New Literacies for a Complex World

We live in a time of great uncertainty and change. Economic, political, cultural, technological, and societal disruption are forcing us as educators to reexamine what it means to provide a quality education for our students that prepares them for the world they will face.

And, we are realizing that this reexamination will have to become the norm. Nothing is guaranteed in the future except for continued change.

Too often the discussion of how to shape our education systems revolves around the economic needs of our societies.

“What do our students need to find jobs when they graduate?”

 “How can we prepare students for the 21^st Century workforce?”

“What skills will our students need to be productive members in a time of rapid technological advancement?

This is the wrong focus, and these questions leave out some of the most important aspects of education.

The damage we could inflict upon an entire generation of children by reducing them to cogs in an economic machine designed to maximize profit would be devastating.

Education encompass so much more than “college and career readiness,” a term that is often used in the United States.

We must strive to ensure that our children get an education that allows them to be happy, healthy, and successful in life – with “success” being defined in a broad sense that includes much more than the generation of wealth. Of course, within this greater goal, students will be prepared for their future careers and potential further learning after graduation at an institution of higher learning. But, they will also be prepared for so much more.

In order to prepare our students for such a broad goal in this time of rapid change we will need to move beyond the traditional literacies taught in school. The importance of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history will not wane in the future, but they will have to be intertwined with new literacies in order for our students to meet the complex demands they will face after graduation.

The questions we must ask ourselves must focus on both the old literacies and the new.

“How can we show our students ways to use the learning in school, their passions, and their talents to solve problems in their local and global communities?” 

“What experiences do we need to give students in school that will prepare them for a world that is complex, globally connected, and pluralistic?” 

“How do we help our students develop the ability to have respectful, nuanced conversations with others who have diverse perspectives?” 

“Can we prepare students for the workforce, while simultaneously preparing them to be civically engaged and reflective members of their community?”

Answering these questions means focusing on additional competencies and literacies that must be developed in our students. Here are a few of those “new literacies.”

Global Literacy – In the first decade of my teaching career it was either impossible or prohibitively expensive to provide my students with any kind of video conferencing or virtual experience outside our school. Now, children are routinely chatting face to face with each other from every part of the globe, a field trip to a museum on another continent is a Skype call away, and finding time disconnected is much more difficult than finding ways to connect. In fact, I’m even writing this blog post on an airplane 35,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean. Our classrooms and lessons must reflect this interconnected world. We must be giving students access to a diversity of cultures, learning experiences from the globe, and collaboration with those applying concepts being learning in school in actual ways.

Global Literacy, featuring Michael Soskil from Discovery Education on Vimeo.

Emotional Literacy – Studies have shown that emotional intelligence and empathy correlate highly with success in business. Those who are compassionate are also better able to see their worth and are more able to use new learning and resources to help their communities. We must strive to provide opportunities for our students to feel the joy of helping others while they are in school. If we can find the intersection in our schools of technological relevance and strong relationships built on respect and empathy, our future generation will have the building blocks for a peaceful and prosperous society.

Informational Literacy – As information has become ubiquitous due to technology, the ability for manipulation of the public through information has risen exponentially. Our students must learn to identify bias in the information they consume, judge the reliability of sources, and seek multiple viewpoints in their research. They must learn to break out of ideological bubbles caused by social media and recognize the danger of confirmation bias. Success in the future will be dependent on one’s ability to navigate the complexities of constant and instant information. 

 

So What About the Evolution of Blended Learning

Learning is inherently about experiences. Whether in a formal school setting or in our everyday navigation of the world around us, humans learn through experiences that move us emotionally. As teachers and learners, we know this intrinsically. When we think back to the teachers that had the greatest impact on us during our time in school we often remember those who had the ability to make their lessons meaningful to us on a personal level.

In the last decade, technology has changed much about how learning happens in schools. Unfortunately, too much of that change has been driven by efficiency and productivity concerns. Instead of looking at technological advances as opportunities to provide students with new, exceptional learning experiences and emotionally engaging applications of their knowledge schools have focused upon ways to save time, improve workflow, and analyze data. None of these goals are bad for students, but none are focusing on the preparation of our next generation for the unique challenges they will face in a complex global society. 

