bottom of the classroom and not able to circulate).  Remember Schwab said that content, learners, teachers AND milieu must all be considered.  

And what of the instructor who is indeed human too?  Does she give up and give grades and ask only those who put up their hands and not ask for any feedback on exit cards? Some of the feedback may be interpreted as negative and not in line with Dueck's growth mindset (for both students and instructor).  Of course, from the instructor's perspective, negative feedback can also be interpreted as  a sign of trust that this instructor will not abuse the "power differential" and the participation grade will not be affected. 

Mamy of you enjoyed the popsicle method and some emphatically did not. I could anticipate that many would not like it. Yet I keep on doing things I know students will not like (but they seem to dislike a test even more). Why? because I do believe that the only way you will be able to step outside the traditional box is to have experienced something different and understood the "theory" behind the experience. 

We are moving into new ways of thinking about designing curriculum. My experience with this is that if you have read the chapters and made a good effort to understand them, that you will be able to do the hands-on work much more easily that those who think it will just happen.  As you encounter/interpret  Big Ideas and 21st Century skills in actual curriculum documents you may feel confused and frustrated. 

As we go through the journey ahead, remember that new learning can be challenging and that it is more important to be open than to say "pass" in a popsicle stick exercise.  Participation is part of BEING - being engaged and contributing to the EDUC 4P19 community. 

How we can think about teacher as change agent and technology (5P42)

As I read through EDUC 5P42 exit cards I am relieved that you are embracing the content of this course. The cards themselves have a different flavor than the ones from my undergrad class. This is not bad or good – just different. Teaching these courses is constantly a learning experience – as you will see if you read the previous blogs at this address (no need to do this really). I try to describe my teacher thinking as I go along, in hopes that it might be instructive both to understand my goals for students and my own learning as I implement new things. It is always a risky proposition to lay one’s self on the line – but as I read other teacher’s blogs who are in the frontline I am constantly amazed by their courage and insights. Some great blogs are written by some of the people you meet in this book. As well, most of them are very active on Twitter. Over time they have created their own PLNs – often with people all over the world. Tyler gave a very good example of a PLN that is unique to Tyler. Some day he may meet his “colleagues” in person as has happened to most of the people in the book

As technology has become more and more important in the world of education so have these early adopters of technology.   Most of the teachers we encountered actually were very strong at curriculum and assessment.  They were as up on the current philosophy as they were at experimenting with the latest tech app in their classrooms. It was very exciting to listen to them during interviews and actually follow their teacher thinking in their blogs.

We used Michael Fullan’s (2013) framework in the book to make sure we were grounded in theory. He has three “arms”: technology, deep pedagogy and teacher as activist. These are three very interconnected and interesting entities.

Fullan’s philosophy is expressed in this YouTube.  We will see a bit of this in class. 

The teacher as activist is not covered that much in the text. But it is key to success for a new story in education. Fullan – who is an expert in change theory having studied educational change around the world now – believes that change will come from these early adopters. One of his expressions has always been “Ready, Fire, Aim". This means that the best we can do in this rapid time of change is be ready to disrupt the system by firing all kinds of innovation and the finally taking aim with what we find are best practices. This is quite different in nature than waiting for studies to identify best practices that are then recommended for teachers (a not so very old story).  

So I welcome you to join the disrupters to lead the way in innovation who are at the same time accountable.

Responding to September 11 exit cards

My goal in this course is to have you actually learn something that you take with you beyond this course. I have found that memorizing material for a test or writing notes during a lecture leads to surface learning. But when a student does his or her part – that is, being a willing and open participant - deep learning can happen. It requires intrinsic motivation (doing things for the experience and not for the marks), being prepared for class, and being willing to enter into some ambiguous territory.

I know that some of you are concerned with getting good grades and I understand that concern. But anxiety can also get in the way of learning. I intend to give all of you good grades. I expect the best from you, and what I have seen so far that will not be difficult to do.  We will let you know if you are falling behind

Did you know that one of the basic principles of assessment for learning (AfL) is “no grades”?  Feedback only. Grades are a distraction and block real learning as the student only looks at the grade and not the feedback.

Some of you asked questions that can lead to deep learning. For example:

What is the downside of flipped learning?

How do you insure students will do the pre-learning for flipped learning?

How does flipped learning work with young kids?

What about inequity issues with technology?

Who decides that education should be changed?

You will be able to explore your own issue in depth in Genius Hour – Nov 13.

Don’t worry. You will get lots of instruction on this.

For others the issues were procedural. Here are some answers.

FAQ

How to be prepared for lecture?

Reading is enough unless there is a blog assigned. P.S. I hope that class is not too lecture intensive – although I can do that. But I believe in learn-by-doing.  So I want to get you involved too.

What is expected in the blog?

In a blog I expect you to explore an issue that came up in your reading and connect it to your own experience and to other theory. This means it is both formal (theory and practice) and informal (your story and experiences).  Quotes are fine. Attributions are needed of course or else we get into the fuzzy area of plagiarism and copyright.

I did not expect a “perfect” job the first time around. I have found over the years that collaborative blogging can be a powerful learning process. You will learn most from your personal learning network (PLN)  - the 4 people who are in your group. How do you make the blogs better? Richer discussions. How do you make the blogs more aesthetically pleasing? Add pictures. Find images licensed by Creative Commons (with attribution to the source).  See Brynes’s blog on free technology for teachers and where to find images. 

If you find a YouTube that is relevant include that too. Here is a video that explains how to do it. This gentleman has forgotten to give attributions - so look below the YouTube and you will see the correct 
attribution.  

Pathan, A. K. How to insert images and videos into Blogger Post YouTube). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Zwc0jh02Y

Personally i found it easier to just follow the detailed instructions of how are available at Dr. Candace Figg’s site: http://www.handy4class.com/h4c2011/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/QS1-Setting-up-your-Digital-Portfolio-Edublog-2013.pdf. 

