Last night, I had a nightmare. I was in an airport and none of the self check-in kiosks were working. I went to the counter and realized I didn't have my suitcase or computer. I had no idea where they were, but I thought perhaps I'd left them where I was presenting. I started wandering around the airport looking for my luggage and somehow it turned into a school. I wandered around those long hallways, with the lockers and classroom after classroom of rows and columns. It was a tedious sameness that went on forever. Just hallways, lockers, classrooms, rows, columns, one after the after—indistinguishable.
Finally, I gave up on my suitcase because I was going to miss my plane. I started trying to get back to the airport, but because everything was the same, I couldn't figure it out. I started asking students and teachers how to get back to the airport but nobody could tell me how. They just stared at me blankly. They all knew there was an airport, but didn't know how to get there. I was trapped and couldn't get out, and they were trapped too.
I was so relieved when I woke up, and I even laughed a little when I thought about it. My nightmare was actually my real-life nightmare; what I face every day as an author and speaker. Schools stuck in an ancient pedagogy, knowing there is a way out, but no idea how to get there.
In Literacy is Not Enough we outline how to make a shift to a 21st-century learning environment, where students use higher-level thinking to create products as solutions to relevant, real-world problems.
The first and most important consideration is that we must always demonstrate relevance ... to the student. It doesn't matter if the teaching is relevant to the teacher; it has to be relevant to the student. So how can we ensure this happens? Here are three things to think about.
Is the challenge or activity grounded in the real-world?
Though often we use simulations of real-world, nothing beats doing the real thing. The students have a sense of pride in accomplishing something real—something that isn't school. In these situations, the students will never ask, "Where would I use this in the real world?"
Does your scenario involve Altruistic Service?
This is one of the tenets of Global Digital Citizenship. When students can apply curricular content to make a difference in the world on a local, regional, national, or global level, it is directly relevant to them. Students are always quick to get involved in these types of projects. If I was king for a day, school would be focused almost exclusively around Altruistic Service. There is a difference between service and charity. It is easy to donate money—this is charity. It is much more meaningful when you donate your time and talents—this is service. Even if the end product is to raise funds, it still requires your time and talent.
Does it connect directly to their everyday lives?
If it is an issue that directly impacts them, there is relevance. It can be about a band they are crazy about, or about taking away fries from the cafeteria. Touch on something personal and you will provoke passion, opinion, and action.
What do your students think?
We don't involve our students enough in the process. Often when I work at the district level, I involve a student advisory board that teachers will pitch their ideas to. There are incredible insights to be gained by asking your students. Don't feel you have to know everything. The more we move the responsibility for learning from the teacher to the student the better. It is, after all, their learning—they should be responsible for it.
It is both challenging and a little frightening for teachers to make the shift from teaching-as-talking to learning-by-doing. Every day, though, I can assure you that I watch as teachers transform their classrooms to a 21st-century learning environment. The rewards far outweigh the risks, and I have yet to hear a teacher tell me that they would ever go back to the old way of doing things. The opposite is true—what I hear on a daily basis is how much better school is. Both the teacher and the students are excited to be part of an environment that is engaging and relevant. Learning becomes fun, and why shouldn't it be?
I would love to hear what type of Altruistic Service scenarios you are working with, or have done with your students. Please post them in the comments below so others can benefit from your ideas. I look forward to hearing from you!