21st Century Skills: The Imperative for Teaching Creativity and Innovation in Schools
Charles Fadel
Key Messages
Challenges require comprehensive rethinking - RELEVANCE
- Applicable Knowledge
- Skills not just Knowledge
- Character not just Skills & Knowledge
What will the world be like 20 years from now?
- Volatile
- Uncertain
- Complex
- Ambiguous
This is what happens in a multipolar world (several centers of political and economic strength)
The New World We Live In
Learning leads to economic competitiveness and Lifelong personal prosperity and social & environmental wellbeing
Globalization requires productivity, which requires education, so it puts a focus on our profession
Impact of absolute population size - In 2025, there will be 300M skilled workers in China and India, which is a world challenge
Does the world have the absorptive capacity?
- Long-term, perhaps
- Short-term, major dislocations
25% of US jobs are potentially off-shoreable" Blinder at Harvard
What do Egypt, Japan, and Sweden have in common?
- High Youth Unemployment (40% in Egypt!)
Accelerating change demands different skills
- Non-routine analytic/interactive are on the rise (consultants and engineers)
- Route cognitive and manual are decreasing (assembly work, paper work)
- Non-routine manual are toast (construction)
Personally-delivered vs. Impersonally delivered
Impersonal services are off-shoreable, personal services are not
Skill vs. Delivery
Even very skilled jobs are off-shoreable if they are impersonal
But even personal jobs are becoming off-shoreable due to technology (fly to a surgeon, telesurgery, for example)
"Computers found more accurate than doctors in breast-cancer diagnosis" Science Magazine, Nov 10, 2011
We have passed a new threshold in artificial intelligence, but the replacement of human labor by technology is not new.
We have to be aware of the rapidity of technological development - with human genome, we can now do in 5 minutes what it would have taken a year to do.
iPhone: $400 price point - 40Tb in 2015, 40Eb 2025 (you could video your whole life)!
Exobrain by 2030
This is already possible in the cloud
Distributed computing - Folding@Home project
We are preparing students for jobs that do not exist and things we haven't even thought of!
Think about 3D printing - what would you do if you had a micro-factory in your office?
"The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed." - William Gibson
When the digital revolution exceeds education, we experience social pain; when education is ahead, we experience prosperity
So what do we teach for in an era of ubiquitous search and AI that help us with answers?
- Fluidity with technology
- Adaptability
- Resilience
- Asking the right questions
- Synthesizing/integrating
- Creating!
Creative work differentiates more developed countries from less developed countries and work done by machines
Schooling vs. Real-World
"...school learning is abstract, theoretical and organized by disciplines while work is concrete, specific to the task, and organized by problems and projects." - OECD, "Learning for Jobs" 2009
We must re-think what is taught with a lens of relevance - what do we remove? what else do we need to teach? what else matters?
Partnership for 21st Century Skills - Framework of 21st Century Student Outcomes and Support Systems
Utah is NOT one of the states that has adopted this framework.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Heidi Hayes Jacobs L&B Keynote
Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World
Heidi Hayes Jacobs, EdD
curriculum21.com
Paper is over.
Prezi is an example of the deliberate use of new genre for specific purposes - great for attention and rapid eye movement, not great for sustained work.
In your schools, as we are looking at curriculum and instruction, choose your century.
Can't think of a better time to be an educator (She has been an educator for 40 years)
Essential Questions:
- How can we prepare our learners for their future?
- Who owns the learning?
Technologies are tools that go with teaching and learning. The tools do make a difference. The point isn't the tools, it's how we engage them. The tools we use impact learning. New tools and new literacies. They do, on some levels, support each other.
10% of the 21st Century is over.
If you look at your curriculum as an artifact, if you look at your schedule as an artifact, how you're grouped, etc., what year are you preparing your students for?
[To be honest, I think our School of Education is "good" in traditional terms, but not preparing the educators that we NEED for today's students. We are not training our students in collaborative, problem-based, authentic models using modern tools and resources, so why would they teach this way?]
The tools we use impact communication.
[This woman is HILARIOUS! A great presenter! Check out her stuff, people. She's got a great perspective and outstanding ideas.]
The way we share curriculum has changed, because the portals are open.
I don't want students going online and playing with kids all over the world, and then coming into our dated classrooms.
The use of these tools should not be extraneous to curriculum - they should be supporting the central points of curriculum.
Skype and a National Geographic documentary or a diorama in a shoe box?
These tools get kids to search again. They get YOU to search again. An engaging instructional tool isn't an enrichment, it's essential.
When it makes curriculum and instructional sense, students should be collaborating with people all over the world and engaging in authentic tasks.
It's not just about what we do with the kids, it's about what WE are doing.
The curriculum in this country is roughly 1985. Not just talking about the tools we use, but about what we study.
Curriculum is not just tools and skills and technology - it's choice-making! We choose, you see, and what we choose is either engaging or an imposition.
What do we cut? What do we keep? What do we create?
The US has the shortest school year, the shortest school day, and the least amount of contact with each other.
Our school system was created in 1896, based on the agrarian calendar. The schedule is 6 hours with 8 subjects based on the factory schedule.
Are children and youth processing information differently?
Social Production (e.g., Wikipedia (now as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica) - Learning to do, knowledge creation
Social Networks - Learning to be, defining our identities, how we connect with each other determines how learning occurs (relationships, not technologies) - How many of you are members of professional social networks? Do you know what a live binder is?
Semantic Web - Learning to know, organization, interpretation, connections & distribution of information
Media Grids - Learning to be and do, gaming embeds Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, Content not confined to linear structure
Non-linear Learning - Disciplines are interconnected
A new kind of learner needs
- A new kind of teacher
- A new pedagogy
- Upgraded curriculum
- A new kind of classroom
- New roles
Three literacies worth exploring
- Digital literacies - use and selection of the right Web 2.0 technologies
- Media literacy - ability to be a critical responder to media, know how to make QUALITY media to express themselves. We haven't been trained on it, and many of our kids don't know how to create quality products
- Global literacy - recognize the relationship between place and people
Leading with teaching and learning....or is it that the technologies are stretching the possibilities for teaching and learning????
