I was listening tonight to a really smart collection of speakers offering an alternative voice to the Education Nation perspective. Deborah Meier’s comments really resonated. They often do. #
She talked about the fact that respect belongs in a school, and it belongs there when and how and because the stakeholders in the school join together and spend time talking together about what respect looks like in the school. Parents. Teachers. Students. Principals. The people in the school.1 #
And I thought back to my last school, an alternative high school, where we met once a week, all of us in the school, for an hour, to celebrate successes and to talk through problems and to make announcements and to dance silly dances and to be in community with each other.2 #
And then I thought about virtual school, and online school, and school in a box via the Internet. And I wondered for a moment what a democratic online school looks like. And I wondered what it might feel like for all of us in an online school community to meet sometimes like that for a face to face conversation. And I wondered what it might be like to meet other times in a Web meeting room for that same conversation. And I was really struck by how powerful that community meeting might be, and how empowering it might be, too, particularly for a school where the community is all spread out lots of the time. #
And I realized, that for a school to succeed, even an online school3, and to help to develop the kinds of people that I’m interested in developing, people who are engaged and willing citizens in the world, folks ready to participate in a democracy, then we’re going to have to figure out what those conversations, those community meetings, can and should look like. #
And we’re going to have to start having them in our democratic online schools. #
Is that happening? #
- And yes, the janitors and the secretaries and the itinerant counselors and the librarians. Everyone in the school community. I don’t mean to leave anyone out. [↩]
- I wrote a column about this practice for English Journal once, but it’s behind a pay wall at the moment. Perhaps I should dig it up. [↩]
- Perhaps especially an online school. [↩]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bud Hunt, Darren Draper. Darren Draper said: Democracy Matters in Online Classrooms, too. http://goo.gl/fb/oIW3m [...]
This was one thing that I was thinking about during the Elluminate session the other night. I totally support the need for schools to create citizens who deeply understand the opportunities and weaknesses of a democracy. Assuming that more learning is done in these online spaces, in informal, independent ways, how do we ensure that concept is articulated across experiences? Certainly, one superior advantage of the linear, face to face, curriculum is the ability to articulate those key outcomes.
I think it all comes down to what our definition of “school” becomes. I really don’t think the current iteration of what a “school” is will be useful in describing the learning paths that our kids will take in the future.
But either way, this is a really important question, Bud. We do risk the loss of certain values that we care deeply about in the shift away from traditional spaces. Not that we can’t overcome it, but it’s a bit more complex.
Will Richardson´s last [type] ..The Wrong Conversations
If a school is a learning community united by some sort of organizational structure, be it physicality or infrastructure or geography or any combination of those, and others I’m not thinking of, then should that organizational structure be open, at least in some ways, to interrogation and fiddling with by the people in the organization, students included? If so, then the opportunity to meet to discuss that structure and the goals and ideas behind it should be easy to incorporate into whatever the new “school” looks like. (Of course, we aren’t so good at making sure that happens in schools now, so I may be understating the ease with which this could happen in a “new” environment.)
I guess what I’m wondering about is if/when older kids find themselves in more of a “free agent student” situation, taking courses from a number of different institutions, etc. I think the key to your response is that concept of “organizational structure.” Is that ultimately provided by a “school” or by the learner?
Will Richardson´s last [type] ..The Wrong Conversations
Sure. Which leads me to wonder at what point students will be able to self-organize in these free agent situations. Or if they’ll choose to affiliate with an organization as a way of effectively leveraging their free agency as a way of maximizing their influence.
Oh. Wait. They might make schools, too. And, in that case, then there’ll still be a place for democracy and the types of conversations/meetings/etc. I’m talking about –
so free agency will still result in opportunities for voice and vote about a student’s own education, I think.
And I’m beginning to wonder if this comment doesn’t make sense – but I’m posting it anyway.
Bud Hunt´s last [type] ..Democracy Matters in Online Classrooms- too
Don’t we now have a few million “free agent learners” who we refer to as homeschooled kids? If so, has the dramatic growth in the number of homeschooled kids significantly weakened our democracy? I don’t know; I’m now inspired to see if anyone has done research on civic engagement of kids who were home schooled…
I guess this all begs the question of whether schools *have,* in fact, contributed greatly to civic engagement and, therefore, democracy. That’s my espoused “purpose” of public schooling, but I’m not sure the link between schooling experiences and levels of civic engagement are so clear. What’s even less clear is any link between attending a physical school building and subsequent levels of civic engagement. So, the challenges posed by online learning are complicated, but are they any more complicated?
