I love the turn this discussion is taking. So if schools have been
irrelevant for years... what are we doing *now* to make our schools
relevant? What could/should we be doing as well?
Chris said "Teachers will be more necessary than ever but their role
will be very different. Curriculum will become more fluid and
boundaries between disciplines will largely dissolve." Is that already
happening in any schools? What does it look like?
I will point to my Humanities 7 course as perhaps a step in the right
direction. The course integrates English and Social Studies, and draws
on science, art, music and theatre as well. Several years ago, I
basically dropped the role of being the expert on content and decided
to be the expert on the process and skills of learning. The kids come
up with the questions that form the units, group them under different
headings (I require at least one unit each in Aesthetics, History,
Psychology, and World Cultures, and students add to and refine these
headings), select questions which relate to each other, and write a
theme question that drives the unit.
They have a list of required genres (informational brochure, research
paper, persuasive piece, literary analysis essay, compare and contrast
essay, theatrical script and poetry). They may add genres as they see
fit. They must turn in at least one text-based piece, do at least one
Power Point-based presentation, and give at least one speech. They
choose the genre and format of their "final presentation of knowledge"
for each unit.
I guide them through this process, choose the group novels and
read-aloud books for each unit, help develop group activities, and
guide them through their research and writing. I know the saying "the
guide on the side, not the sage on the stage" has become something of
a cliche, but that is pretty much what I am trying to do.
So there's one example of schools working to have teachers take on
different roles, make their curricula more fluid, and blur the
artificial boundaries between disciplines. What else is going on out
there, and where all should we be heading?
Take care,
Bill Ivey
Stoneleigh-Burnham School
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