Can you imagine going to a doctor who says, "I know about technology! I've heard of X-rays!"
How do we begin to transition out of our 19th century structures for 21st century learning?
Versioning - 4 key school structures
- Schedules (short-term (daily, yearly) and long-term (graduation))
- Student grouping patterns (by age? why?)
- Teacher configurations (too much isolation)
- Space
What are the basic elements in designing curriculum that need upgrading?
- Content - what is essential given the time I have? Science teachers have the same amount of time to teach science as they did in 1896!!! Think about that!!!
- Skills - multiple literacies
- Assessments - change your assignments! Kids are great at notetaking - think text messaging! Mock FB pages for historical figures - what would status updates, friends, etc. look like? Zooburst - 3D pop-up books. MuseumBox. Share and Self-publish! The Grandmother Project. Video Trailers for units - use them for review, use last year's as teasers. Create a podcast channel. CAD blueprints. Etc., etc., etc.
But where do we start? There's so much out there! Clearinghouse on curriculum21.com. Visual Thesaurus. Gapminder. Google Art Project (using this tool, 9th graders created a virtual tour, chose 5 paintings that they felt best represented transition period in art, made a podcast about them). Tag Galaxy (teacher had kids compare and contrast iconography in images from different world religions to compare the religions). WolframAlpha (try searching on Boston!). Oh, holy cow!
At the end of every curriculum objective, we need to add the adverb "independently." We want our students to be able to do these things without us!
Video: Technology at PS 101. In that school, every student has a teacher who is willing to learn something. Special Ed was the first to get iPads.
Teachers aren't reluctant, they just don't know where to start and they want to do it right.
Curriculum is not antithetical to the new genre.
NOTICE new forms of assessment and experiences.
She did a TED talk. Look it up! But she challenges us to do TED talks ourselves at our own school. What are you playing with and exploring? What is on your mind in your field right now?
Every child in America should create an App before they graduate.
Follow Med Kharbach. He posts at least one new tool every day.
Start with one thing. We don't want to overwhelm - just whelm, for now.
You know what Piaget said - people are only learning if they are experiencing disequilibrium. The goal of this conference is for you to leave emotionally discouraged. :)
Check out the backchannel on Twitter at #LB30
Heidi Hayes Jacobs, EdD
curriculum21.com
Paper is over.
Prezi is an example of the deliberate use of new genre for specific purposes - great for attention and rapid eye movement, not great for sustained work.
In your schools, as we are looking at curriculum and instruction, choose your century.
Can't think of a better time to be an educator (She has been an educator for 40 years)
Essential Questions:
- How can we prepare our learners for their future?
- Who owns the learning?
Technologies are tools that go with teaching and learning. The tools do make a difference. The point isn't the tools, it's how we engage them. The tools we use impact learning. New tools and new literacies. They do, on some levels, support each other.
10% of the 21st Century is over.
If you look at your curriculum as an artifact, if you look at your schedule as an artifact, how you're grouped, etc., what year are you preparing your students for?
[To be honest, I think our School of Education is "good" in traditional terms, but not preparing the educators that we NEED for today's students. We are not training our students in collaborative, problem-based, authentic models using modern tools and resources, so why would they teach this way?]
The tools we use impact communication.
[This woman is HILARIOUS! A great presenter! Check out her stuff, people. She's got a great perspective and outstanding ideas.]
The way we share curriculum has changed, because the portals are open.
I don't want students going online and playing with kids all over the world, and then coming into our dated classrooms.
The use of these tools should not be extraneous to curriculum - they should be supporting the central points of curriculum.
Skype and a National Geographic documentary or a diorama in a shoe box?
These tools get kids to search again. They get YOU to search again. An engaging instructional tool isn't an enrichment, it's essential.
When it makes curriculum and instructional sense, students should be collaborating with people all over the world and engaging in authentic tasks.
It's not just about what we do with the kids, it's about what WE are doing.
The curriculum in this country is roughly 1985. Not just talking about the tools we use, but about what we study.
Curriculum is not just tools and skills and technology - it's choice-making! We choose, you see, and what we choose is either engaging or an imposition.
What do we cut? What do we keep? What do we create?
The US has the shortest school year, the shortest school day, and the least amount of contact with each other.
Our school system was created in 1896, based on the agrarian calendar. The schedule is 6 hours with 8 subjects based on the factory schedule.
Are children and youth processing information differently?
Social Production (e.g., Wikipedia (now as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica) - Learning to do, knowledge creation
Social Networks - Learning to be, defining our identities, how we connect with each other determines how learning occurs (relationships, not technologies) - How many of you are members of professional social networks? Do you know what a live binder is?
Semantic Web - Learning to know, organization, interpretation, connections & distribution of information
Media Grids - Learning to be and do, gaming embeds Gardner's Five Minds for the Future, Content not confined to linear structure
Non-linear Learning - Disciplines are interconnected
A new kind of learner needs
- A new kind of teacher
- A new pedagogy
- Upgraded curriculum
- A new kind of classroom
- New roles
Three literacies worth exploring
- Digital literacies - use and selection of the right Web 2.0 technologies
- Media literacy - ability to be a critical responder to media, know how to make QUALITY media to express themselves. We haven't been trained on it, and many of our kids don't know how to create quality products
- Global literacy - recognize the relationship between place and people
Leading with teaching and learning....or is it that the technologies are stretching the possibilities for teaching and learning????
Can you imagine going to a doctor who says, "I know about technology! I've heard of X-rays!"
How do we begin to transition out of our 19th century structures for 21st century learning?
Versioning - 4 key school structures
- Schedules (short-term (daily, yearly) and long-term (graduation))
- Student grouping patterns (by age? why?)
