I have been trying new things in my classroom and learning new strategies for awhile now and I have been spreading that information in multiple ways, but I think the most common back lash is ridiculous. As an educator I always have to expect backlash, but this common form is kind of odd. It comes from non-educators, community members, and parents. The most common phrase that is uttered is worded like this: "I was taught this way and I turned out just fine." It's hard to make these people understand and perhaps you never will. It boggles my mind that people have that mentality, because I guarantee if you go back to when those individuals were in school they weren't getting much enjoyment out of it. The assumption is simple though, they spent time in a classroom "learning" so obviously they know how to teach the best way. They fail to see the alternatives because they have never been exposed to them.
There are great people out there that will support schools no matter what. These are the people that understand teachers are the professionals and understand they are doing what is in the best interest of the students. Education is one area where change is probably needed the most, yet gets the most back lash when change starts to happen, and most of that back lash comes from non-educators. When a school wants to roll out devices for each kid, the community can embrace it (and often do), or they can shut it down, and it usually comes back with: "I didn't have computers when I was in school, and I turned out just fine." I argue that last point, "I turned out just fine." If you turned out "just fine" you wouldn't argue with the experts. You can question the experts all you want, but don't come with an argument that isn't based on your own learning and research. Just because an individual sat through school 20 years ago with notebooks, pencils, overhead projectors, and chalk boards doesn't mean the students of today should. That would be very selfish.
Community needs to have a voice, but it shouldn't be based on assumptions. It should be based on research, and knowledge. I would challenge any non-educator to sit through my classes and tell me my students are not gaining something from them. At first glance it may look like my classes are not worth much, I'll admit that, but learning isn't a surface level observation. Sure I could have kids sitting down in rows of desks quietly taking notes, and you might think, great class and learning. That's not the case though. Learning is active, engaging, collaborative, independent, creative, opportunistic, and much more. learning is not paying attention. Learning is not transcribing. Learning is not robotic. Many non-educators believe learning is exactly how it was 20 years ago, because that's all they know. You give a kid cinnamon roll made from a can and tell them that's a cinnamon roll and it's great, they'll believe it, until you give them a cinnamon roll made from scratch, but until then that kid will live it's whole life believing the best cinnamon rolls are made from a can. Many non-educators are the same way, they live their whole life believing learning is not engaging, because they have never been exposed to the engaging side of learning. A cinnamon roll is easy to be receptive too, though, schooling for some reason is not.
We need to bridge the gap for the non-educators out there who seem to discount everything we throw there way. Perhaps community sessions, invitations to events and classroom activities? The trouble is, more times than not, those back lashers are the ones not involved and that makes for a difficult situation. To that we have to turn the other cheek and move on. If a patient tells a doctor they don't like the diagnosis or the treatment, the doctor simply doesn't treat that patient. Maybe it needs to be the same way with education. We can try to pull those individuals in, but if they refuse, we have to refuse to treat them.
My plea is simple, if you are a non-educator reading this, give your change makers a chance. Education needs a very heavy makeover, and that's not going to happen with so much push back. Let the experts do what they have been trained to do. There are bad teachers, and those are the ones who are often not targeted. Let the good teachers, the leaders, the change makers, do their job. Our kids aren't learning if we stick them in a classroom and expect them to learn simply by "listening." We need the definition of learning to change, and it starts with people understanding that learning is different than it was 20 years ago. When you utter the words, "I turned out just fine" ask yourself if you truly believe that and if you do great then ask yourself if you were ever truly satisfied with the education you received. Would you have paid for your high school education in the same way you may have paid for a college education. We need to have that mentality. Was your education, or your kids' education worthy of praise?
Community needs to have a voice, but it shouldn't be based on assumptions. It should be based on research, and knowledge. I would challenge any non-educator to sit through my classes and tell me my students are not gaining something from them. At first glance it may look like my classes are not worth much, I'll admit that, but learning isn't a surface level observation. Sure I could have kids sitting down in rows of desks quietly taking notes, and you might think, great class and learning. That's not the case though. Learning is active, engaging, collaborative, independent, creative, opportunistic, and much more. learning is not paying attention. Learning is not transcribing. Learning is not robotic. Many non-educators believe learning is exactly how it was 20 years ago, because that's all they know. You give a kid cinnamon roll made from a can and tell them that's a cinnamon roll and it's great, they'll believe it, until you give them a cinnamon roll made from scratch, but until then that kid will live it's whole life believing the best cinnamon rolls are made from a can. Many non-educators are the same way, they live their whole life believing learning is not engaging, because they have never been exposed to the engaging side of learning. A cinnamon roll is easy to be receptive too, though, schooling for some reason is not.
We need to bridge the gap for the non-educators out there who seem to discount everything we throw there way. Perhaps community sessions, invitations to events and classroom activities? The trouble is, more times than not, those back lashers are the ones not involved and that makes for a difficult situation. To that we have to turn the other cheek and move on. If a patient tells a doctor they don't like the diagnosis or the treatment, the doctor simply doesn't treat that patient. Maybe it needs to be the same way with education. We can try to pull those individuals in, but if they refuse, we have to refuse to treat them.
My plea is simple, if you are a non-educator reading this, give your change makers a chance. Education needs a very heavy makeover, and that's not going to happen with so much push back. Let the experts do what they have been trained to do. There are bad teachers, and those are the ones who are often not targeted. Let the good teachers, the leaders, the change makers, do their job. Our kids aren't learning if we stick them in a classroom and expect them to learn simply by "listening." We need the definition of learning to change, and it starts with people understanding that learning is different than it was 20 years ago. When you utter the words, "I turned out just fine" ask yourself if you truly believe that and if you do great then ask yourself if you were ever truly satisfied with the education you received. Would you have paid for your high school education in the same way you may have paid for a college education. We need to have that mentality. Was your education, or your kids' education worthy of praise?
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