Think Transformatively

What is education today? The following is a short video summarizing some of the most important characteristics of students today - how they learn, what they need to learn, their goals, hopes, dreams, what their lives will be like, and what kinds of changes they will experience in their lifetime. 200 students at Kansas State University explored these topics in the form of a video that addresses some of the central issues of our current educational paradigm.  

This video is intended to inspire teachers to engage students through technology and by doing so to develop higher level thinking skills. For teachers to be able to do this it is also important to provide teachers with the tools and training to be able to see the possibilities that technology offers for personal growth. Students are already immersed in technology and using it will allow them to make the connection between their everyday life and school. 

How should education be reformed? In order to change elements of the educational processes it is our view that we must understand what is not working in our current system and consider thoughtful ways of adjusting education to better meet the needs of students both intellectually and socially.  Below are posters produced by four ETEC 635 students at Concordia University in Montreal Canada, to explain the radical progressivist perspective on the current systems of education.  

• We believe that all too often students are not given the opportunity to explore and discover through their own unique perspective, nor are they encouraged to challenge ideas that hinder their personal autonomy or their communities.  

• We question the notion that education has to be organized by year.  Sir Ken Robinson has indicated that we have modeled our educational system in the image of capitalism.   We believe that our schools should be more expansive environments that have students interact in more innovative and creative ways. 

• We believe that technology should be used in more thoughtful ways.  Technologies from our perspective should be examined both in terms of their limitations but also in terms of their many affordances.  Technologies should also be adapted to the context and used as tools to encourage social change (think Arab Spring!)  

• We believe that education should help people in oppressive states to move outside of constrictive paradigms.  We believe that education can help people find freedom within themselves and to promote it within their communities. In this way we are advocates for democratic environments.

• We believe that human beings are naturally inquisitive about their environments and the education should not restrict this instinct.  Instead, educational environments should encourage students to advance in areas that they are fascinated by and give them greater levels of autonomy. 

REFERENCES

Poster created by students in ETEC 635 at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada.

*The images used were integrated solely for  educational purposes.  Original sources are listed below.

• Books gone wild (Photograph).  (Jan. 2012)  . Retrieved from                                            http://www.flickr.com/photos/69530081@N02/6750014139/
• Brooks pipe & my ipad (Photograph). (May 2010) . Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/calebphotographer/4641247310/
• Conformityclashivils (Owner).  (2010). Untitled.  Retrieved from http://www.sanglucci.com/mr-saturday-the-conformity-uniform
• Ryan McVay (Photographer) (n.d.) . five year old girl blowing bubbles   (photograph). Retrieved from http://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/photo/  five-year-old-girl-blowing-bubbles-royalty-free-image/83663433?  Language=en-US
• Zazzle (2008) . Untitled. Retrieved from http://www.zazzle.ca/  mans_medium_sized_black_t_shirt-235150382001326544