Future of Schooling Podcast

Future of Schooling Podcast (Downloadable link)

Text Transcription:

What is the future of education? It is hard to know. But the first thing that comes to mind is the embracing of the unknown as one of the most powerful motives behind learning. My name is Olivia Rose Kapell and today in this podcast, I will envision the future of schooling: an impossible task but one that allows me to confront this unknown through previous learning experiences that shape and challenge the way I think in my everyday life. The harnessing of the unknown is my first point: to approach learning not as the conquering of knowledge in order to know, but a willingness to not know: to be bold enough to make mistakes, to be bold enough to explore, to collaborate, to discover more about ourselves and the environment and people who make up our daily lives and lives lived far from us. What is the purpose of education? Ken Robinson speaks of the process of discovering our talents and creating a life that is in a symbiotic relationship with the circumstances these talents help to create for us. This aligns our energy with our passions: this allows us to enjoy life. It almost sounds cheesy, unattainable. Why? Because our current education system teaches us the opposite. That the point of school is almost always to get you to college, and the point of college is to get a job, etcetera. Education places us in a linear pipeline, and certainly we engage in meaningful learning experiences along the way, as well as experiences of self-discovery. However, I envision a future of education in which students, of all ages, are given the materials, flexibility, and environments in which they are able to discover their talents and nourish their spirits without the pressure of conformity. Flexibility is the word that I have been pondering recently as an educator. Flexibility in terms of our differentiated approach to teaching each student and in understanding our and their goals. Flexibility in terms of the choices we give our students to produce and present a product that excites them, that motives them, from within, to learn and to collaborate. Flexibility to not hold every student to the same bar of learning and success and instead to find out what success means for each student and to support that, while always maintaining the highest bar of respect.

One of the most meaningful experiences that I had as a young adult, was the option to choose my schedule my final two years of high school based on my interests and passions. My final year of high school, I did not take math or science. Instead, I took an extra creative writing class. I left school in the middle of day to practice bass. I chose a thesis class in which I researched the relationship between classical music and the brain. Having the choice to study what I was passionate about created a sense of self-motivation and self-worth through being able to explore what made me happy. To me, the purpose of education is to create the environments for students to create this sense of self-worth. How? Through support from their teachers, families, and friends. Through being able to show adults what success looks like to them. A reciprocal relationship between teachers and students will put relationship-building at the center of education, instead of authoritarian power dynamics.

The future of schooling that I envision will compensate educators with higher pay and with initial and continuous training that understands that teachers too have a trajectory of development and the ability to recognize their impact. According to John Hattie, teachers’ collective expertise is one of the most powerful aspects of creating a positive learning environment. When speaking of learning, the current model focuses on the student experience through, for example, collaboration, technology and real-world problem solving. It is understood that teachers will facilitate these learning experiences without giving instruction on how. My question is, what is the future of schooling for educators? It is a space where teachers are challenged and encouraged to use flexibility within their curriculum, understand that each student has specific needs and desires regarding the environment in which they are in, the process in which they learn and the products they create. Educators in the room, and collectively in each school are able to make decisions based on their community of students instead of the state, or representatives who have never set foot in the classroom or with the specific group of students.

Technology will transform the experience of learning, with the goal of fostering empathy, collaboration, and hybrid experiences, for example “traveling” to another country through virtual reality and then having an in-person discussion related to the experience. Discussion and creating a space of open dialogue will continue to be a fundamental part of the education that I envision, rather than a lecturing environment or a purely chat-based tech environment in which students are not interpreting one another’s gestures and spirits. I do not believe in a future in which technology further divides us and separates us from one another and from the natural world. Although technology is beginning to blur material experiences from technological ones, we need to develop ways in which devices and software connect us further with the people and environment around us. Students will be taught to understand the tools they are using and how they work. They will be taught to be responsible with the data that big Tech companies are collecting and understand why the platforms they use work they way they do.

The future of schooling that I envision is where students' creativity is nourished not only through technology but through experiential and project-based learning such as gardening, cooking, and machine-building. Instead of dividing the day into separate subjects, interdisciplinary learning is facilitated through projects that encourage the use of multiple skills in interaction. The teacher can hone in on one specific skill that is necessary while drawing its relationship to what is being practiced. Interdisciplinary learning incorporates technology into assignments while not giving it full power to design learning experiences. I envision a day that is not rigidly divided into timed classes, but students are given the liberty to flow from one activity to the next depending on the project at hand.

The skills that are developed from these types of experiences are already part of us: as Ken Robinson says, being permitted to discover our natural talents through nourishing our spirits. Simply we need the circumstances to explore and to connect with ourselves and others. I even envision a college application process in which students have the flexibility to present the materials through the products and processes that best represent their ideas and proposals. Fostering self-motivation and talent from an early age would radically change our society in and out of our schools.

I hope this podcast has left you with ideas to keep reflecting on the future of education and what that might look like for you.