- Teacher configurations (too much isolation)
- Space
What are the basic elements in designing curriculum that need upgrading?
- Content - what is essential given the time I have? Science teachers have the same amount of time to teach science as they did in 1896!!! Think about that!!!
- Skills - multiple literacies
- Assessments - change your assignments! Kids are great at notetaking - think text messaging! Mock FB pages for historical figures - what would status updates, friends, etc. look like? Zooburst - 3D pop-up books. MuseumBox. Share and Self-publish! The Grandmother Project. Video Trailers for units - use them for review, use last year's as teasers. Create a podcast channel. CAD blueprints. Etc., etc., etc.
But where do we start? There's so much out there! Clearinghouse on curriculum21.com. Visual Thesaurus. Gapminder. Google Art Project (using this tool, 9th graders created a virtual tour, chose 5 paintings that they felt best represented transition period in art, made a podcast about them). Tag Galaxy (teacher had kids compare and contrast iconography in images from different world religions to compare the religions). WolframAlpha (try searching on Boston!). Oh, holy cow!
At the end of every curriculum objective, we need to add the adverb "independently." We want our students to be able to do these things without us!
Video: Technology at PS 101. In that school, every student has a teacher who is willing to learn something. Special Ed was the first to get iPads.
Teachers aren't reluctant, they just don't know where to start and they want to do it right.
Curriculum is not antithetical to the new genre.
NOTICE new forms of assessment and experiences.
She did a TED talk. Look it up! But she challenges us to do TED talks ourselves at our own school. What are you playing with and exploring? What is on your mind in your field right now?
Every child in America should create an App before they graduate.
Follow Med Kharbach. He posts at least one new tool every day.
Start with one thing. We don't want to overwhelm - just whelm, for now.
You know what Piaget said - people are only learning if they are experiencing disequilibrium. The goal of this conference is for you to leave emotionally discouraged. :)
Check out the backchannel on Twitter at #LB30
Helen Neville L&B Keynote
Training Brains: Improving Behavior, Cognition and Neural Mechanisms of Attention in Lower SES Children
Helen J. Neville, PhD
Dr. Neville summarized her research on the cognitive impacts of socioeconomic status and her work to change that impact. SES plays a major role in student achievement, attention, stress, etc. But Dr. Neville has found success with intervention programs for the children (particularly training them to focus their attention) and their parents (creating a more stable home environment). She has received a grant to start working with latino families - the highest at-risk population.
changingbrains.org - new, non-technical DVD for parents and educators to help them understand the impact of SES and ways to change brains, proceeds used to translate it to Spanish
Helen J. Neville, PhD
Dr. Neville summarized her research on the cognitive impacts of socioeconomic status and her work to change that impact. SES plays a major role in student achievement, attention, stress, etc. But Dr. Neville has found success with intervention programs for the children (particularly training them to focus their attention) and their parents (creating a more stable home environment). She has received a grant to start working with latino families - the highest at-risk population.
changingbrains.org - new, non-technical DVD for parents and educators to help them understand the impact of SES and ways to change brains, proceeds used to translate it to Spanish
Tony Wagner L&B Keynote
The New Educational Challenges
New skills for work, continuous learning, & citizenship in a "knowledge society" for all students. These skills are not effectively taught.
The "Net Generation" is differently motivated to learn
The Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College, and Citizenship
Students must be on their way to mastery of these skills through school
1. Critical thinking and problem-solving
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence - must be able to understand and appreciate differences
3. Agility and adaptability - contrast that with the regularities of school
4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism - setting "stretch" goals and achieving most of them is better than setting basic goals and achieving all of them, "fail early and fail often," yet we penalize children when they fail in school
5. Effective oral and written communication - writing with voice, passion, and perspective
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination - only one curriculum being taught, and that is test prep. AYP or AP. There is an enormous gap between what we teach and the skills students need. 50% of students who begin college never complete a degree, many because they didn't have the skills (especially writing) to succeed.
What motivates the "net" generation?
- Accustomed to instant gratification and "always-on" connection
- Use the web for 1) extending friendships, 2) interest-driven, self-directed learning, and 3) as a tool for self-expression
- Constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world - everywhere except in school (Technology is a double-edged sword - we need to use the powerful technologies to engage students and extend the classroom, but we also need to understand that this generation doesn't know how to NOT multitask, so they need to learn to "develop the muscles of concentration")
- Less fear and respect for authority - accustomed to learning from peers, want coaching, but only from adults who don't "talk down" to them
- Want to make a difference and do interesting/worthwhile work - want to make a difference more than they want to make money
The Culture of Schooling versus The Culture of Innovation
The teachers who make big differences are outliers. They create a culture in their classroom that is different from that at their institution.
- Individual achievement versus collaboration
- Specialization versus multi-disciplinary learning
- Risk avoidance versus trial and error (We don't talk about failure here, we talk about iteration)
- Consuming versus creating
- Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation
- Evolution from play to passion to purpose
Implications for "Reinvention"
We have to move away from what has always been an information-based learning system (focus on "timeless learning" (academic content that has persisted over time)) to a transformation-based system (focus on what you can do with what you know; focus on using content to master the competencies for "just-in-time learning"). We have to think carefully about what content is truly important and consider how it might be used to teach skills.
Watch The Finland Phenomenon
Redefining Rigor: 5 "Habits of Mind" - Learning to ask the right questions
- Weighing Evidence
- Awareness of Varying Viewpoints
- Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect
- Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture
- Assessing Value - both socially and personally
Questions to consider
- What skills are you teaching, and how are you assessing them?
- What is the school doing to systematically improve instruction, and how do you know it's working? Are you a better teacher than 2 years ago - if so, in what ways and how do you know?
- How well are your students prepared for college, careers, and citizenships, and how do you know?
- Is your school "adding value?"
