OK, OK, I get the idea \u2013 not everything on the Internet is true and, for sure, not everything on the Internet is meaningful or helpful.\u00a0 Since April of this year I have started following a bunch of people on Twitter (before that I really didn\u2019t even know what it was or care) and thought that there were so many people out there that I wanted to learn from.\u00a0 I would read other people\u2019s blogs and try my best to think about what I had to learn from others. Mind you, I know I am definitely not the god of teaching, that\u2019s for sure, but many of the things that are written out there \u2013 should I guess \u2013 with the hope of being \u201cinspirational\u201d or meaningful to others, I find less than helpful.<\/p>\n
One site that I have really enjoyed reading which often has some great links and blogposts is Mindshift<\/a>.\u00a0 But they just tweeted this blog entry that cited an article about creating a business that fosters creativity.\u00a0 OK, I see the connection to education, but honestly, it is a very different machine.\u00a0 Kids and adolescents have a very different mindset than adults who are out there making money.\u00a0 Not to mention the consequences of risk-taking in the classroom vs. risk-taking in the office have the potential for being very different.\u00a0 (Assessment for grades has a different meaning possibly for a 13-year-old mind than brainstorming on the job, vs. assessment for a salary raise, etc for an adult who we hope can handle the pressure a little more.)<\/p>\n Then the blogger writes two short paragraphs at the end about how schools are just \u201cincurious and risk averse\u201d places.\u00a0 Basically stating that schools don\u2019t ever allow students to practice risk-taking or mistake making at all:<\/p>\n \u201cToo few schools are incubators of curious and creative learners given their cultures of standardization, fear, and tradition. No doubt, external pressures exist that drive that culture. But if there ever was a time to shift gears, this is it.\u00a0\u201c<\/p>\n No doubt…sadly, our blogger, Will Richardson<\/a> doesn’t really give us any advice on what to do about it\u2026.except, to do something about it. (Admittedly, he may have written something someplace else that I missed.) \u00a0And I don’t want to single out Mr. Richardson – I find tweets and blogs like this all day long – “Exploration, inquiry & problem solving are powerful learning mechanisms…” or “asking good questions and promoting discourse is an integral part of teaching and learning”…. Hmmm, well let me think about ways in which we can talk to teachers \u00a0in terms of mistake making and risk-taking:<\/p>\n I found that many teachers that I work with and who contact me are entirely dedicated to changing the culture of the mathematics classroom in the U.S. and making it (as Mr. Richardson writes) an “incubator of curious and creative learners.” \u00a0We need to make changes to our curriculum, our classroom relationships, our classroom culture and the authoritarian hierarchy that traditionally is prevalent in our mathematics classroom. \u00a0Students need to be able to feel safe enough, from judgment, alienation and failure to make those mistakes while learning. \u00a0We, as teachers, need to begin the discussion with each other about how to move forward with these initiatives and make sure that student voice is heard in the mathematics classroom as they question each other and us, the teachers, with true questions – ones we may not be able to answer. \u00a0These are the important aspects of creating curious learners who make mistakes and learn from them. \u00a0But we, as the adults in the room have a responsibility to let them feel safe in doing that.<\/p>\n I think teachers are aware of the fact that it’s time to “shift gears” – to make the classroom more conducive to students working together and taking chances. \u00a0There are so many subtleties to making this shift, however. \u00a0Students who need to shift, parents who are not used to that, assessment changes to be made – the list goes on and on. \u00a0I am doing what I can to help people with this conversation. \u00a0The pedagogy of relation (I believe) is at the heart of all of this – keeping in mind that in order for people to be vulnerable and make mistakes, we need to consider the interhuman aspect of learning. \u00a0In a classroom where this connection has for too long been typically so acceptably removed, it will take a lot of work to make this big “gear shift” but I’m up to it – bring it on!<\/p>\n\n\n