School learning succession: written curriculum

Most schools in the United States still require teachers to write individual lesson plans to document strategies for meeting aims and objectives. Few teachers receive any regular feedback on these individual forms. And most are required to write them again, year after year. In these contexts, compliance is more important than quality and improvement is isolated and often managed by administrators who are busy with a range of priorities. The reality is, that individual lessons plans are an outdated approach to planning. Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins published Understanding by Design (UbD) framework in the late 90’s and here we are still forward planning, in most schools, and trying to use data to inform instruction, without using tools that can help improve practices.

Backward Planning vs. Forward Planning

Why do so few schools backward plan? Perhaps because to do so requires more than teacher training, time, and a willing culture. It requires a system for which to organize the progression of learning. Learning experiences that is happen in individual classrooms miss the opportunity to ensure students are transferring what they understand and the things they can do, across contexts. This kind of cognitive flexibility is increasingly more important for the future of work (Future Jobs Report, World Economic Forum, 2018). To design a connected experience across subject areas and grade levels, schools need a systematic framework that empowers students able to make their own connections across their learning experiences over time. Wouldn’t it be great if each educator had a clearer picture of what students have learned and developed in the years prior, and what they are working toward in the years ahead?

Connected learning is systematic

The most successful learning environments in the are interconnected and designed to facilitate student driven growth. Many nations have organized education in this way so that there is authentic continuity and alignment. The International Baccalaureate has created this system and structure to be portable across more than 120 different counties and taught in more than 90 different languages. Systems and frameworks should empower innovation, not restrict it. So why don’t we see this kind of organization in United States contexts? When I have asked lead educators what systems schools are using to organize themselves around learning, some have suggested they use NGSS or Common Core standards, others have talked about the accountabilities for teacher licensing. The reality is, that none of these are systems because they do not interconnect. They are not designed to intersect, correlate, or integrate learning across subject disciplines and are perhaps best classified as base-line tools for quality.  

Bigger design thinking for US education

Governing bodies and local governments could think of ways to develop a flexible framework for developing teacher quality through professional development that is related to the approaches to learning designed to connect learning experiences across contexts. Why shouldn’t we work to develop a systematic web for which teachers build units of study that can be refined and redefined over time. A UbD philosophy and practice provides a basis to reflect on the actions and strategies that drive forward targeted improvement, rather than reinventing the wheel every single time a lesson is to be taught. Through use of a written curriculum, we also have clearer reference points for what can be done to increase student success. Perhaps with a well-designed system, we could determine appropriate times for benchmark testing, and use the data as one of the resources for which to improve instruction. 

Leave a legacy of learning

Units of work that are grouped around themes and concepts enable students to develop deep, enduring understanding rather than focusing on content in isolation. A designed and integrated written curriculum which captures the aims, objectives, various methods of assessment, opportunities for differentiation, and other useful strategies is the core of what schools need for construct a legacy of learning, for the future student groups, and future teachers. We should use the written curriculum to reflect on what we have tried, what worked, and to know where we are headed. Improvement of our practices should be grounded in the immediate future, and  for the years to come. Future school communities can will benefit from schools who have learned, and document this growth as a resource for the future. 

QUESTION: How do we build this kind of quality without a systematic approach across schools and school systems? 

Technology for an outdoor learning environment

I may not be a teaching practitioner at this time, however, I still consider myself an educator invested in high quality practices the provide students with innovative ways to explore the world they live in and expand their thinking.  

ADVANCEMENT FOR LEARNING

Technology in the classroom is a debated topic since while students are early adopters, often knowing how to connect, how to process and how to learn new technology skill rapidly, some educational providers struggle to know how to integrate advanced technologies into the learning at a level that is engaging and relevant to the level of proficiency that students already possess. But perhaps teachers do not have to have mastered technology to the same degree as their students.  It would be terrific if we could see this as a resource or tool problem to be solved together.  We can think in terms of the outcomes from learning that we desire students to master, and then involve them in finding the apps and tools to solve the problem.  Apple Education often showcase incredible and innovative uses of their devices for learning.  Yes, these videos are for promotional value for Apple, but it is so wonderful to see the vast way that technology can be used to make learning real world, and rigorous.  In this promotional video, you will see the way that students in Singapore are using an iPad to predict, measure and graph results: Apple Stories: Nanyung Girls' School, Singapore.

TECHNOLOGY USE OUTDOORS

In Isleboro, Maine, a school district has thought very hard about how to bring students out of the walled classroom to engage in the natural world, bringing the 21st century tools they enjoy using with them.  They say that the art of authentic technological integration is to get them doing,  Teachers bridge their teaching with technology so that students make their own connections.  We know enough about the brain to know that this is required to develop higher order thinking. Students collaborate to create a resource that becomes a document available to the community and the world.  Teachers say that students don't see the writing and drafting and re-writing as a chore when there is a purpose. Video: Using Technology to Connect Students and the Environment. 

This video was featured on the User Generated Education blog, which is a terrific resource for teachers to expand their awareness of the possibilities that technology can provide for their students.  It features top Apps used in the classroom, website links to other resources, and also some very practical theory to assist schools in developing a common language to support the growth of technology integration.

For example: the blog also presents the SAMR model, developed by Dr Ruben Puentendura:

Here is a chart that presents the model of technology integration developed by Dr Puentendura:

The IB Community Blog

Yes, I work at for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Americas office. But I applied to work with the IB because I believe in the philosophy of Education for a Better World.  Having taught in IB World Schools for a number of years and seen the way the programmes not only developed students capacity as critical and creative thinkers, but opened their minds to new perspectives while affirming them to dig deep into their own cultural heritages and be proud of who they are, and where they come from.

The IB Community Blog provides programme updates, research reports, philosophy and practice of student centred education as well as showcases the incredible work of students and teachers within a global context.  From the inside, IB staff contribute and also spend time sourcing the voices of the IB community, which has reached more than 6,000 programmes world wide, with 2,608 IB World Schools in the Americas, alone.  1.3 Million students access a globally directed education, across the world.

You may like to take a look at the way the new Career-related programme is contributing to future pathways, or read about how IB alumni believe their education helped them to become a life-long learner.  Reading this blog inspires me because it literally consists of student, parent, teacher, leader, curriculum designer, researcher, advocate and alumni contributions.  While I have a rich experience in the IB, this blog inspires me and helps me to develop a greater knowledge of programme impact, and new perspectives about international education.

Someone once said, we are not learning, we are not growing, if we aren't growing, we aren't living; and if we aren't living....