Redefining Educational Excellence
Accountability
- Track cohort graduation rate and how well students do once they are in college (National Student Clearing House (www.studentclearinghouse.org)
- Use the college and work readiness assessment to assess analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing (www.cae.org)
- Video-tape focus groups with recent grads (data for the heart)
Academics
- Doing the new work: teaching & assessing the skills that matter most
- Develop strategies for teaching & assessing the 3Cs: Critical & Creative thinking, communication, and collaboration
- Pilot interdisciplinary courses around essential questions and capstone projects at multiple levels
Require all students to have digital portfolios (track progress, real audience, means for teacher accountability), work internships, and service-learning projects
Doing the New Work in New Ways
- Collaboration & Transparency
- Isolation is the enemy of innovation and improvement
- Every student has an adult advocate
- Every teacher on teams for collaborative inquiry - looking at student & teacher work
- Videotape teaching & supervision (lesson study vs. evaluation)
- Peer-reviewed digital portfolios for teachers and leaders
New skills for work, continuous learning, & citizenship in a "knowledge society" for all students. These skills are not effectively taught.
The "Net Generation" is differently motivated to learn
The Seven Survival Skills for Careers, College, and Citizenship
Students must be on their way to mastery of these skills through school
1. Critical thinking and problem-solving
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence - must be able to understand and appreciate differences
3. Agility and adaptability - contrast that with the regularities of school
4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism - setting "stretch" goals and achieving most of them is better than setting basic goals and achieving all of them, "fail early and fail often," yet we penalize children when they fail in school
5. Effective oral and written communication - writing with voice, passion, and perspective
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination - only one curriculum being taught, and that is test prep. AYP or AP. There is an enormous gap between what we teach and the skills students need. 50% of students who begin college never complete a degree, many because they didn't have the skills (especially writing) to succeed.
What motivates the "net" generation?
- Accustomed to instant gratification and "always-on" connection
- Use the web for 1) extending friendships, 2) interest-driven, self-directed learning, and 3) as a tool for self-expression
- Constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world - everywhere except in school (Technology is a double-edged sword - we need to use the powerful technologies to engage students and extend the classroom, but we also need to understand that this generation doesn't know how to NOT multitask, so they need to learn to "develop the muscles of concentration")
- Less fear and respect for authority - accustomed to learning from peers, want coaching, but only from adults who don't "talk down" to them
- Want to make a difference and do interesting/worthwhile work - want to make a difference more than they want to make money
The Culture of Schooling versus The Culture of Innovation
The teachers who make big differences are outliers. They create a culture in their classroom that is different from that at their institution.
- Individual achievement versus collaboration
- Specialization versus multi-disciplinary learning
- Risk avoidance versus trial and error (We don't talk about failure here, we talk about iteration)
- Consuming versus creating
- Extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation
- Evolution from play to passion to purpose
Implications for "Reinvention"
We have to move away from what has always been an information-based learning system (focus on "timeless learning" (academic content that has persisted over time)) to a transformation-based system (focus on what you can do with what you know; focus on using content to master the competencies for "just-in-time learning"). We have to think carefully about what content is truly important and consider how it might be used to teach skills.
Watch The Finland Phenomenon
Redefining Rigor: 5 "Habits of Mind" - Learning to ask the right questions
- Weighing Evidence
- Awareness of Varying Viewpoints
- Seeing Connections/Cause & Effect
- Speculating on Possibilities/Conjecture
- Assessing Value - both socially and personally
Questions to consider
- What skills are you teaching, and how are you assessing them?
- What is the school doing to systematically improve instruction, and how do you know it's working? Are you a better teacher than 2 years ago - if so, in what ways and how do you know?
- How well are your students prepared for college, careers, and citizenships, and how do you know?
- Is your school "adding value?"
Redefining Educational Excellence
Accountability
- Track cohort graduation rate and how well students do once they are in college (National Student Clearing House (www.studentclearinghouse.org)
- Use the college and work readiness assessment to assess analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing (www.cae.org)
- Video-tape focus groups with recent grads (data for the heart)
Academics
- Doing the new work: teaching & assessing the skills that matter most
- Develop strategies for teaching & assessing the 3Cs: Critical & Creative thinking, communication, and collaboration
- Pilot interdisciplinary courses around essential questions and capstone projects at multiple levels
Require all students to have digital portfolios (track progress, real audience, means for teacher accountability), work internships, and service-learning projects
Doing the New Work in New Ways
- Collaboration & Transparency
- Isolation is the enemy of innovation and improvement
- Every student has an adult advocate
- Every teacher on teams for collaborative inquiry - looking at student & teacher work
- Videotape teaching & supervision (lesson study vs. evaluation)
- Peer-reviewed digital portfolios for teachers and leaders
Adam J. Cox Executive Function Workshop
Building the Eight Pillars of Capable Young Minds
Adam J. Cox, PhD
DrAdamCox.com
The purpose of this 3-hour workshop was to describe the Executive Function capabilities of children - particularly those in junior high - and to prescribe strategies that educators can use to help develop those capabilities.
Dr. Cox began his presentation by describing educators as the "architects of young minds, rather than the conveyors of content." His basic premise that our role as educators is to teach children how to think, using our content as a vehicle for that thinking.
He also stated that children are desperate to be taken seriously and implied that much misbehavior is the result of adults not taking children seriously - not listening to their desires and opinions or thinking about what they have to say. On the other hand, we also often have unrealistically high expectations for children - particularly in social domains (e.g., high levels of communication, interpretation, motivation, and interaction).
The most crucial event in the evolution of the human species is the ability to wait.” Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man
A species that takes longer to develop is capable of greater cognitive complexity. The delay in development of today’s adolescents may be a function of the increasing complexity of today’s society and culture.
Electronica leads to limited auditory attention, heightened impatience and irritability, and social withdrawal.
Extinction of boredom and the demise of civility. Losing the ability to wait.
The stimulation we provide makes all the difference.
