Balance of Collaborative and Independent Work |
A value I hold high in the classroom is collaboration and communication. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have dreaded group work. I think a big reason for this is because it was group work for the sake of group work, with little thought put into why we were doing it that way. As I've gotten older and worked with others in a variety of situations, I recognize the importance of learning to work collaboratively but I feel that often teachers will make something into a group project without thinking about the specific skills they want the students to gain by doing it collaboratively. I am all for collaboration, but collaboration where the students know the why they have been put into groups and the skills they need to develop to effectively work together- like communication, negotiation, compromise, how to lead, and how to be a part of a team. I think by putting thought into why students are working together and communicating to them the skills that are needed to effectively work in a group, it becomes a more productive and effective learning environment. Dylan Wiliam said that it is important that “students are working as a group, not just in a group” and I agree wholeheartedly. Going back to the purpose behind the lesson or activity, I think it’s extremely important that whatever the students are doing be intentional.
On another note, I also see value in teaching students to work independently. The ability to work and produce independently is a skill equally as important as knowing how to work with others. With such an emphasis on collaboration and creating extroverted leaders lately, I think it is also important to provide spaces for our introverted students to flourish in their comfort zone and for our extroverted students to work on being able to focus and work on their own. Not to say that students should always be in their comfort zone, I believe real learning happens when you’re right at the edge of your comfort zone, but there should be a balance. The types of tasks we ask of our students should cater to both extroverted and introverted students, stretching them both equally. In Susan Cain's book Quiet, she talks about optimum levels of stimulation and how introverts have a lower optimum level than extroverts. Linking to the other areas of my guiding principles- focus on student learning and creating a positive learning environment- we should be focusing on creating environments where all students have equal opportunity to be in their zone of optimal stimulation in order to do their best thinking and learning. I believe that the ability to communicate and co-create with others is just as important as the ability to work and create on your own, and I intend to try to find a balance between the two in my future classroom. |
Inquiry |
I want my classroom to be a place where students are free to explore their interests and find their passions. I think inquiry is a great vehicle to do this. If the students are creating the questions, they will be invested in the answers and the learning that comes with finding them. When the students steer the ship, they can end up in spectacular places - places you never could have taken them yourself.
I believe the B.C. Curriculum and Core Competencies provide the perfect vessel for inquiry based learning. With the openness and flexibility of the revised curriculum, students are able to explore topics and sub-topics that spark their interest. As a facilitator, the teacher is able to scaffold learning prior to inquiry projects based on competencies, preparing students with the tools they'll need to effectively ask and answer their own questions. In the B.C. Curriculum's path to graduation outline, one of the goals states: "The new curriculum aims to connect students with the skills they need to succeed in their next chapter." (B.C. Government, 2018) We cannot teach students what to learn, but we can teach them how to learn and inquiry based learning in conjunction with the core competencies is one way to successfully achieve that. |