What is a desirable type of education?

In Zhao’s (2012) book, World class learners: Educating creative and entrepreneurial students, he firmly argues for a high quality education where students are prepared for the future as creative, entrepreneurial, and globally competent. Zhao describes a globalized world as one that is “constantly changing and rapidly transformed by technology” (p. 15). Unquestionably students deserve a high quality education and should be prepared for a globalized world.

In a globalized world, it is alarming to think about the continuous decline of creativity as our children get older as described by Zhao (2012, p.11).

It is equally disturbing to note the impact of declining creativity in students to the levels of entrepreneurship. Zhao (2012) defines entrepreneurship as the “desire to solve problems creatively” (p. 9). So, creativity and entrepreneurship are interconnected which means that a decline in creativity would result in a similar decline in entrepreneurship. It is imperative we continue to question why there such a significant drop in creativity when comparing levels of creativity of students beginning school to students progressing in school with several years of schooling background?

Zhao (2012) also discusses the inverse relationship of entrepreneurship to performance on international tests (p.11). Consequently some countries seem to have more creative and entrepreneurial talents and also have lower results on international tests.  Similarly, low levels of entrepreneurship correlate to high performance on international tests.

We have to ask ourselves, do we want high levels of entrepreneurship for our students or improved results on standardized tests? Does an increased emphasis on testing have a relationship on the decreased emphasis on innovative pedagogies fostering creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit for a positive contribution to a globalized society?

What is a desirable type of education? Zhao’s (2012) book is about the “why” and “how” of the most desirable education.  

As listed on the author’s website at - http://zhaolearning.com, this book presents ideas for teachers, administrators or parents in: 

·       understanding the entrepreneurial spirit and harnessing it

·       fostering student autonomy and leadership

·       championing inventive learners with necessary resources

·       developing global partners and resources

Reference

Zhao, Y. (2012). World class learners: Educating creative and entrepreneurial students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin

Revisiting the Tetrad of Effects

Last week I had the pleasure of interviewing principals and teachers as part of my research.  It was an incredibly energizing experience to hear more about the stories behind great schools and great school leaders. 

In discussion with some of the participants, I had the opportunity to revisit a visual created during one of my grad courses to provoke dialogue around new technologies and innovations in schools.  In an earlier blog post, I described the idea of combining Feenberg’s methodological dualism with McLuhan’s idea of the tetrad of effects– (http://bbrowntechnology.blogspot.com/search/label/paradox) which gave rise to the diagram (tool) shown below:

How does the tetrad of effects diagram work?

The tetrad has been used with grad students, teachers, consultants and school principals ranging from small unstructured settings to large formal gatherings as a conversation tool.  It takes about 20-30 minutes to discuss the tetrad with a group of 4-5 participants.

First, begin by cutting out the square shape, fold on the red lines first - this reveals the tetrad. In the centre of the tetrad choose a technology or innovation to narrow the focus of the conversation.  (example: ipad). The tetrad can also be provided electronically.  I’m not sure what it is about paper, but I have noted that many participants did not want to write on the tetrad and would leave it blank while writing thier notes and responses on another sheet of paper.  Some even wrote the responses on post-it notes and then attached to the tetrad. 

In the Global Village (1989), Marshall McLuhan posited every new technology has a “tetrad of media effects” or four simultaneous effects:
Discuss the four effects:
(1) enhances something;
(2) makes something obsolete;
(3) retrieves or brings back something; and
(4) when pushed to the limits, it reverses or turns into something else.

Example  of a discussion regarding ipads (the following is a sample of the responses heard)

What does the ipad enhance? The ipad enhances the ability to access information quickly.  It turns on quickly and there are many apps that allow instant access.  What becomes obsolete?  One example was the tape recorder, now obsolete for recording interviews. What do we retrieve from the past with the ipad? In the past when we had apple IIe’s in schools and there were countless simple programs available for students to practice letter recognition, matching, math facts, etc.  As we moved to more powerful computer systems, we moved away from these very simple programs and instead invested in productivity tools such as word processors, spreadsheets, presentation programs and internet browsers.  It seems that with the adoption of ipads there has been a resurgence of simple apps.  What has the ipad reversed or turned into that was unexpected? I don’t think the ipad has been pushed to the limits yet but everyone seems to have examples of unexpected uses for the ipad.  Personally, I did not expect to use the device as my main tool for research data collection and at the same time my son uses the ipad as a guitar tuner and my daughter to practice writing the letters of her name. It’s definitely getting more difficult to share the device in our home!

Once the four effects are discussed, then fold each point away from the tetrad (symbolism: double-edged sword). When each fold is lifted it reveals a place to indicate both possibilities and challenges.

The following are some of the possibilities and challenges discussed with ipads:
(1) enhances – ability to access information quickly ( possibilities – a small device for student use in the classroom, no need to wait for computers to start and launch applications, supports student centered learning and inquiry based learning; challenges  - include costs for purchasing/managing apps for school devices).

(2) obsolete – tape recorders (possibilities - recording podcasts and having students demonstrate learning; challenges  - privacy concerns, editing/managing large audio files)
(3) retrieves – the return of many simple programs or apps (possibilities - great to have so many options for apps and many are free; challenge - the selection of apps as there are too many available and difficult to know which ones are best for learning)
(4) reverses – all in one personal tool (possibilities - great to have a tool with so many capabilities and accessibility for all ages/diverse learners; challenge - to have one for each individual, access for all, fear of the unknown)

Observations:

Generally, the conversation ended at the point where everyone would brainstorm possibilities and challenges.  I also noted the conversation typically moved from a technology (tool) focus to a conversation about learning.  I wonder what would happen if participants take an additional step and rework the challenges into goal statements.  Perhaps the tetrad of tools could be used to help with goal setting when implementing a new technology and moving from the known to the unknown. 

The following video also reminds me of the leaders I met and their ability to vision and believe in the unexpected – the ability to confidently shift from the known to the unknown. 

Deadlines video

Learning Together

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBTaqGaqYWY&feature=related






My commentary and reflection on visionary leadership:

The mission and goal of this group may seem obvious due to the circumstances. The task may appear easy to outside observers but in fact it is very difficult and requires distributed leadership. There are likely new tools or new methods that could be used to make the task more efficient and safe. Most of the participants seem to be working together with their peers purposefully towards a common goal. However, it is evident some are contributing more than others and some appear to be bystanders for this particular task. The group members are utilizing their strengths but may be moving too quickly. The group did not test out the process or strategy on a small scale before proceeding. In addition, the group did not consider the risks and collect and analyze sufficient data from the environment before proceeding with the strategy. The bystanders did not protect the group’s blindside and help predict the unintended consequences and results. Luckily, the group is familiar with the philosophy of “Getting to Maybe” and recognizes the value of learning from both successes and challenges. Through this experience the group learned the importance of taking time to collect sufficient data from the environment, working collectively as a team, looking out for eachother’s blindsides and considering strategies for implementation from multiple perspectives.