Boys: compliance feels submissive; boredom is stressful; high proportion of kinesthetic processors; respond well to kinematics; tendency to overlook detail
Girls: Typically know how to circumvent the “crisis” of boredom; More likely to enjoy auditory-based instruction; highly engaged by concepts with social relevance; May lose momentum in the vortex of perfectionism. (Study: estrogen linked to working memory)
Universal Fulcrum of Immediate Improvement
- Define and illustrate desired outcomes
- Continuous, explicit verbal feedback
- Positive feedback has greater impact on younger kids, negative feedback (critical) has a greater impact on later adolescents
- Make the process personal and emotional
- Assess consolidation daily
- One of the most important things they learn in the 5th and 6th grades is the ability to pick out the most important things and retain those
We are competing with a lifetime of electronica.
Teaching the “Trophy Generation”
- Need for constant fun and stimulation
- High level of self-absorption
- Persistent need for affirmation
- Insistence that “anything is possible”
- Conflation of electronic and real experience
Pillar I: Initiation
Likely Challenges
- Trouble getting started
- Confusion about priorities; doesn’t put first things first
- Inability to delay gratification
Possible Solutions
- Collaboratively build and reinforce classroom and study routines
- Explain how to determine priorities (could supply a rubric for decision-making)
- Parcel large or complex tasks into smaller steps
- “Chunk” time; use timers as necessary
"I want to be not just a good teacher, but your teacher"
Pillar II: Attention
Likely Challenges
- Trouble inhibiting distraction; a wandering mind
- Selective attention
- Insufficient Energy
Possible Solutions
- Narrow the field of attention (selective seating, strategic study center, deny visual and auditory stimulation; offer exercise or quiet relaxation (15 min on, then break, then 15 min on – will finish work better and faster)
- Encourage self-monitoring (use on-task charts to build two-tier thinking, make interval check-ins routine (personal buzzer/timer), Invite kids to be a part of school planning – today’s kids are generally not reliable self-monitors/evaluators – we need to teach and encourage this)
- Change learning channel frequently (sustained auditory attention is a major challenge for many 21st century children)
- Consider administering school-wide learning style assessments (theory that guides the instruction in your school); invite students to participate in school planning (taking them seriously, ideas incorporated into the plan, get better results faster)
Tone + Tempo = Synchrony of a Well “orchestrated” classroom
Making strategic use of
Vocal tone, rate and rhythm of speech, vocabulary, relevance, physical proximity, projected energy, facial expressions, gestures – attention emerges from the spaces between us rather than from within us
Classroom clouds
- Facts and knowledge
- Subjectivity of students (Personal)
- Co-regulated learning relationship – essence of application of executive function in the classroom
Pillar III: Cognitive Flexibility
Likely Challenges
- Problems changing tempo
- Reluctance to shift focus
- Colliding time-frames
Possible Solutions
- Activate two-tier thinking (ask for predictions about what steps will be required and how long they will take; provide immediate, non-judgmental feedback)
- Announce transitions well in advance, and allow ample time for organization (Don’t teach up to the bell – leaves people in chaos and they don’t have time to synthesize)
- Support synchronized tempo by animating instruction
- Provide an optimal example (sit student next to another s/he admires with better flexibility)
- Always reinforce effort more than ability or accomplishment (Carol Dweck, Mindset) because...
- effort is the foundation of a positive work ethic
- easier to take ownership of effort than talent
- potential for praise is infinite compared with attainment of a specific goal (effort is recyclable)
Many kids understand but never seem to "know" course content due to lack of repetition and rehearsal (the only way to consolidate memory). But this does not have to be boring and rote - think multimodal. Kids just need more experience with the content. Going off on tangents is a valuable instructional technique, but not a good learning technique. When we teach, we need to approach the topic from 360 degrees – present the idea in a lot of different ways, don’t get off topic. Repetition and rehearsal are irreplaceable pathways to better connected brains (neural networks of retention)
Pillar IV: Working Memory
Likely Challenges
- Forgets what s/he knows
- Difficulty multitasking
- Tests below ability level
Executive Function helps produce knowledge through the following 4 steps:
- Stimulation-Focused Thought (micro)
- Overlearning (this is a key "tipping point" in the era of distraction and where we nurture the neural architecture of intelligence)
- Reflection and Insight (macro)
- Consolidation
Capable minds learn to toggle between micro and macro cognitive frames
Possible Solutions
- Emphasize overlearning strategies
- Students should write or type notes immediately
- Ask for immediate, articulated recall of information
- Work toward assessing consolidation daily
Maximizing memory:
- Chunk new information
- Repetition and rehearsal (over-learning)
- Short, frequent quizzes
- Make & organize index cards
- Study right before going to sleep
- Review first thing in the morning
Collaborative tracking boosts productivity and academic esteem. Public tracking done artfully and sensitively – we don’t want to harm kids, we want to build community and motivate
Pillar V: Organization
Likely Challenges
- Pervasive clutter and chaos
- Unconstructive multitasking
- Constantly forgets to bring things home
Possible Solutions
- Support learning and retention by making time and space for organization
- Review and sign-off on student agendas daily
- Ask for an explanation of unconventional organization systems (you never know - they may think of something better!)
- Teach how to use an "end-of-day" checklist
- Provide peer tutor or professional coach if needed
Teach study skills! Note-taking, note cards, setting up a study space, etc.
Pillar VI: Planning
Likely Challenges
- Poor time awareness
- Trouble with sequencing
- Doesn’t visualize relevant outcomes
Possible Solutions
- Help articulate goals and sequencing strategies
- Explain how to think and work backward from a goal
- Identify the key elements of a plan (time needed, materials, equipment, resources)
- Provide daily contact with measured progress in a context of caring (MUST improve my feedback time!!!)
