Merry Christmas!

Here is wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 

(Not so) Random Thoughts

It has been a while since I have posted (again) as it seems like putting down something coherent and well thought out just takes a little to much time and effort these days.  However, I do have a few things that have been bouncing around my head that I will share even if they come across as a little scattered and incomplete thoughts.  Besides let's be honest that is the type of thinking I do best  anyway.

First, being an educator the last year or so I have been bombarded by the latest educational trend... Professional Learning Communities, no wait that was 2005.  I mean, 21st Century Learning.  This latest trend in education is all about using technology to solve problems, access information, collaborate and think critically about the world around us.  So how can this be a bad thing?  Well that is my issue, I am on board with all of these concepts, in fact, I was on board before the 21st Century when I started my Master's program in Educational Technology in 1994.  The issue I have is how all of a sudden the 21st Century Learning movement has become a tag line to every educational conversation with educators announcing on Twitter (in 140 characters or less) how we must understand the world is changing and we need to produce thinkers who focus on process and not content.  Recently, I read a blog posting from a colleague I very much respect, that explained how different the world is for students now from when we were in school and how we need to prepare them for jobs that don't even exist today.  Again, all good points, however, what I take issue with is the idea that all of this is something new to education and that the system is broken and failing (this always seems to be an undercurrent to the 21st Century conversations).  My grandmother is 101 years old in January and I would argue has lived through the world's greatest era of change.  I am pretty sure that in her life she felt felt the need to adapt to new jobs, industries and technology.  She also would have needed great problem solving skills and an adaptable understanding of the world around her to deal with things like flight, the automobile, radio, television, online banking, and the list goes on.  I know for a fact that when I was a student my teachers focused on critical thinking and problem solving.  Yes, there was some content memorization involved and some rote learning activities but there was also a balance of skill building and content related topics that would broaden my learning and let me apply new skills.  I never felt that I had a teacher (even the bad ones) that were trying to turn me into a mindless factory worker which is sometimes how our 20th Century education system seems to be portrayed.  If we really wanted to focus on 21st Century learning we would return to a skill-based curriculum that was not void of content but allowed opportunities for students to be learn, build and apply skills and knowledge.  Perhaps a renewed focus on the quality of interactions and thoughtful responses in a world that is reduced to text messages and 6 second vine videos is really the skillset that will help our students further themselves over the next 50 years. 

I could go on but then this post would start to be a little too focused for one titled Random Thoughts.  The next thing that is bugging me is the whole "let our kids play" movement.  Again, this is difficult for me because I am a firm believer that we over schedule, over protect, over coach, over teach, over supervise kids.  I absolutely believe in the value and importance of unstructured play and the need for kids to get out, explore nature, skin their knees, fall down and pick themselves back up.  However, what I have a huge issue with is the idealized way adults seem to view their childhoods.  I will tell you I had a great childhood and I did all of the things a typical kid growing up in Canada would do.  Summers were spent camping and enjoying various lakes and family get togethers, winters I played hockey and skied and life was very good.  I did well in school, had good friends, was a decent athlete,  a typical well rounded Canadian teenager.  Despite all of that I will say my kids have it better than I did and are better in every respect than I was as a child.  They have more opportunities in sports and academics than I ever had, they work harder and are more dedicated and focussed than I was.  Sure they don't roam around the neighbourhood going from friend's house to friend's house or playing street hockey at the elementary school until dark without parents even knowing where they are but let me tell you as good as unstructured, unsupervised play can be there was a lot of bad things going on in the neighbourhood basements and playgrounds as well.  I just don't believe in the "lots of stuff happened when we were young and we turned out OK" argument. When I was a child people also smoked when they were pregnant and didn't wear seatbelts but we don't glamorize those things as the good old days. Having kids set goals and work hard to make them become a reality is not the problem.  The problem is when the goals are not the kids' and are instead the dreams of the parents. This return to the good old days and kids needing to experience how their  parents grew up seems a lot more about the parents' experience and reliving their childhood through their kids just as much as filling their day with activities does.