Teacher → Facilitator of Learning
I hate educational buzz words. In my industry of educational technology, they show up on the regular. We redefine words to meet the current school climate and need- we now have Directors of Innovation and Directors of Equity and Inclusion. We hear words like “mindfulness,” “STEM,” and “digital citizenship” and realize that most the time it just feels like a push for a new agenda. Sometimes those agendas are needed, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes it just feels like a bone wearying addition to a profession that already feels overwhelmed by the last buzz word.
That being said, I feel like I must tiptoe to share what is on my heart right now. Some will say “Tomaytos, tomahtos! Who cares!” But I’ve been ruminating on this thought so I needed to write a blog post to work through it. And lets me honest, I haven’t blogged in a while, so hear me out!
When you go to school to work towards a degree in education, you graduate and are called a “teacher.” The world has been around a very long time. You’ll even see it in the bible when speaking about Jesus in some translations. But, as I consider the world we live in today, the word “teacher” feels a little antiquated. As I consider what I do as an educator these days, I feel I am more a facilitator of learning instead of a teacher.
The landscape of education has changed dramatically just in my lifetime. When I was in a k-12 school, my resources for formal learning were my text books, the school library, and my teacher. The teacher was the purveyor of all knowledge. Everything I learned was seen through their lens, their biases, their abilities and inabilities. I rarely questioned the quality of their teaching until I got to high school. I accepted that what they had to say was what I needed to know. Period. Dot. End.
Today’s students have never lived in a world without instant access. The other day my two year old grandson was sitting on the sofa wanting to watch a Christmas movie and all of a sudden said, “No Granna, a movie about peacocks.” I laughed and then realized I could do that. I had the ability to pull up a YouTube video about peacocks and he was quite happy (and learning). The easy access to information has changed the landscape of education in both good and bad ways. Students have access to all this information but have never been taught how to curate what is worthy of being looked at. Mainly because today’s teachers haven’t been taught it either.
The role of the educator today reminds me of the quote of yesteryear, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Most people associate this quote to Yeats but it is unclear if he truly is the originator. Because students have access to information in their back pocket at all times, my role isn’t about pouring information into their heads for them to capture and keep forever (or at least until the next exam). My role is to lead them to think critically about the information placed before them. To light a fire within them that causes them to want to learn more. To ask questions that lets them reflect on the information that they have access to. Sometimes this looks like an assignment called “Reflection” but sometimes it might look like a pretty intense classroom discussion where I’m stirring the pot just enough to get people talking but not enough to see tempers flare!
In my humble opinion, today’s teacher is now a Facilitator of Learning. Even elementary teachers should be working towards this overarching goal. While there are some things that will stand the test of time that students just have to learn- the alphabet, reading, telling time, understanding the concepts of math…how we go about teaching those things does matter. Today’s educator needs to be considering ways to teach a lesson that causes students to think deeper and longer. Maybe this means explaining the origin of when the “ph” sound started sounding like “f.” Putting a little background history to a sound can possibly jog a memory when reading the word “phone,” especially in English Language Learning students or those behind in learning. Extra building blocks help.
In today’s society youngsters ask “Why?” because they live in a world where they can know why’s. I was on a plan the other day and the flight attendant asked a young boy to put up his tray table to prepare for landing. He quickly asked “Why?” The flight attendant said, “Because you have to, we are about to land” in a rather indignant response. I think she thought the child was being disrespectful, but after seeing the look on the child’s face, I don’t think she was. She just wanted to know the reasoning behind the request. These are the students we have in our classrooms today- whether they be 2 or 24 (Google has been around since 1998).
My challenge to myself right now is to see myself less as a teacher and more of a facilitator of learning. How do I lead my students tot he information they need in order to become intentional about technology integration in their classroom? How do I help them reflect on their own practices? Biases? Needs? How do I make sure they are interacting with the resources I provide to them? How do I allow my pride to get out of the way of facilitated learning? How do I allow my knowledge to not just pour out of me in excitement for my topic, but let it be used to spur the conversation?
Practical ways to become a Facilitator of Learning:
- Use the practice of “turn and talk” more. Have students discuss questions with themselves.
- Have classroom debates (or less formally, discussions) that allow varied viewpoints to emerge. This can be face-to-face or in a discussion board online.
- Set your readings up in your Learning Management System (LMS) so that students have to open the link and click “finish” before opening the next link. While this doesn’t mean they will read the information, it does mean that they have to at least come into contact with the information before getting to their assessment.
- Quiz them on pertinent readings. Ask critical thinking questions about the reading. Don’t ask them to regurgitate what they read, ask questions that puts the reading into practice- give them scenarios. I don’t even care if they have the reading open when they answer the questions! If you are making them think critically about concepts, they can’t find the A, B, or C answer there anyway.
- Teach them not only how to curate resources but show them why they are good resources and where to find them. Don’t rely fully on your school’s educational databases, that won’t help them in life.
- Have them reflect on what they have learned in the realm of their own world. “How has what you learned changed who you are as a person and your view on this subject?” Why?
