Chapter 2 Forum

With all the plans for increasing technology in our classrooms I sure hope it turns out to be a Second Order Change and brings much success to our students.

One of the criteria for second-order change is, incongruent with personal values.  I have only read up to chapter 2 so I am hoping that this element will be further discussed.  I would like to have an example of what this would look like in the education system.  I feel that if something is incongruent with my personal values I am going to have a difficult time wanting to be a part of it.

Change for the sake of change is bad. That old saying, "if it's not broken don't fix it" really applies to school. We change too much to do something new that someone else is trying. We should always look at the facts and change because it is going to help are students. As a special ed. teacher I find myself having to try new stuff all the time. What worked with last years class might not work with this years class. Change is not hard if you keep in mind that it is being done to help the students.

The nature of public education is one of change. The most important aspect is that we attempt to educate all children. This is a corner stone of our democratic governance and social systems. Other nations dont even pretend to attempt this. As such, our challenge is to deal with a diverse clientele while the needs of oyur kids continually ramps up. In many ways our system is entrenched in industrial age methods for an information age education system. Turmoil is natural when the traditional begins to be replaced by the new but needed strategies and tools necessary for our kids to learn.

I have only read through ch. 2 and perhaps this will be discussed later.  I am very interested to know what these NextSchools look like.  Is every minute spent working on computers and other technology?  Do students interact with one another, the teacher, students around the world?  The idea of a personalized education for each student sounds wonderful, but I worry that it is oxymoronic if it is being delivered by a computer.  Are any skills being forfeited (handwriting, social skills, public speaking, etc.)?  The finding that students in NextSchools read twice as much as other students sounds great, but what are they reading and how are they interacting with literature?  I want to make sure collaboration and discussion are still an important part of the learning, we can't discount the importance of discourse (intellectually or socially).

If "the modern world needs citizens who can do what they were not taught" and prepare for a world that is "hard to see or define,"  how can we assist high school students to "take courses tailored for future careers" and self-select their curriculum?  Who decides what has value and staying power?

How do you effectively deal with resistance to change?