In the last part of our series on high school education in the Sooke School District, stakeholders look at the future
Kids and learning are different today, and the education system needs to keep up,B次元官网网址� says Ray Miller, principal of Belmont secondary.
HeB次元官网网址檚 sitting in his office surrounded by papers, schedules, curriculum and huge cardboard cutouts the size and shape of the various furniture being proposed for the new Belmont and Royal Bay high schools currently under construction and scheduled to open in September.
B次元官网网址淭he education system as a whole has had trouble adjusting and adapting to the needs of the community and the kids. That is where I think we need to put our resources.B次元官网网址�
Okay, so what does that mean? What meaningful changes can we make systemically to a system, and learning model, that is, by his own admission, societally ingrained and responsively petrified?
B次元官网网址淭he first change that needs to be made,B次元官网网址� he says, B次元官网网址渋s to move the mindset away from an adult-centred system to a student-centred system. We need to personalize the education system; make it fit for the student instead of it being a system that the student has to fit.
B次元官网网址淲hat is it that they need in their education that will give them something of value to take with them in their lives?B次元官网网址�
Then comes the kicker.
B次元官网网址淪chools werenB次元官网网址檛 built to give the adults a place to work,B次元官网网址� he says.
The way Miller sees it, the whole B次元官网网址渉ow much we are paying the teachers?B次元官网网址� issue is almost irrelevant. ItB次元官网网址檚 more about how B次元官网网址� and if B次元官网网址� the teachers are accomplishing what they are being paid to do.
B次元官网网址淲e need to move away from the teacher being the sage on the stage, being all-knowing and B次元官网网址業 have all the information, and I hold it and therefore IB次元官网网址檓 powerful, thatB次元官网网址檚 what makes me different from you,B次元官网网址� to having the teachers be facilitators of learning. If the teacher can help shape people towards their interests, their passions, their goals, youB次元官网网址檒l find, I think, that the same cost of that educator is used more effectively.B次元官网网址�
The issue with that, according to Stephanie Longstaff, SD62 parentsB次元官网网址� advisory council president at Belmont and mother of nine children who have gone through the SD62 system, is teacher autonomy.
B次元官网网址淚 think one of the biggest challenges we have is also one of the biggest strengths we have, and thatB次元官网网址檚 the autonomy of the teacher,B次元官网网址� she says. B次元官网网址淭he district, the principal, nobody can tell them how to teach what theyB次元官网网址檙e supposed to teach. There are expected outcomes B次元官网网址� by the end of whatever grade a child should know this B次元官网网址� but how you teach them that is up to you.B次元官网网址�
That can be great B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渋f you have an awesome, wonderful, captivating teacher,B次元官网网址� who is able to engage the students while theyB次元官网网址檙e teaching the curriculum, she says.
B次元官网网址淏ut if you have a teacher that stands in front of the class and talks at them five hours a day, the kids might not meet those outcomes. Not because the teachers didnB次元官网网址檛 teach them, but because they didnB次元官网网址檛 engage the kids, didnB次元官网网址檛 get them involved; so the children didnB次元官网网址檛 actually learn the material.B次元官网网址�
Her biggest frustration is exactly what Miller thinks is needed to remedy the system at a structural level.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 a product from a school system thatB次元官网网址檚 not so much different than the one we have today, unfortunately,B次元官网网址� Longstaff says. B次元官网网址淭here are lots of good ideas and theories out there, but unfortunately most of them are up at the top levels B次元官网网址� at the board office, or at the principal level or provincial government level B次元官网网址� and havenB次元官网网址檛 necessarily made their way into the classroom yet. There are some teachers that are just doing it exactly the same way they have been for 30 years when they started teaching, and itB次元官网网址檚 not serving our students.B次元官网网址�
So how do you get those great ideas into the classroom about what works best to educate kids when you canB次元官网网址檛 dictate how people will teach?
SD62 superintendent Jim Cambridge says you need to make it harder for people not do it the newer, better way.
B次元官网网址淭he way weB次元官网网址檙e designing and building the new schools is significantly different than the way itB次元官网网址檚 been done in the past,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to make the notion of collaboration and teamwork B次元官网网址� which is central to everything you read about what jobs and expectations and careers actually feature B次元官网网址� part of the education of the kids. You walk through Belmont right now, you see very long corridors with basically 20 different individual schools along each side of them. ItB次元官网网址檚 very hard for the teachers to collaborate, even when they want to. Well, weB次元官网网址檙e creating an atmosphere (in the construction of the new schools) where weB次元官网网址檙e forcing that issue a little bit.B次元官网网址�
Miller puts it slightly differently, but essentially agrees.
B次元官网网址淚 think thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of nervousness among educators these days,B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a realization that evolution is afoot that if youB次元官网网址檙e not keeping up, youB次元官网网址檙e going to be left behind. IB次元官网网址檝e seen teachers beginning to evolve. We need to continue to support and encourage educators in their adjustment in that direction.B次元官网网址�
What makes a school B次元官网网址� what makes an education system B次元官网网址� isnB次元官网网址檛 the bricks and mortar or wood framing and drywall that make the walls, but the people and culture held within them, Miller says. The district, he adds, is determined to bust open some of those walls to bring people closer together.
The new schools are designed to do that. TheyB次元官网网址檙e designed to encourage people to work collaboratively for the betterment of the whole.
B次元官网网址淲e have to make sure weB次元官网网址檙e providing the future of education, not the present,B次元官网网址� says Wendy Hobbs, chair of the board of trustees for SD62. B次元官网网址淎nd I think being able to work together collaboratively will make a better all-around student in the end, and lead to better learning outcomes.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚n the real world,B次元官网网址� Cambridge adds, B次元官网网址渢hatB次元官网网址檚 how people work. TheyB次元官网网址檙e sharing ideas, which is where better ideas come from. ItB次元官网网址檚 where better solutions to problems come from.B次元官网网址�
So is there still room for the old-school lecturers who stand at the front of the class and teach, blanketing students with the information the curriculum mandates that they learn?
B次元官网网址淚f theyB次元官网网址檙e relationship builders, yes,B次元官网网址� Miller says simply. B次元官网网址淚f theyB次元官网网址檙e content deliverers, no.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淜ids expect, nowadays, to work together,B次元官网网址� Cambridge says. B次元官网网址淭hey expect to be able to talk about their ideas. The whole isolated experience of learning in a classroom, being talked at, needs to go away.B次元官网网址�
And thatB次元官网网址檚 what theyB次元官网网址檙e trying to make happen, which, they think, will make us better off in the long run.
