INTRODUCTION This blog post is dedicated to thinking about global trends and how they impact on my own teaching practise. The future is unpredictable however by looking at trends helps inform our ideas and opinions about what might happen OECD (2016). I agree that by bringing an awareness of trends into your professional practise allows teachers and leaders to broaden their horizons and make informed decisions. I am going to reflect on a contemporary trend in both New Zealand and Internationally by using Rolfe’s (2001) model of reflection as a scaffold. WHAT The trend that has captivated my attention recently is the integration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in the New Zealand curriculum. As discussed in CORE Education, Ten Trends 2017, the process of “the way we do things” is moving towards more design thinking models. In which the emphasis is on innovation and creativity to inspire deep learning - where learners create new knowledge using real life problem solving. Core Education (2014) also talks about the maker movement “is all about putting the making back into learning”. This surge of STEM in our curriculum is also attributed to a new awareness of current economic trends relating to how business generate wealth and gain necessary skills sets. So what relevance does this have to my current teaching practise? I believe I am a Maker at heart, I have always embraced a Maker culture in my classroom program, even if I didn’t have the research to backup my educational decisions. So when my school built a space dedicated to STEM called the Makerspace, I knew I needed to find a way to integrate more making into my classroom program. SO WHAT At the heart of some of the most complex values of the New Zealand Curriculum is innovation, how do you teach children the able to come up with new ideas? A big part of this process is design thinking, critically thinking about a problem and developing a range of different solutions and selecting the best one. This is how the STEM empowers children to think critically, work collaboratively and connects the digital world with the physical world. As discussed by Dr David Parsons in Enabling e-Learning (n.d), critical thinking skills is a vital component of our education system because we now live in a world where information is at our fingertips so we are no longer driven by simply remembering or recalling facts. Therefore creating an environment in which children are free to create, explore and experiment regardless of what tools they have is so important for our learners. This type of learning can challenge many teachers who are not willing to change the way they do things. I have found that it takes time, preparation and a willingness to make mistakes so fine tune a classroom learning program that embraces STEM challenges and maker tasks. It’s the difference between simply creating posters about what has been learnt to asking the question “so what...now you know this, what are you doing to do about it” WHAT NOW? In New Zealand the Maker movement and STEM teaching is just starting to capture the interest on many educators. The Digital Technologies Curriculum (2017) is a step in the right direction in terms of the integration of technology into the classroom, however works still needs to be done to address this trend. It will come down to those educators who are passionate about STEM learning to share their expertise, knowledge and resources through various Community of Learning networks to help support our teachers to see the benefits which will in turn better support our tamariki for their future. REFERENCES Core Education (2014) Ten Trends 2014, Retrieved from ,http://www.core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2014/maker-culture/ Core Education. Ten Trends 2018. Retrieved 11 March, 2018. http://core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2017/ Enabling e-Learing (n.d.) Teaching for 21st century learners, retived from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Future-focused-learning/Teaching-for-21st-century-learners Ministry of Education. (2017). Digital Technologies. Retrieved 11 March, 2018. https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/consultations/DT-consultation/DTCP1701-Digital-Technologies-Hangarau-Matihiko-ENG.pdf OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection Model. Retrieved from: https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
March 2018
Categories |