My role is different than that of teachers, as I am a school social worker. So my thoughts are coming from a different educational lense then some of the other educators taking this class. One of the first things that I read in the foreword was the "Student Agency" graphic. The graphic noted the words compliance, engagement and empowerment. These concepts are constancy resonating with me. Being that I work with every teacher and am in and out of everyo classroom, I see amazing teaching all day. I love seeing how students are being creative with there projects and approaches to their learning. I do think that innovation in education is critical. However, I do think that there needs to be a balance of creativity and innovation within the classroom and structure and expectations. Sometimes people associate creativity with freedom and no limits. I do think that having compliance, to a certain degree, it also important. Setting up a learning environment to be supporting and trusting is the most critical aspect to building a classroom full of innovators. At the same time, there needs to be clear expectations and guidelines for the learning environment. This is the compliance peace that I feel can be misleading. Maybe compliance is being viewed as the "old school" way of learning of sit and listen. However, compliance ot me can also mean learning the "new school" way of learning. Teaching student students to have a growth mindset, that learning happens by trial and error and perseverance are critical traits. There still needs to be parameters for what that looks like within a learning environment. When students are not given the proper structures for sharing their ideas, accepting feedback and team work, then it can just become chaos. Giving students an opportunity to learn something that is of interest is just awesome. But we need to make sure that there are guidelines for creating a classroom culture to to cultivate with expectations. With those structures in mind, I think you will tap even more potential in our young learners. I am not sure I articulate my thoughts in this very well. Essentially, I think that it is important to have guidelines and expectations while promoting creative thinking.
4 Comments
Tarah Tesmer
3/6/2018 02:43:55 pm
1st - thank you so much for your perspective. It's refreshing and one that, although you say you come from a different place, may not be so different after all! For example, your note regarding creativity with too much freedom. I couldn't agree more! This is why the thought of "innovating inside the box" is critical. Too much freedom, without any constraints (aka the box), is dangerous and is often less focused. I think this is where that idea of compliance comes in. However, compliance for compliance's sake is where the danger exists. To comply with the commands of time, length, learning objectives, and other constraints helps us learners know how to reach a target and how to assess their own success. When it comes to creative work, sometimes constraints change are are less about what it's supposed to look like in the end driven more by individual student strengths and passions.
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Katie Soukup
3/7/2018 09:31:22 pm
I agree that their should be a balance in the classroom of innovation and creativity and structure and expectations. If we build a community in our classroom where students feel comfortable taking risks then I think they will create amazing things. I also believe that there needs to be some structure and expectations so students understand what their end goal should be.
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Sara Tomasevich
3/7/2018 10:04:30 pm
I think all classrooms can be innovative and/or creative but still have important structures and expectations in place. If I was a student, I wouldn't be willing to take risks if I feared the way my classmates would respond to me. If my classroom was a place where students had voice levels that didn't allow me to do my best thinking, or if students were moving around unsafely I wouldn't be able to focus and could get hurt.
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AuthorI have worked in social work for over 25 years. The past 19 years have been within an elementary school setting. Archives
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