Teachers for the Future: Blind Luck or Purposeful Planning From the perspective of Maggie Niess Oregon State University

This was me thinking about the topic on Monday

After attending many of the sessions

How a person learns a particular set of knowledge and skills, and the situation in which a person learns, become a fundamental part of what is learned. Teachers - particularly math teachers - have learned their content within a particular context - and the way they were taught becomes part of what they have learned. And they have learned with a particular technology - unfortunately that technology has not changed in over thousands of years - paper, pencil and books. ~ Putnam & Borko, 2000

Teachers tend to teach what they were taught and how they were taught i.e., Teachers tend to teach what they were taught and how they were taught Teachers have learned their content in a particular context - and the way they were taught becomes part of what they have learned.

Life is too short for long division! Teachers must be charged with rethinking the curriculum given the impact of technology on what is important to know and be able to do in the 21st century. long division may indeed become an art in mathematics as opposed to its implied importance of what a student must learn in order to learn more mathematics or to be successful in society. Then click to show that teachers are charged with rethinking

If we teach today as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow. ~John Dewey So teachers must be prepared for change - change in content, change in technologies and change in the ways of teaching and learning. So, teachers must be charged with changing how they guide students in learning the new curriculum (the pedagogy).

If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail. ~Abraham Maslow Teachers must charged with changing along with the evolving technologies that they integrate when teaching the new curriculum incorporating new and emerging pedagogical ways.

No one ever said teaching was easy. LET Me give you some examples Why do we act as if it is? ~ Maggie Niess

Technology Teaching and Learning Subject Matter Talk about teacher preparation as in the double degree program They learn mathematics and have to figure out what Liebniz was thinking but they are not focused on figuring out what Carlos, Janice, Ava and Robert and their 30 other classmates are thinking. They might do that in the 45 education hours. Or you retire, take your knowledge and teach! - you probably can get by with some short courses on teaching and learning. And of course with your expert technology skills, you won’t have trouble there… So here is a look at their knowledge for teaching

Hope is not a strategy. ~Thomas McInerney And then we HOPE! And then we HOPE they can make the changes that will be needed. Talk about the teaching profession - with periodic professional development programs that Hope is not a good strategy Hope is not a strategy. ~Thomas McInerney

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. Given the nature of the emerging technologies that are unstable, evolving and opaque, the curriculum must change - teachers must teach students different skills than they have traditionally learned ~Alvin Toffler

What we want for our children What we want for our children...we should want for their teachers, that schools be places of learning for both of them, and that such learning be suffused with excitement, engagement, passion, challenge, creativity, and joy. We need to change the culture of education where teachers are allowed to learn during the day while they are teaching. We need to take advantage of online activities, mentoring of teachers, collaborating across the distance about particular problems, they are striving to solve (like Roger Schank described). ~Andy Hargraves

New thinking that brings an end to business (teacher preparation) as usual ~Paul Resta Change the school/teaching culture - Accept that teachers need to learn as they teach … daily Provide teachers with the infrastructure to support them in this new role (technology, time, resources, …) Support teachers in learning, unlearning and relearning Why not have teachers learning as they are teaching - Teacher education must prepare teachers with the knowledge, skills AND DISPOSITIONS for teaching. And with the evolving, emerging nature of technology, TPCK is not something that teachers get. TPCK is something like the accomplishment of a professional pianist - they just continue to learn, continue to practice, and continue to challenge how best to engage students in learning.

The future is already upon us, it is just unevenly distributed The future is already upon us, it is just unevenly distributed. ~ William Gibson Teachers as mentors and professionals collaborating across traditionial barriers Their classroom doors Their school doors Their district doors Their state/geographic region doors Create, share, exchange ideas that begin erasing the knowledge divide Collaborations of teacher educators, teachers, preservice teachers and students

The future is already upon us, it is just unevenly distributed The future is already upon us, it is just unevenly distributed. ~ William Gibson Foster public/private partnerships Businesses have a stake in the products of education Proactive role in reducing the barriers that isolate and discourage teachers from trying new ideas Others.. For you to envision!

Not possible? Wrong! Begin with pilot projects Make use of online learning - continue to build and expand the projects Make use of blogs, wikis, … Collaborate across traditional barriers Partner preservice teachers with multiple cooperating teachers - one locally, others at a distance of course the question is who will pay for this revolution.

Hope is not a strategy for making this change. ~Thomas McInerney & Maggie Niess We must consider that teachers are life long learners and we need to put a system in place that supports that.

If we are to meet the needs of the students of the 21st century! It can be done If we are to meet the needs of the students of the 21st century!

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) Technological Technology TPCK Subject Matter Teaching and Learning Actually this schematic can be considered in all of education because of the impact of technology on how and what is taught. Paper, pencils have been the primary technology for multiple centuries. And, we spend lots of time teaching with these technologies. Of course as Matt and Punya indicated these technologies do not clearly engage the wickedness of teaching that we have now with the emerging technologies - that are continually changing, unstable, evolving and opaque. PCK