Pillar VII: Self-monitoring (Social)
Likely Challenges
- Self-absorption gets mistaken for self-centeredness
- Awkward interpersonal skills
- Problems with code-switching
Theory of Mind – each child has unique experience that is different from others’ experiences, we are developing more sophisticated levels of Theory of Mind as we develop. The better we get at that, the better we get at EQ.
To help students have more "conversational courage" we can:
- Focus on topics of interest and/or confidence
- Maintain a matter-of-fact tone (don't get emotional)
- Limit eye contact (often more willing to talk to us if we're not looking at them)
- Make conversation a background to an activity (e.g., toss a ball)
- Adopt the persona of a coach
Students need to learn both social rules (e.g., conversational distance, turn-taking, eye contact) and social cognitive skills (use of conventions such as greetings, voice modulation/emotion detection, giving compliments, goal-directed transitions/code-switching)
Possible Solutions
- Integrate social conventions into casual conversations and classroom instructions (state: "make sure to spend equal time listening to one another and signal if you like your partner's ideas")
- Privately suggest alternative behaviors
- Employ non-verbal signals to avoid embarrassment
- Begin with an explanation, but end with rehearsal (let them practice social skills!)
We must understand what identity kids want to identify with if we want them to ascend with us. Once we unlock what they want to feel about themselves, everything else becomes logical.
Kids are masters of decoding your voice. Your voice indicates whether you are a coach or a boss. They respond better to coaches.
We tend to focus on intellectual skills and achievement at school and are neglecting executive function, cognitive skills, and personality.
Pillar VIII: Emotional Control
Likely Challenges
- Spontaneous, strong emotion - with little provocation
- Personalizes the non-personal (takes it personally)
- Chronic irritability, moodiness
Possible Solutions
- Project empathy before attempting to correct emotional problem (attentive listening)
- Minimize direct eye contact, use a matter-of-fact tone
- Explain acceptable ways for expressing dissatisfaction
- Work toward converting disruptive students into classroom school leaders
Bottom line: I need to focus my instruction and allow for repetition and rehearsal - perhaps not as much elaboration and "going off on tangents." I also need to integrate explicit use of executive function on a daily basis - stop and review, end-of-day checklist, frequent smaller assessment, talk openly about time management and content organization. I MUST be better about getting quick and specific feedback to my students so that they can accurately reflect on their progress and improve over time.
Adam J. Cox, PhD
DrAdamCox.com
The purpose of this 3-hour workshop was to describe the Executive Function capabilities of children - particularly those in junior high - and to prescribe strategies that educators can use to help develop those capabilities.
Dr. Cox began his presentation by describing educators as the "architects of young minds, rather than the conveyors of content." His basic premise that our role as educators is to teach children how to think, using our content as a vehicle for that thinking.
He also stated that children are desperate to be taken seriously and implied that much misbehavior is the result of adults not taking children seriously - not listening to their desires and opinions or thinking about what they have to say. On the other hand, we also often have unrealistically high expectations for children - particularly in social domains (e.g., high levels of communication, interpretation, motivation, and interaction).
The most crucial event in the evolution of the human species is the ability to wait.” Jacob Bronowski, The Ascent of Man
A species that takes longer to develop is capable of greater cognitive complexity. The delay in development of today’s adolescents may be a function of the increasing complexity of today’s society and culture.
Electronica leads to limited auditory attention, heightened impatience and irritability, and social withdrawal.
Extinction of boredom and the demise of civility. Losing the ability to wait.
The stimulation we provide makes all the difference.
Boys: compliance feels submissive; boredom is stressful; high proportion of kinesthetic processors; respond well to kinematics; tendency to overlook detail
Girls: Typically know how to circumvent the “crisis” of boredom; More likely to enjoy auditory-based instruction; highly engaged by concepts with social relevance; May lose momentum in the vortex of perfectionism. (Study: estrogen linked to working memory)
Universal Fulcrum of Immediate Improvement
- Define and illustrate desired outcomes
- Continuous, explicit verbal feedback
- Positive feedback has greater impact on younger kids, negative feedback (critical) has a greater impact on later adolescents
- Make the process personal and emotional
- Assess consolidation daily
- One of the most important things they learn in the 5th and 6th grades is the ability to pick out the most important things and retain those
We are competing with a lifetime of electronica.
Teaching the “Trophy Generation”
- Need for constant fun and stimulation
- High level of self-absorption
- Persistent need for affirmation
- Insistence that “anything is possible”
- Conflation of electronic and real experience
Pillar I: Initiation
Likely Challenges
- Trouble getting started
- Confusion about priorities; doesn’t put first things first
- Inability to delay gratification
Possible Solutions
- Collaboratively build and reinforce classroom and study routines
- Explain how to determine priorities (could supply a rubric for decision-making)
- Parcel large or complex tasks into smaller steps
- “Chunk” time; use timers as necessary
"I want to be not just a good teacher, but your teacher"
Pillar II: Attention
Likely Challenges
- Trouble inhibiting distraction; a wandering mind
- Selective attention
- Insufficient Energy
Possible Solutions
- Narrow the field of attention (selective seating, strategic study center, deny visual and auditory stimulation; offer exercise or quiet relaxation (15 min on, then break, then 15 min on – will finish work better and faster)
- Encourage self-monitoring (use on-task charts to build two-tier thinking, make interval check-ins routine (personal buzzer/timer), Invite kids to be a part of school planning – today’s kids are generally not reliable self-monitors/evaluators – we need to teach and encourage this)
- Change learning channel frequently (sustained auditory attention is a major challenge for many 21st century children)
- Consider administering school-wide learning style assessments (theory that guides the instruction in your school); invite students to participate in school planning (taking them seriously, ideas incorporated into the plan, get better results faster)
Tone + Tempo = Synchrony of a Well “orchestrated” classroom
Making strategic use of
Vocal tone, rate and rhythm of speech, vocabulary, relevance, physical proximity, projected energy, facial expressions, gestures – attention emerges from the spaces between us rather than from within us
Classroom clouds
- Facts and knowledge
- Subjectivity of students (Personal)
- Co-regulated learning relationship – essence of application of executive function in the classroom
Pillar III: Cognitive Flexibility
Likely Challenges
- Problems changing tempo
- Reluctance to shift focus
- Colliding time-frames
Possible Solutions
- Activate two-tier thinking (ask for predictions about what steps will be required and how long they will take; provide immediate, non-judgmental feedback)
- Announce transitions well in advance, and allow ample time for organization (Don’t teach up to the bell – leaves people in chaos and they don’t have time to synthesize)
- Support synchronized tempo by animating instruction
- Provide an optimal example (sit student next to another s/he admires with better flexibility)
- Always reinforce effort more than ability or accomplishment (Carol Dweck, Mindset) because...
