Educating the Dragon

create your own visited countries map
 or vertaling Duits Nederlands

Thanks to Wes Fryer for the point toward the map. Mine looks positively bare in comparison. Mental note- gotta get out more! 

I quit my job last week. Wrote the letter and everything. As of 28^th January I will no longer be employed, no longer be able to call myself ‘a teacher’…. perhaps I’ll get invited out to more dinner parties? (1 min 19 sec) Now there’s an upside.

I have quit for a number of reasons. But I’m looking forward and not back. I’m beginning to think that being in the classroom environment, in the school I am in, is a little limited – there are bigger challenges to face over the intergration of ICT into the education system and I’m wanting to focus on a bigger picture for a while. Think I’ll pick up my MA again in Semester 2 next year (providing I haven’t starved to death before then). Going to spend a lot of time at home over the summer… might even get the vegetable patch to yield a crop.

Then I’ll do relieving (supply teaching or substitute teacher- depending on which continent your reading this from) Then I can spend more of my time focusing on the stuff I know I’m good at.

I read somewhere recently that if you want to be the best at something you have to cut other stuff loose so that you can spend some time on it.

Well I’m wanting to do some teacher training (as in training the teachers) It is with my understanding – limited as I feel it is in this forum- that I want to share the uses, benefits of technology in the intergrated curriculum. I also want to get out and about- see some other school in this part of the world – find out what others are doing and share good practise- even if some of it isn’t mine.

What is a job in this day and generation? Now I’m stepping out and feeling like I can stretch my wings. Focus my attention. Still have to pay the bills mind so I’ll probably end up with more classroom time than I’d hope for but I feel its a noble (and scary quest) – If anyone out there needs a hand I’ll be available from 28^th January.

Let’s be up front- Thanks to all those who posted comments to help me formalise my research.

Well I’m taking a step toward this research thing on skype: Have found this from the Academic Skills Office about writing a report. It states the report format as this:

TITLE PAGE

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

1. The Background

2. The Purpose

3 The Scope

THE MAIN BODY

CONCLUSIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

REFERENCES

APPENDIX/APPENDICES

I think this is the main format for a formal piece of research but I might be missing something important, which is why I’m asking for your advice again. Is their something I’m missing? Does it have to follow a different format to this? I know this is just me writing up something that I’m trying to investigate in my classroom but I want it to be worth something when I’m finished and I don’t want it to be screwed up because I did write it up properly.

Having said that I think perhaps the hardest part as Jane and Artichoke mentioned will be to get the question right in the first place.

Having read Scott’s post it got me thinking about the New Zealand context, especially with the New Curriculum.

Scott McLeod’s article in ‘The School Administrator’ opens with the words:

Scott McLeod

“As our world becomes more technological and globally interconnected, it’s increasingly imperative superintendents and cabinet members understand how to best facilitate student acquisition of so-called 21st century skills. ”

Which got me thinking back to Ulearn07 and a session I was in. Someone, sometime quoted someone else (vague, I know) as saying “ 20^th century leaders are not eqipped to lead the 21^st century”. Which calls the education profession from two directions. Firstly to those leaders to upskill, which is heralded by Scott in his article. And second, let’s take a look a serious look at those Net Gen ‘kids’ coming through and what their outlook and perspective has to offer.

“School administrators no longer can afford to be unfamiliar with what constitutes effective technology-infused pedagogy.” So true, but the questiobn then arises: How do we get them to shift. I was privy to a conversation with the AP who had returned from the ‘New Curriculum Meeting” having seen the ’shifthappens’ video for the first time… She was buzzing about it. So I followed up on the conversation today to find out what the key messages were regarding the implimentation on the new NZ curriculum to which she replied. “oh they handed us a copy of the curriculum each and told us we were the school lead-teachers and were now the experts on the new curriculum with permission to write our own school curriculum.” Hmmm, I was expecting to here a little more indepth about vision and focus and what the principles behind it were etc, etc. She also went on to explain that these meetings were largly being boycotted by NZEI over the negociations about Management Units. If that is the case then the NZEI need to be held to account. Is the steering meetings for the ‘future of our schools’ really the best meeting to have people miss out on? Is that truly the responsible course of action to take? However, I digress, sorry.

Scott states ‘Unfortunately, most superintendents have received little to no training on how to facilitate good technology use by teachers and students.”

This echoes an ongoing discussion we’ve been having in New Zealand about the factr that ICTPD is predominantly ‘training’ in its narrowest sense and little is being done towards true professional development and pedagogical change.

