As I delve into learning more about unschooling, free schooling, Democracy schooling, John Taylor Gatto, etc., etc., etc. I’m frustrated by the realization that we’re making students jump through hoops that they don’t care about, never chose, and that just don’t matter to them...and all because we say so. I think unschooling is fantastic, but it’s not realistic for everyone. I think freedom/Democracy schooling is wonderful, but it can’t be publicly funded. Sooo what to do? How do we bring these great learning philosophies to a broken system? Is it possible?
Well it looks like there’s at least one teacher moving in the right direction. Shelley Wright is a high school educator in Moose Jaw, SK. On her blog she shares, “I love learning more than anything else; this blog is part of that journey.” In her latest post Shelley shares what happens When School Becomes Real Life and in her latest video, she shows what happens! What I love about Shelley’s blog and video is she keeps it real. She acknowledges that when you’re teaching kids who’ve spent their whole life being forced to be learning dependent, real life learning isn’t easy work, but as one student explains, Ms. Wright just kind of through them into taking ownership of their learning and they have to figure it out.
Shelley throws out some important questions, like, “Will my students get mad that I’m making them do my job?”
Take a look at her video below and check out her blog. What do you think?
She is right on the money. These students are going to be prepared for many of life's challenges including but not limited to collaborating with others, asking the right questions and knowing how and where to seek out answers. For anyone who thinks Ms. Wright is downloading her job onto her students know that her method takes much more work than simply providing lectures and notes to students. She must facilitate and guide them through the metacognitive aspects of inquiry. Unlearning years of schooling takes work. Thanks for highlighting her work,
ReplyDeletefrom a fellow Canadian educator.