Creating My Significant Learning Environment
Educators know that teaching is a gift of heart. One important factor that displays how much a teacher cares about her students is the effort she puts into preparing her students to be successful members of society in the future. There are current educational trends and pedagogies that greatly influence the environment in our classrooms. It is now time, however, to consider a new way of teaching, or, as Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown call it, “A New Culture of Learning.” As a teacher, I have been guilty of following unsuccessful traditional learning systems in my class. Although I made efforts to improve the class environment, there are still some aspects that, across the board, are no longer as effective for learners. It is our job as educators, to investigate these areas. We must improve and combat them with useful and updated ways of learning that will most benefit our students.
It is commonplace to believe that the teacher is the sole provider of information (Brown & Thomas, 2011). However, the new learner can find any information he desires at the palm of his hand. The learner can simply say or type an inquiry and the findings are displayed on the screen. All learners, in and out of the classroom, can use the web as a resource to find facts they need or want to know on any subject they wish. They can use collectives from blogs and dialogue from their peers on social media to gain insight and create a context all their own. Teachers must be able to use and access this information to help students analyze and better understand it. As Thomas (2011) stated in his Ted Talk, A New Culture of Learning (2012), learning is natural and fun to everyone except in the school setting. Teachers must be able to facilitate student learning to become a more natural process in the classroom for the environment to flourish.
In my experience, teachers are advised to utilize a lesson cycle that begins by capturing the audience’s attention. This increases engagement and prepares students for the current lesson. What if the teacher uses student interest as a primary factor in the student environment instead of just for a lesson introduction? If student interest is at the forefront of the classroom structure, the learning is now in their hands. Students become more accountable and passionate about what they learn, and the teacher can assist and coach. The instructor’s primary job in the classroom is to motivate and guide students throughout their learning process. We should think of the classroom as a garden (Bates, 2015). As teachers, we can nurture the garden, water the plants, and provide the room to gw. In the end, however, the plants must do the growing. Teachers cannot make students learn. Students should be the central focus of the classroom so that their interests will increase their engagement and passion to continue their own educational journey.
The last and most difficult factor to change in the learning environment is the presence of assessment based learning. Standardized testing cannot be ignored, however, increasing the significance of a student-centered classroom that focuses on student engagement coupled with their imagination with the challenge of restraint will bring about a learning perspective of fun. The combination of these three elements is described as play (Douglas & Brown, 2011). Instead of a place of rules and restrictions, students would use the confines of the classroom and assignment parameters to create opportunities through understanding and imagination. Students would be asking questions, having relevant conversations and using their interests coupled with positive peer influence to learn. Douglas Thomas argues that assessments create a culture of surveillance that shows teachers cannot be trusted (TED, 2012). More so, it stifles imagination and is toxic to creativity, innovation and passion. Assessments are not going away anytime soon. Instead of making the standards the first item used to plan, teachers should instead ask themselves important questions that help decide what is best for the learner. Backward design and looking at the bigger picture will help all the details fall into place, standards included (Harapnuik, n.d.). The ultimate goal is for students to learn as naturally as possible so they will continue to do so on their own.
Based on Creating Significant Learning Environments (CSLE), planning with the student in mind first will help align all the other elements that would greatly enhance the student learning process (Harapnuik, n.d.). Introspectively, I plan to implement a progressive and student-centered learning environment using student ePortfolios from my innovation plan. This tool will be used to reinforce learning through creativity, technology and structured play that comes about when using technology to learn. The next school year comes with several challenges and unknowns. Planning for a physical or virtual classroom, planning for student gaps that may be larger than usual due to the school shutdowns from the pandemic. In addition, we must consider the unknown future of state testing. Despite these obstacles, ensuring the student is the main priority in any learning setting will be beneficial for growth. My hope is that using evidence of student ePortfolios, positive classroom culture through peer influence and student accountability will reduce hesitancy and increase buy in. In the end, creating a positive learning culture in the classroom will create a safe space for failing forward and student achievement for the present and the future.
Resources
ChangSchool. (2015, December). Dr. Tony Bates on Building Effective Learning Environments [Video].
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xD_sLNGurA&feature=youtu.be
Harapnuik, D. (n.d.). Creating Significant Learning Environments [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ-c7rz7eT4&feature=youtu.be
TED. (2011, September). A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U&feature=youtu.be
Thomas, D. & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of
Constant Change. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.