Whatisschool July 10, 2014

Reflecting tonight after #whatisschool I am struck by the sheer number of people who are participating. And while I imagine many reasons for this I am convinced that one is true-Educators and concerned persons around the world are finding they want some kind of change.  While there are people eager for radical change and others who proceed more cautiously the fact that we are talking, encouraging and generating ideas shows a thoughtfulness that gives me hope that teacher driven change is not a dream, but instead a matter of time.  Change for no reason is hard to accomplish; but education is changing like it or not, fueled by a surging technological revolution which is in turn changing needed workforce skills and, perhaps, our definition of what is important to learn in order to live a happy and meaningful life.  

What a great conversation we are having and it’s all because of you!  

Your passion and dedication is unprecedented and gives me hope, that great education can be made even greater to the benefit my daughter’s future, your students and the children yet to come.

How Would You Teach If You Weren’t Educating A Workforce?

#WhatIsSchool July 10, 2014 7PM EDT

Globally, focus in education is shifting from teaching students to be part of an industrial work force to building skills they can apply to jobs in a communication based workforce.  As we look at this model one glaring question stands out; are we educating students for the needs of big business or are we educating students to develop their unique talents so they can be thought provoking and productive citizens

What if we weren’t worried about preparing students for jobs? Would school and the way we teach students change? What if our focus was on preparing students to be great thinkers, explorers and creators instead?

This week we shift our thoughts from defining what school is in order to examine more closely the way we are preparing students for the future.

15 year old Jack Andraka discovered a way of detecting pancreatic cancer, as well as ovarian and lung cancer, that raises the chance of survival rate from 5% to over 90% and costs only $.03 (yes 3 cents) to administer.  He did it with passion, determination and the belief of one professor.  How could your students change the world? Find out how Jack did.

Questions for this week's chat #whatisschool Thursday, July 10 7PM EDT are posted below.

Q1) What would you teach if you weren’t 'preparing' students for jobs?

Q2) How would this change your classroom environment?

Q3) What methodologies, real or invented, would you employ to teach students in this new paradigm?

Q4) How would you help students drill down to open up and find their true talents?

Q5) What skill sets would you emphasize that are different than the ones you focus on now?

Q6) What kind of real world problems could you solve with this type of teaching model?

Q7) What can we do today to add some of these thoughts to current curriculums? 

Archive of #Whatisschool July 10, 2014

Join the conversation, re-imagine teaching so your students can change the world.

Co-moderated by children's book author and education thought leader Laura Hill @candylandcaper and international educator Craig Kemp @Mrkempnz  Please contact either of us with your questions and ideas, we'd love to hear from you!

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