As well, if you stay after class we will run a short tutorial on how to follow Dr. Figg’s instructions for beautification next class.

How is the blog graded?

This is a holistic grade. Each week from now on you will hand in a paper copy of your blog to Rachel, Nicole or me. This way there is no issue with late blogs and it is easier on the TAs.  You will get comments back on that paper blog the following week. Meanwhile, you will improve your blog by connecting with others in your group, seeing their models, wondering about their questions, pushing each other for deeper insights. You may wish to add your comments to the blogs of others as you go along. This strategy is really a hybrid of a pen and paper face-to-face instructional strategy and an on online activity and your group needs to decide on what works best for you as far as adding online comments (it actually makes the experience richer).

There were some suggestions for peer assessment of discussion. This is a good idea – but the place where we ask you to do that is in your self-assessments – you can critique your own performance and if it is relevant your group members.  That said if someone in your group is NOT pulling their weight please let us know.

At the end of the blogging, Rachel, Nicole and I will look over all your blog posts and arrive at your grade out of 30.  It will not be 6 % for each blog – as that is not the current thinking in assessment practices. Rather we will be looking for your best work either consistently through the course or as a learning curve (upward!).

What does the research contribution require?

You choose an article that shows more than one subject area being integrated with another at any level of education  (K to 16).  You can find these in refereed journals, professional journals (e.g. Voice, Forum, Education Canada, Professionally Speaking, Edutopia (online).  Alternatively you might find a video describing a program.

You record the specifics for the article and give a link if available. Then briefly describe what the article tells us. It should include context, research method (if available), a description of results (what happened) Numbers are great if you can find such an article telling us that students improved, stayed the same or regressed in certain areas.  This is followed by some personal comment such as the type of study, quality of the study etc. Is the study worth including in research on interdisciplinary approaches to curriculum?  

There will not be formal presentations on these articles but we will have a class discussion on the results.

What is the curriculum assignment?

This will unfold as we go through the book. In Chapter 2 and 3 we look at first steps. You will begin then with a group of your making.  You may choose to develop a subject-based curriculum or perhaps an interdisciplinary one. (It is in the optional course 4P29 that you explore interdisciplinary 21^st approaches in depth).

The curriculum is not due until the end of the course.

What is a curriculum document?

All jurisdictions publish curriculum documents that tell teachers what outcomes their students are expected to obtain at every grade level and for every subject. Ontario curriculum documents can be found at -----------------------------. We will begin using these soon.

Will we be assessed on Popsicle questioning?

It is all a part of participation. The intention is not to centre out people for what they do not know. That is the old story. The intention is for the instructor to understand what individuals do know and what still needs to be learned. It is meant to be done in an environment of trust and culture of learning. An environment of trust and culture of learning are elements of 21^st Century learning. Such a culture is hard to even imagine if you were educated in the old story tradition where only some could succeed. In 4P19 we want and expect everyone to succeed. However, the Popsicle technique does rely on students doing the preparation for class so that they can tackle the questions. “Pass” is okay if you have done your reading – but it is not really great if you haven’t done the reading.  I won’t be going for trick questions and you can use your text.

I want you to actually learn something from this course and so this is why I also want you to experience some of the new models of teaching/learning.

Will you waste our time with foolish things like birthdays in a month?

Oops. A tangent. I could draw some relevance for this 7-minute activity (timed)…but that is not the point.  I shall try not to waste your time and I shall try to have each class run in predictable fashion. But, I believe that learning is not all earnestness. In fact, I think it can and should be fun. Sorry if you were frustrated by the diversion that was intended to be an interesting aspect of statistics.

About exit cards

We really do want to know what we can improve as the instructor and TAs. We also need to know what you need to know more about. When, for example, I find reading the exit cards that there are some misunderstandings re core concepts then I need to use that information to modify my lessons.  That may change some of the things published on the TENTATIVE schedule. Changing the schedule also leads to ambiguity … things not carved in stone as we adjust to the reality of EDUC 4P19 Fall, 2014.

But we also need to have your name on the cards and although you had an attendance count at the blog readings, the exit card provides us with one for the evening. Killing two birds with one stone and a not too obnoxious way of accountability for both you and us. 25% is a huge amount of your grade and we need to be able to justify it …. 

New learning is HARD.

As I get ready for tonight's class in 4P19 I am reminded again at how hard new learning is. The path is not straightforward. And I know that students love the path to be linear and clear-cut. Yet, I am not able to provide that in spite of my best efforts.  There is so much content to cover and it is requires deep learning.  Michael Fullan and Maria Langworth (2014) describe deep learning in A rich seam: How new pedagogies find deep learning.  They call for fundamental change in education, deep learning tasks, use of digital resources and the measurement of the effectiveness of the learning tasks.

Deep learning is what your text is about.  Deep learning requires a lot from the learner. And it requires constant learning.

I see how some of you are very aware of the transformation that is beginning to happen in education.  I am inspired by your insights. Indeed in 5P42 students understood that the "new story" was happening so fast that my slides had to constantly be updated to keep up and even then it was too late. This rapid change is why, in part, nothing is straightforward and linear any more.  There is never a resting point - always something new to learn.

I am not trying to scare you. It is an exciting time in education.  But I'm trying to explain why some of this may feel a bit uncomfortable to you.  I struggle with the technology and how I can implement new strategies so that they are flawless in presentation. Pedagogically I am still experimenting. Some things will work better than others. Some will fail.

But I see myself as a lifelong learning and I can't do things the old way anymore.

So I ask you on this journey with me. I will try and make it a simple as possible. Please enjoy the ups and downs.

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