- effort is the foundation of a positive work ethic
- easier to take ownership of effort than talent
- potential for praise is infinite compared with attainment of a specific goal (effort is recyclable)
Many kids understand but never seem to "know" course content due to lack of repetition and rehearsal (the only way to consolidate memory). But this does not have to be boring and rote - think multimodal. Kids just need more experience with the content. Going off on tangents is a valuable instructional technique, but not a good learning technique. When we teach, we need to approach the topic from 360 degrees – present the idea in a lot of different ways, don’t get off topic. Repetition and rehearsal are irreplaceable pathways to better connected brains (neural networks of retention)
Pillar IV: Working Memory
Likely Challenges
- Forgets what s/he knows
- Difficulty multitasking
- Tests below ability level
Executive Function helps produce knowledge through the following 4 steps:
- Stimulation-Focused Thought (micro)
- Overlearning (this is a key "tipping point" in the era of distraction and where we nurture the neural architecture of intelligence)
- Reflection and Insight (macro)
- Consolidation
Capable minds learn to toggle between micro and macro cognitive frames
Possible Solutions
- Emphasize overlearning strategies
- Students should write or type notes immediately
- Ask for immediate, articulated recall of information
- Work toward assessing consolidation daily
Maximizing memory:
- Chunk new information
- Repetition and rehearsal (over-learning)
- Short, frequent quizzes
- Make & organize index cards
- Study right before going to sleep
- Review first thing in the morning
Collaborative tracking boosts productivity and academic esteem. Public tracking done artfully and sensitively – we don’t want to harm kids, we want to build community and motivate
Pillar V: Organization
Likely Challenges
- Pervasive clutter and chaos
- Unconstructive multitasking
- Constantly forgets to bring things home
Possible Solutions
- Support learning and retention by making time and space for organization
- Review and sign-off on student agendas daily
- Ask for an explanation of unconventional organization systems (you never know - they may think of something better!)
- Teach how to use an "end-of-day" checklist
- Provide peer tutor or professional coach if needed
Teach study skills! Note-taking, note cards, setting up a study space, etc.
Pillar VI: Planning
Likely Challenges
- Poor time awareness
- Trouble with sequencing
- Doesn’t visualize relevant outcomes
Possible Solutions
- Help articulate goals and sequencing strategies
- Explain how to think and work backward from a goal
- Identify the key elements of a plan (time needed, materials, equipment, resources)
- Provide daily contact with measured progress in a context of caring (MUST improve my feedback time!!!)
Pillar VII: Self-monitoring (Social)
Likely Challenges
- Self-absorption gets mistaken for self-centeredness
- Awkward interpersonal skills
- Problems with code-switching
Theory of Mind – each child has unique experience that is different from others’ experiences, we are developing more sophisticated levels of Theory of Mind as we develop. The better we get at that, the better we get at EQ.
To help students have more "conversational courage" we can:
- Focus on topics of interest and/or confidence
- Maintain a matter-of-fact tone (don't get emotional)
- Limit eye contact (often more willing to talk to us if we're not looking at them)
- Make conversation a background to an activity (e.g., toss a ball)
- Adopt the persona of a coach
Students need to learn both social rules (e.g., conversational distance, turn-taking, eye contact) and social cognitive skills (use of conventions such as greetings, voice modulation/emotion detection, giving compliments, goal-directed transitions/code-switching)
Possible Solutions
- Integrate social conventions into casual conversations and classroom instructions (state: "make sure to spend equal time listening to one another and signal if you like your partner's ideas")
- Privately suggest alternative behaviors
- Employ non-verbal signals to avoid embarrassment
- Begin with an explanation, but end with rehearsal (let them practice social skills!)
We must understand what identity kids want to identify with if we want them to ascend with us. Once we unlock what they want to feel about themselves, everything else becomes logical.
Kids are masters of decoding your voice. Your voice indicates whether you are a coach or a boss. They respond better to coaches.
We tend to focus on intellectual skills and achievement at school and are neglecting executive function, cognitive skills, and personality.
Pillar VIII: Emotional Control
Likely Challenges
- Spontaneous, strong emotion - with little provocation
- Personalizes the non-personal (takes it personally)
- Chronic irritability, moodiness
Possible Solutions
- Project empathy before attempting to correct emotional problem (attentive listening)
- Minimize direct eye contact, use a matter-of-fact tone
- Explain acceptable ways for expressing dissatisfaction
- Work toward converting disruptive students into classroom school leaders
Bottom line: I need to focus my instruction and allow for repetition and rehearsal - perhaps not as much elaboration and "going off on tangents." I also need to integrate explicit use of executive function on a daily basis - stop and review, end-of-day checklist, frequent smaller assessment, talk openly about time management and content organization. I MUST be better about getting quick and specific feedback to my students so that they can accurately reflect on their progress and improve over time.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Ken Kosik at UVU Arts in Education Conference
The arts ask the really big questions. Cognitive neuroscience asks big questions. Molecular neuroscience asks small questions.