“Your district will see a lot better return on its technology investments if instead it begins with the end in mind and then asks how the technology can help support that.” Yet again another true statement from Scott but what does that look like on the ground, in my school, your school? What does the end look like, especially in light of the new curriculum. If schools are responsible for creating their own curriculum to meet, more specifically, the needs of their students then much education of those responsible is required.

How do we know whether technology is being used effectively in the classroom? Aside from the fact my principal has never sat once through a lesson of mine in two years of developing my ‘digial classroom’. Assuming that principals do observe lessons and want to know how to assess a ‘technology-rich’ lesson. What are the criteria to look for? What does that look like? And, how can we encourage principals to value it?

“What positive resultsare we seeing from our use of digital instructional technologies?” The anecdotal evidence is huge. The ’semi developed research, such as what i’ve been grapling with is often subjective in nature. Basically, the speed of technological change is so fast and the willingness or time-constraints placed on classroom practitioners is such that formal, ‘useable’ research remains thin at best.

Scott raises some serious issues and we need to take a long hard look at the answers to those questions on school by school basis but also as a nation on the crest of ‘The 21^st century curriculum’.

 The old joke goes:

“What does DNA stand for?….. National Dyslexic Association”

Back in April of this year the government finally recognised dyslexia as reading and writing disability- Hurray for you!

I must confess that I am somewhat delighted that I grew up in Britain where it has been recognised for yonks. In fact, if it were not for that and a very determined mother I happen to have I would certainly not be sitting here in this hemisphere typing this right now.

It troubles me just a little that the Dyslexic Foundation leaflet has the by-line “The gift of picture thinking” – It hardly feels like a gift for the kid and looks like a total nightmare for parents. I appreciate the upbeat nature of the material being presented, however in going upbeat I would hate to think we are trivalising the nature of the difficulties.

I was 12 when I was diagnosed with Dyslexia. I then had additional reading lessons in school and out targeting the way I learn so I could learn. If only I’d spent more time considering how they were teaching me and what I was being taught, perhaps I be a better teacher for it. You see often people assume that I know how to educate the educationally challenged ‘just cos I was one’ – that is not the case at all. I fact I have very poor understanding the strategies I use. You see I have been taught that way, I read that way, I write and spell that way…. I think everyone sees the world as I do. But then don’t we all. I was amazed the other day to discover that people view a page and scan from left to right in zigzag pattern in a density to match the density of the text they are scanning. Others move down the centre of the page scanning left and right to get the essence of the text. I NEVER look at a page of writing in either of those ways. I start at the start and move right along to the next word and the next and …..so on.

I echo Clare Coulson’s words: “I am a “compensated dyslexic”, which means my natural cognitive strengths have compensated for the cluster of cognitive weaknesses that characterise dyslexia.”

The dyslexic foundation has worked hard over the last I don’t know how long to get dyslexia put on the agenda. When I was asked to look into dyslexia provision in New Zealand I thought there was none. School after school appears to be ‘not very far down the road’ in terms of acknowledging it let alone doing something about it.

There are an estimated 70,000 dyslexic children in New Zealand. These are children of regular or higher intelligence that think in a more creative and kinestic manner whose needs are not yet being address. 70,000 that’s 8.25% of school aged children in 2001. Is it a small enough percentage for the education system to ignore? I don’t want to list a whole heap of famous dyslexics, New Zealanders or not because lets face it they made it… You could argue that they reached their full potential with or without educational establishment help. But for every John Britten there were 69,999 other dyslexics who we haven’t heard about.

John Britten was plagued with his dyslexia all his life… I say plagued but somehow it would seem you can ‘overcome’ the disability.

“A world authority on dyslexia, Californian Ronald Davis, told the opening function that dyslexia was highly treatable.”

I don’t like the language of ‘overcome’ or ‘treatable’, it sounds like its something you get past and move on like that challenging 20 foot wall you see on all those SAS/ Survivor shows. Not so….

There are many myths surrounding Dyslexia.  Many people think it is a disorder that is simply impossible to beat – no matter how determined you are.   John O’Shea says: “It does get better.  You learn to cope.”

The point of me sharing this… I don’t know. The provision of educational opportunities for ALL should always be front and centre in our minds.

Regardless of their needs and challenges our students deserve the best possible education. They are entitiled to it, are they receiving it?

Links:

ThankGodI’mDyslexic

Clare Coulson’s article: Spelling it out

Dyslexia Foundation