The Great (Education) Reset: Instruction

School for my children started just a few short weeks ago.  Unlike many in the district, we chose to enroll our kids (Grades 2 and 5) in the district’s fully remote learning option.  Up until mid-August, my wife and I were anticipating having to send them to the school building up to three days each week, and supporting them at home on the other days.  This terrified us.  I read through the district’s reopening plan, looking for specific details of how they were going to set up the hallways, stairwells, library, cafeteria, and most importantly, the classrooms.  I could go into detail in terms of what I found, but that really isn’t the focus of today’s post.  You’re probably wondering, then, why I chose to begin with this story…

As I was reading the district’s plan, I began to consider how the learning was going to need to change in order to support students in a hybrid model of instruction.  Three days in the school building, two days remote, week after week.  And how would the students be set up for success as they entered this new experience?  I didn’t see the answers I was seeking in the reopening plan, so I started to think about how we might redesign the learning experience for students?

I could spend a lot of time here discussing the factory model of instruction that has dominated education for the past 100+ years, and how it was better suited for the industrial era that it is now, but the dual crises (health and racial) have created a reset button, of sorts… an opportunity to dig in to redesign the system, starting at the classroom and school levels.  The question is, where do we begin?

To answer that question, we need to ask (and answer) another… how might we engage all students in meaningful, engaging learning that will prepare them for the challenges they will face in the future?  Let’s explore a few options…

Time

Our current model is shaped around a school day that runs Monday-Friday, for approximately 6.5 hours each day.  In New York State, schools are required to have students in attending for a minimum of 180 days per school year.  This year, many students will be attending school remotely, at least part of the time.  School leaders have had to determine how best to track attendance in order to meet the State’s seat time requirement.  We have chosen the fully remote option, which means my two sons attend two zoom calls per day for core content, a shortened zoom call for art, music, or PE, and spend the remainder of the day engaged in independent practice.  

While this made sense 20, 50, 100 years ago, I’m not sure that this model is still the best approach.  First off, kids are learning at all times of the day, and in many different environments.  And their learning is connected to personal interests, ideas, and needs, and often don’t fit into the neat categories (more on this in the next section).  In this time of resetting the model, 

how might we embrace anytime learning for students and disrupt the standard school day?  

One thought I have on this has to do with student agency, and providing students the opportunity to take ownership over their schedules.  Access to digital tools and resources means students can learn asynchronously, when they need it.  Learning as a product of seat time should no longer be employed.  Instead, students can be using digital (and print) resources as they need it, connecting their learning to exploring topics of interest or gathering information in service of solving real world challenges.  

Format

In our current educational model, learning is siloed into a series of separate subjects, what are commonly referred to as ‘core subjects’ such as mathematics, english language arts, science, and social studies.  Lessons are often taught in isolation, with little to no connection between the various subjects.  In addition, much of the learning is also disconnected from the world kids experience outside the classroom.  

If this sounds like I’m describing your learning experience, you would be wrong (although in truth I could be).  No, this is the experience students are having in schools across the country right now, even those who are in a blend of in-person and virtual learning experiences (hybrid model), or are fully remote.  

How might we create student-centered learning experiences that are meaningfully multidisciplinary?

There are already a few models out there that do this fairly well.  Both project-based learning (PBL) and expeditionary learning (EL) are structured to bring together multiple disciplines into a comprehensive learning experience for kids.  In addition to these established approaches, I believe there is considerable room for new, yet to be designed experiences that could be meaningfully multidisciplinary, connecting content to real-world challenges and student interest.  It will be important that these new approaches are learner-centered and steeped in building creative thinking, collaboration, and a growth mindset.  

Content

As school and district leaders navigate the start of the 2020-21 school year, many challenges and opportunities present themselves.  The first, and probably most talked about, has been the teaching and learning loss experienced by students as a result of the shift in instructional delivery experienced this past Spring.  Most significantly impacted are those students from marginalized groups.  Many educators may feel that the steps forward should include revisiting and first teaching the missed content from the previous school year.  While this may, at first glance, seem like the logical way forward, it actually serves to create further inequity, especially for those who were already experiencing gaps in their learning.  Therefore, other approaches must be designed that focus on continuing grade level learning, while also addressing content and skills understanding that will be needed to support that grade level learning.

How might we engage learners in high impact grade level learning, leveraging technology and student-centered learning strategies to design experiences where students can recover lost learning and thrive regardless of the instructional environment?

The opportunity for educators will be to develop new and innovative ways to address this loss while also engaging students in high impact grade level learning, leveraging technology and student-centered learning strategies to design experiences where students can thrive regardless of the instructional environment.  Two models come to mind… Personalized Learning and Competency-Based Learning.  While both are broad in their scope and implementation approaches, they offer a foundation upon which high-impact learning experiences can be designed.

The path forward will be designed

As schools begin to explore these opportunities, leaders and educators, with the support of school designers, must take a human-centered approach to the design of possible solutions.  This means beginning with the formation of a diverse, committed team of leaders and educators who will work collaboratively to reimagine teaching and learning.  Their work must begin with forming a deep understanding of the needs and desires of those for whom the solutions will be designed.  Included in this will be a reflective examination of the choices and actions taken during the Spring, and to take a hard look at the impact of those choices and actions on all members of the community, not just those in the middle.  This occurs through a review of multiple data and information sources, both quantitative and qualitative, including what we might call the mainstreams and the extremes.

Once the team has settled on the design question(s) that will have the greatest impact, they (with the support of school designers) can begin to engage brainstorming to develop a wide variety of possible solutions, and then collaboratively narrow their view on one or two solutions that show the greatest potential for impact.  

With so much at stake, and little time to prototype and test solution iterations, it will be important that the team, with support from a school designer, develop methods for collecting real time data on the impact of their solutions, and engage in ongoing review of that data to inform iterative changes that will need to be made during implementation.  This level of adaptability and responsiveness will require deep commitment to the desired impact over the designed solution, and the embracing of a culture of learning for all members of the school community.