Blended Learning was born out of the desire for education to be more efficient at delivering instruction and evaluating students on their acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge and assessment will always be important in the learning process, and in that regard Blended Learning has been successful in meeting those narrow goals. Students are able to move at their own pace, receive feedback on their progress, and review content as many times as they need. Because effective formative assessment and differentiated instruction are proven ways to improve student performance on traditional metrics, the use of Blended Learning has gained attention as a possible way to revolutionize education for the 21st century. 

While improving personalization of students' consumption of information, Blended Learning does not address some of the most important needs our children have in order to be prepared for an increasingly global and complex world. Innovation, creativity, and problem solving are best developed when students have agency in the learning process within a culture that lets them experience the joy of using learning to make the world better. 

Teachers know that "delivering instruction" is but a small part of the vital work they do in helping students develop into lifelong learners. Of course we want our students to be knowledgeable, but we also want them to develop into socially minded citizens who can use that knowledge in ethical, innovative ways to affect positive change on their communities. We want them to learn the importance of empathy. In fact, empathy is the character trait that correlates most strongly with success in life. 

When we look at technology's ability to transform learning, we must start by asking what emotionally engaging experiences can be created for students that would have been impossible previously. We must look at how new technologies afford our students the ability to work with those who are different than themselves, solve problems with experts who are using knowledge in practical ways, and experience the satisfaction of helping others. When we do this in our education systems we will see the true power of technology to transform education and develop our next generation of global problem solvers.

Global Teacher Prize Trip Report - VTA Summit Day 1

I was so tired last night that I couldn't bring myself to write this trip report before bed. It didn't much matter because I had a tough time turning my mind off and sleeping after a day of incredible conversations, but at least I was laying quietly in a dark room. As an introvert, it's very difficult to turn it all off after a day of constant engaging social interaction.

The day started early - I had to check out of my solo room, check into the room with my wife who was arriving in the afternoon, and catch a bus to the Day 1 of the Varkey Teacher Ambassador Summit at one of the many GEMS schools in Dubai.

There are so many GEMS schools that our bus actually took us to the wrong school. At least we got to see some different parts of Dubai. I enjoyed chatting with Kaz, one of the other Top-10 Finalists from Japan.

It was great to meet up with so many of the other finalists when we first arrived.  It was the first time we had all been together in one place. We got our lanyards with our IDs and followed a series of signs upstairs to a room where we had coffee and pastries waiting for us, and we listened to Vikas Pota, CEO of the Varkey Foundation welcome us.

Next we listened to a professor talk to us for a few hours.  Then, we broke into groups to create resources for teachers around the world. It was nice to finally get to talk to some of the other finalists, but incredibly frustrating to not have the opportunity yet to year each other's stories.

My group focused on developing global citizens in schools. We had some great discussion, and for one of the few times in my life I was in the minority as the only native English speakers. Our session needed to be translated into Spanish and English by Elisa Guerra Cruz, who did an amazing job. We committed to putting together a website with resources and videos for other teachers to use.

During one of the breaks, Jolanta, a teacher from Poland, and I decided to go explore and have a look at what classrooms in Dubai look like.

Our time at the school ended with an awesome drum circle where I tried to find a little rhythm.

From there, we hopped on busses which took us back to Atlantis for dinner. On the way down to dinner I found Lori and my mother, who had arrived in the afternoon.  It was so wonderful to see them here and to have them with me for the rest of the trip to share this experience with me. Unfortunately I didn't have more than 3 or 4 minutes to talk with them before I had to be at the aquarium, where dinner was being held.

Dinner was amazing - the food, the atmosphere, and the company. I had fantastic conversations with Mareika from Germany, Melissa from Staten Island, and Maarit (one of the other Top-10 finalists) from Finland. Sunny Varkey made a surprise appearance, and I was asked to respond to his message. I shared the appreciation of the group and my own feeling that the time I've gotten to spend with other finalists from all corners of the globe has been one of the great blessings in my life.

At 9:30, I was one of the first to leave the dinner, but I desperately wanted to see Lori and get to bed at a reasonable hour. I knew that the next day would begin bright and early at 7AM.