What Makes a Teacher Irrelevant?

During our recent lengthy discussions around 21st Century teaching and learning, the conversation turned to a question heard more and more frequently in education circles: If schools, and more to the point, teachers fail to integrate digital technologies, the Internet, etc. into their teaching, will they become soon become irrelevant?

Here's some of what Marsha, a middle school science teacher, had to say in response:

What would make someone irrelevant? Is it because their knowledge is out of date? Is it because the style of assessment no longer accurately measures what it is intended? Is it because of the way in which the message is delivered? Is it because they don't understand the people with whom they are dealing?

For me these questions get at the issue of teacher irrelevance -- and I think I have different answers that some might have.

Is our knowledge out of date? I'm not sure. With subjects that are built on factoids, I'd probably agree. History has certainly racked up quite a lot of events in the last 100 years. But what if you're not a history teacher who focuses on dates, places and events. What if you're a history teacher who teaches the concepts of power, migration and leadership through dates, places & events? Would you be more effective using more timely evidence? You bet, but the powerful lessons of history would not be lost by simply examining non-current (is that a word?) data. Or how about the great themes of literature? Love, jealousy, power and so on still are at the heart of our literature, aren't they?

Is our style of assessment no longer accurately measuring learning? Now here's one that I often worry about. I'd bet the answer is yes. When I hear my mother recall how she taught in her rural Missouri one-room school house in the early decades of the 20th century, I hear lots of references to ongoing, continuous formative assessments. She knew each of her students’ abilities, personalities and challenges to a "T"...and she catered their instruction to meet them where they were. Yes, children got left behind, but only to try again the next year. I'm not sure many of my colleagues are doing this kind of assessment now.

Is it because of the way we deliver the message? Now here's where I think we should have some serious concerns. With students, I find that it takes a much more accomplished teacher to engage and motivate if the toolset is not current. I do think the use of technology can obscure the inability or inaccuracy of some teachers because students love the medium more than the message. I spend hours and hours teaching myself how to do all this new fangled stuff -- much to the delight of my students and the frustration of the administration. (smile) But how I use it and whether students learn as much or more when I use it is what really matters.

Is it because we don't understand our audience and our lessons fall short of gaining their interest? Have students changed? Have their parents changed? Has the job that society has assigned to teachers changed? These answers would tell you much about our irrelevance.

Honestly I have a hard time thinking that the big ideas of our world are boring to anyone. How can the great ideas of science be boring when it reveals so much about how our world works (or doesn't work)? How can the great themes of literature and history not suck you into deep thinking? And, my personal favorite, how can the patterns explained by mathematics not make you feel powerful as you uncover secrets? I think you could do all this without a lick of technology and it would still be enthralling. Complement it with the tools and the medium of 2008 and it will be transformative.

I just went to hear the HD broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera on Saturday. I could never afford to go to the Met and have only been to NYC once in my whole life. Now because of technology I've heard and seen The Magic Flute, The Barber of Seville, The First Emperor, and Macbeth as the Met seeks out younger audiences from across the world. But the operas themselves haven't changed. They are powerful and moving because of the way they were written, performed and produced. (I'm looking forward to hearing the opening to Tristan and Isolde as well as hearing La Boheme later this season.)

Do I think technology is critical? Yes, but as an enhancer or an amplifier to good solid curriculum, instruction and assessment. It's why I spend so much time trying to become proficient with at least some pieces. Does technology makes the great ideas of our disciplines any more compelling? I'd say no.

Image copyright Cartoon Stock - licensed for use

Comments

[Nancy Flanagan]

Great piece, Marsha. Among the many rich ideas, I was struck by this one:

"I find that it takes a much more accomplished teacher to engage and motivate if the toolset is not current. I do think the use of technology can obscure the inability or inaccuracy of some teachers because students love the medium more than the message."

About 10 years ago, when using PowerPoints was considered cutting-edge, I had a colleague who turned every lesson into a ppt, and created a ppt for Parent Open House (which included precisely the same information that all the other teachers put on handouts). Parents were dazzled. Kids raved.

And then, eventually, they got tired of copying their notes from the ppt. So he found ways to embed video into his ppts, etc. etc.--a constant parade of new tools. But--the same old content, and the same old "I dispense information, you memorize it" model, although the entertainment factor kept being bumped up.

While I strongly support exploration and use of new technologies, it *is* easy to confuse fluency in using new mediums with excellent pedagogy--the ability to challenge student thinking by interaction with big ideas.

Impressive thinking, Marsha!

[Bud Deihl]

Bravo, Marsha!

I grow so weary of the daily dose of fear which I read about admininstrators, politicians, parents, etc. as they seek to ban various tools.

It is refreshing to hear a voice of reason who seeks to use the tools to expand investigation and learning opportunities and to accomplish things that are not possible without these benefits.

[Bob Heiny]

A timely issue nicely stated, Marsha. I waited to see if anyone else would add this thought to your comments; failing that, here goes.

Software developers are constructing platforms that routinize an increasing portion of daily school instruction. These developers function as PK20 teachers. Their platforms permit content and process immediacy and breadth that no teacher can consistently provide. These developers want to work with teachers, but find few in the U.S. who take time to do so within the constraints that developers must work. So, they work with educators from other countries determined to compete for U.S. jobs and businesses. It remains an open question how their software will influence the relevance of U.S. teaching as we know it today.

[takefive]

Dear Bud,

Fear has been one of the biggest influencers on the integration of technology within classrooms. So sad.

While I know that these fears are not baseless, I also don't believe that evil lurks behind every online moment. Here's why....

Technology finds its best level when it's used to amplify the learning that was already taking place. That requires a masterful teacher's application of the tool.

In much the same way, the best internet filter out there is a teacher. The teacher who is actively involved in what their students are doing, walking around interacting with kids as they go about their task. You can't spend $10 billion dollars on a better, more protective internet filter than the watchful eye of a teacher.

Could bad things still happen? Certainly. But when they happen the teacher is there to not only protect, but to use it as a teachable moment. It is that that juncture that students can learn how to responsibly handle themselves and avoid damage.

The other thing that baffles me about this fear is the lack of knowledge that all technologies are alike. For example, if I think my students will waste too much time surfing, I structure the online time in such a way that I (as the teacher) make all the decisions about where they will gather their info.

I "package" all the websites, images, sound files and so on that they will need in a safe environment. They are not out on the "free range" of the internet.

Even the most reluctant parent has been reassured by this kind of use of internet resources.