I guess this all begs the question of whether schools *have,* in fact, contributed greatly to civic engagement and, therefore, democracy.
Whoa. Now there’s a question. Is it me or is this country decidedly ignorant when it comes to the major issues of the day? Not that I’m a walking William F. Buckley or anything, but sheesh, we certainly have a whole bunch of scary people on the verge of taking elected office. And now we’re pushing back on biodegradable chip bags because they’re too loud. (Of course!) Maybe it’s the fault of our Islamic president. Can we blame all that on schools? Or more specifically, the standardization that we’ve been working toward the last xxx years?
My answer might be yes. But I don’t want to go first. ;0)
Will Richardson´s last [type] ..The Wrong Conversations
And I guess I’ve done a poor job of articulating what I’m wondering about. Good schools, essential schools, and others, regularly work time into their days for students to be in conversation with those in power in their organizations to assist in the decision making process. Deborah described it simply, as sitting down to talk about respect and what that looks like in the school.
I wonder what those carved out spaces look like in online schools. (I don’t want to say “virtual” schools, because they are *real* places.)
And so, before this conversation goes down the path of whether or not schools are democratic places, or ever were, let me say it like this –
The schools I want to be involved in are democratic places where communities and students are involved, to some degree, in what happens in those places. And I don’t know what that looks like for a school that exists as a mishmash of localities.
But I know that I want to figure it out. It’s worth knowing.
Bud Hunt´s last [type] ..Democracy Matters in Online Classrooms- too
Bud, do you think kids who attend fully online schools feel a sense of belonging to a “school?” Should they?
Jon Becker´s last [type] ..Hello world!
That’s a good question, Jon. I don’t think that many of the models that I’ve seen are about “belonging” to much of anything. And many of our students are perhaps lost, skipping along.
While I think there’s a place and reason for an opportunity to just “get school done,” I also think it’s worth trying to create community where students feel like they can belong, and may even want to.
And, yeah, I know that’s not a universally agreed upon idea about school. But it seems worth aiming for as at least one vision of school.
Apropos of only a little bit, I highly recommend obtaining a copy of this article http://tw0.us/QZo (full disclosure: it’s written by my former department chair who I respect greatly).
Jon Becker´s last [type] ..Hello world!
BTW, why are we “Waiting for Superman” when Bud’s avatar clearly suggests he’s already on the case?
Will Richardson´s last [type] ..The Wrong Conversations
That’s Cheap Plastic Forkman. Superman costume was taken. We’re waiting for the outfit, too.
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we’re thinking rather than talk online school or project based school or charter school or homeschool, it’s “your school design it.”
i might take chem online, history per face to face lecture, math – project based, bio – blended. dance or music composition or swahili via face to face or via virtual expert tutors.
high schools become town resource centers with lecture/lab/projects happening/connecting at each. students decide what they want/need and how to go about getting it. they aren’t taking everything anymore. a quasi college, but even more self-construction happening. the goal for graduation: knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do..
that way the whole question of what is success – allows for individual/community answers. and no worries if you change your idea of success .. because you’ll know what to do to make it happen.
some visuals we’d love feedback on: http://tinyurl.com/33qaqvu
this comes from noticing the tons of cool things happening all over – and then a zooming out in order to find a cohesiveness to help scale. Sugata Mitra’s – success in providing the resources and then leaving for 3 months. self-construction.
a breakthrough some of my students just had…
http://screencast.com/t/kZ6fU4ulMatM
huge – it’s so hard to not manage them.. it’s so hard for them to not want to be managed.
we think if we facilitate this free agent environment – focusing only on a simple process of learning, we all take on the role of learners, learning what we are passionate about learning.
and then – ed does become the vehicle to social change.
if you have time.. please pick this apart – we want to know where the holes are..
[...] not yet mentioned that, as I wrote and wondered a little while back, it would be essential that there were democratic structures built into the school. And, although I’m not sure I’ve said so, it would be essential in any online school, that [...]