The Center for American Progress just published a great report on challenging the traditional school model entitled: “Beyond Classroom Walls: Developing Innovative Work Roles for Teachers”. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/04/pdf/staffing_models.pdf
I’m thrilled to see a report that focuses attention on the need to break free of the traditional classroom school model. Furthermore, the report does a great job of showing that evolving the school model is not about replacing the work of teachers but rather elevating the role of the teacher to be able to focus on building higher order thinking skills in the classroom and to assume stronger leadership roles in the school community.
One need look no further than this photo from 1850 (http://www.personal.psu.edu/mas53/Classroom1850s.jpg) to realize that we have been operating a school and learning model that needs to be updated…badly. Besides the fact that the furniture seems to be of higher quality, it’s quite difficult to identify any difference between this classroom and one in 1900, 1920, 1950 and indeed in most of our schools today. And, yet, if we looked at a picture from any other sector—transportation, health care, communications—we would most certainly know that we were looking into the past. We’ve gone from a horse and buggy to putting a man on the moon and yet we still have a model in which 20-40 elementary school children sit in rows with a single teacher for the entire day.
That said, I would never advocate change for “change sake” . On the one hand, consider the challenges of individualizing instruction for each student, teacher sustainability while achieving extraordinary results with students, and financial constraints in delivering excellence to students. On the other hand, consider the opportunities available to us in terms of knowledge of how children learn, adaptable educational technology, and flexible staffing models. Put the two together, and it’s clear that we must revolutionize the school model in order to better serve our students in a highly individualized way while advancing the teaching profession in ways that are cost effective and scalable.
As a private tutor, I think change is necessary for students to learn. If they'll learn more by going out of the classroom and exploring the things that they are studying physically, then it would have more impact on them. Learning is going to be really effective.
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