Mid-Point Summary

Today I applied to be part of The Globe and Mail's reader advisory panel on education because I read the paper daily and would love to be part of their internal conversation about the state of Canadian education. My online submission provided me with a good opportunity to reflect upon where I am as a teacher, parent and learner at this mid-point of the Ed D two-week program. It's remarkable how quickly my views have evolved, and I'm grateful to my professors and colleagues for helping me come to grips with some important issues. Here is the submission:

"As a father I continue to see the role that education plays in the lives of young people, its strengths and weaknesses, and the pressures under which it operates. As an English/drama teacher in an independent school I see what teachers and administration working together away from the restraints of the public education system can achieve, but also how even in those circumstances a ministry curriculum and certain teaching mindsets shape and even limit what we do. As a teacher in the both the ministry program and the IB program, I have a good sense of what works in two quite different programs, and the tensions that exist between them. As a student in the Ed. D. (educational technology) program at the University of Calgary, I have been exposed to the ideals of what deep learning should look like, and how technology, which in my experience to date has played only a peripheral role in the lives of my sons and my students, should be put to far better use in allowing our students to collaborate and learn beyond the classroom walls. I would like to be part of the panel so that I can share and discuss ideas with other "Globe" readers and journalists on the evolving state of Canadian education. My experience studying in one province and working in another gives me an interesting perspective on how different jurisdictions tackle the same issues, and sometimes leaves me baffled that there is not more of a cross-country conversation on the best practices that are so clearly within reach for all.

 "One thing that I would change is the role of technology in schools. Provinces - and independent schools - have spent millions on technology without addressing teaching itself. Seen as add-ons in traditional, teacher-centred classrooms, Smartboards are often just glorified projection screens and laptops are over-priced typewriters. When teaching becomes focussed on authentic, collaborative, inquiry-based activities, however, the role of technology changes. Engaged students use the technology to work together, to contact outside experts, to create innovative solutions to real, meaningful problems. I marvel at how my son in grade 7 in a well-run Ottawa Catholic public school, still spends much of his time with pen and paper, listening to the teacher. He's a very, very bright boy, with a caring a committed teacher, but the model they are both laboring under belongs to the 19th century. As a consequence, this pure learner, this model of ambition and curiosity, often comes home bored. The conservatism in education, this reluctance to embrace the possibilities of the world we live in and the tools we have at our disposal, in defiance of learning sciences and classroom research, is the one thing I would change."