We keep hearing

the message that education and

the way we instruct,
the way we assess and grade,
the way we engage students,
the way we engage the community of
parents,
siblings,
grandparents,
foster parents, and
guardians,
and the way we think about
our role as teachers
needs to change.

Some people ask why.

Some people think that
the way they teach
is just fine.
Some people think that if
they teach what
they are interested in,
if they teach the books
they read,
if they teach what
they learned,
they are doing just fine.

A talk about change in education: part 1 of 7
They think that
their beliefs
are the beliefs for their students.
They think that the way
they learned
is the way everyone learns,
that the way
they were taught
is the way everyone
should be taught.

They think that
their way
is the only way and
they dont have to change.

But others dont think this view
of how to teach,
of what to teach, and
of how we work with learners
is not very open minded,
nor very inclusive,
nor very forward thinking.

And it doesnt work.

A talk about change in education: part 2 of 7
Lets make up a number
say 90%.
Lets say 90% of students graduate high school,
90% are engaged in their learning,
90% are literate and numerate, and
90% attend all of their classes and
learn the material more deeply than simply
for the next test.

That leaves 10%.
10% of your of students dont graduate from high school,
10% are not engaged in their learning,
10% are not literate nor numerate, and
10% dont attend all of
their classes
nor learn the material.

In a class of 30 students, 10% would be
3 students that we failed.
In a school of a 1000 students that would be
100 that are illiterate.
In a school board of 60,000 that would be
6,000 students who are not numerate.
In a country of 30 million that means
3 million havent graduated from high school
cut off from the chance of skilled jobs.

A talk about change in education: part 3 of 7
Does 3 million failures
make one proud to be a teacher?
Are you happy to report that
your son,
your daughter,
your niece or nephew,
your neighbour or friend is illiterate?
That the education system let them down?

So we have to challenge ourselves.
We have to accept
the call to change.
We have to look for that
little extra that get
one more student
to have success.

We need to change
because the old way
of doing school,
the old way of teaching, and
the old way of motivating students
doesnt work anymore.

A talk about change in education: part 4 of 7
Our students,
they live in a different world.
Their world has knowledge
and information at their fingertips and
people to communicate with
at the touch of a button.

We need to change.
We need to differentiate our instruction
and assessment practices.
We need to allow student voice
and choice.

We need to provide students with
authentic tasks completed for
authentic purposes for
authentic audiences.

We need to change
how we assess and
how we use assessment data.
We need to give time for practice
and descriptive feedback.
We need to grade according to
our learning goal
and success criteria.


A talk about change in education: part 5 of 7
We need to accept late work
without penalty,
and never not accept work
in order to award a zero.
We need to accept that
learning happens
at different rates,
at different times,
in different places,
with different people,
about different topics.

We need learning
to be deeper and
more committed
than simply learning
for the next test.

We need to
move the learning from
being passive
to being active.
Move it to
inquiry based,
problem based, or
project based.


A talk about change in education: part 6 of 7
We need to approach education
with a growth mindset
knowing every student
can learn and
every teacher can teach
given sufficient time and
support.

We have to know our role.
We are facilitators of learning and
no longer lecturers of knowledge.

We need to change
how we teach,
how we assess, and
how we think
an education system operates.

Change is not a bad word
or idea;
change is an opportunity
to make things better.

A talk about change in education: part 7 of 7