Somewhere in our evolutionary history, the human need to make art has emerged. Around 50,000 years ago, our ancestors started to paint on the walls of caves. No other species had ever done this. And the paintings would not have been seen by very many people. So there is an urge to create this art that extends beyond the desire for others to see it. Musical instruments begin to emerge at about the same time, as did burying the dead with things - the emergence of abstraction.
Human genomes are almost identical to each other (only 1% different from one person to another). Neanderthals are also remarkably similar to us. But there are small differences, which may contribute to the human drive to create art. All of our closest relatives have gone extinct. Even the closest living ones (i.e. chimps, etc.) are threatened. Chimp genes are 97% like ours. But they wouldn't spontaneously help each other like we do. This is called the "social brain."
Reading: Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Attributes of the Social Brain:
- Ability to recognize people's faces (there is a part of the brain devoted specifically to this function; test yourself at faceblind.org)
- Watching the eye movements of people you're talking to
- Language - (there is a musicality to the Italian language, and they use the "musical" parts of their brain to attempt to extract meaning from nonsense words)
- Memories - beyond declarative ("Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinion, their life a mimicry, their passion a quotation." Oscar Wilde; "Let us, then, say that this is the gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses, and that whenever we wish to remember anything we see or hear or think of in our own minds, we hold this wax under the perceptions and thoughts and imprint them upon it, just as we make impressions from seal rings; and whatever is imprinted we remember and know as long as its image lasts..." Socrates) The Greeks linked memory (Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory) and the arts (the Muses are her daughters)
Memory is not about the past. It is about the future. Memory is mental time travel. (Yadin Dudai quote on the role of memory)
We do not recall things perfectly. Rather, our memories help to inform our thoughts. When memory goes away, we lose our future. When you ask an Alzheimer's patient what they would like to do this summer, they have a difficult time providing detail about their desires.
Daydreaming vs. Task-oriented Behavior
The brain shifts when you are not trying to achieve a goal. It continues to use a lot of energy, but it activates the parietal lobes - the "dark energy" of the brain, when you are at rest, but active.
What does the brain do?
It tells us our own story - creates autobiography
1. Places us in the lead role of own story (agency, maps our position in space)
2. Creates a continuity of consciousness upon a fragmented field of memories
3. Deludes us about our past by conflating memory with imagination
4. Puts emotional valence on our experience so we can learn to survive
The brain tells our story. We have to explain what we don't understand. Confabulation is when we form false memories of events by confusing imagination and memories. But we also engage in storytelling through the arts - stories, painting, music, etc. As we chip away at a scientific understanding of things, we often don't get to the really big questions that the arts address.
In our day-to-day life stories, our brains respond profoundly to visual stimuli. But the mind can put a different kind of look to the same scene. The actual visual input is far more important than all of the meaning that we put on that information. This is true of all stimuli - it is the meaning we make that is most important.
Somewhere in our evolutionary history, the human need to make art has emerged. Around 50,000 years ago, our ancestors started to paint on the walls of caves. No other species had ever done this. And the paintings would not have been seen by very many people. So there is an urge to create this art that extends beyond the desire for others to see it. Musical instruments begin to emerge at about the same time, as did burying the dead with things - the emergence of abstraction.
Human genomes are almost identical to each other (only 1% different from one person to another). Neanderthals are also remarkably similar to us. But there are small differences, which may contribute to the human drive to create art. All of our closest relatives have gone extinct. Even the closest living ones (i.e. chimps, etc.) are threatened. Chimp genes are 97% like ours. But they wouldn't spontaneously help each other like we do. This is called the "social brain."
Reading: Oliver Sacks' The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Attributes of the Social Brain:
- Ability to recognize people's faces (there is a part of the brain devoted specifically to this function; test yourself at faceblind.org)
- Watching the eye movements of people you're talking to
- Language - (there is a musicality to the Italian language, and they use the "musical" parts of their brain to attempt to extract meaning from nonsense words)
- Memories - beyond declarative ("Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinion, their life a mimicry, their passion a quotation." Oscar Wilde; "Let us, then, say that this is the gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses, and that whenever we wish to remember anything we see or hear or think of in our own minds, we hold this wax under the perceptions and thoughts and imprint them upon it, just as we make impressions from seal rings; and whatever is imprinted we remember and know as long as its image lasts..." Socrates) The Greeks linked memory (Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory) and the arts (the Muses are her daughters)
Memory is not about the past. It is about the future. Memory is mental time travel. (Yadin Dudai quote on the role of memory)
We do not recall things perfectly. Rather, our memories help to inform our thoughts. When memory goes away, we lose our future. When you ask an Alzheimer's patient what they would like to do this summer, they have a difficult time providing detail about their desires.
Daydreaming vs. Task-oriented Behavior
The brain shifts when you are not trying to achieve a goal. It continues to use a lot of energy, but it activates the parietal lobes - the "dark energy" of the brain, when you are at rest, but active.
What does the brain do?
It tells us our own story - creates autobiography
1. Places us in the lead role of own story (agency, maps our position in space)
2. Creates a continuity of consciousness upon a fragmented field of memories
3. Deludes us about our past by conflating memory with imagination
4. Puts emotional valence on our experience so we can learn to survive
The brain tells our story. We have to explain what we don't understand. Confabulation is when we form false memories of events by confusing imagination and memories. But we also engage in storytelling through the arts - stories, painting, music, etc. As we chip away at a scientific understanding of things, we often don't get to the really big questions that the arts address.
In our day-to-day life stories, our brains respond profoundly to visual stimuli. But the mind can put a different kind of look to the same scene. The actual visual input is far more important than all of the meaning that we put on that information. This is true of all stimuli - it is the meaning we make that is most important.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Raising Nerds
The article linked below is a great reminder that we need to be raising a nation of nerds. In other words, we need to value education as much as (if not more than) athletic prowess and make it a key focus of our government, culture, society, and families. I couldn't agree more.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/28/granderson.raising.nerd/index.html?iref=obinsite
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/06/28/granderson.raising.nerd/index.html?iref=obinsite
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)