Option 2
Describe the
relationship between constructivism and the Breaking Ranks Framework. Think
about your school. As a leader in educational technology for your district,
what recommendations would you make to school leaders based on the core areas
of Breaking Ranks? Provide a rationale for each suggested change.
Blaydes quotes
Albert Einstein saying this, "It is the supreme art of the teacher to
awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." To me this is the root
of Social Constructivism in educational theory and practice as well as
Sheninger’s Breaking Ranks Framework. Students have been lulled to sleep in
classes and with the advent of so many new ways to teach the material other
than lecture it is time to awaken the joy of learning with our students again.
Within the constructivist approach I believe that this possible.
Sheninger
talks about the Breaking ranks framework as a way to lead school districts into
this new digital age responsibly and efficiently. He says there are three main
categories: CL (Collaborative Leadership), PER (Personalizing your school
environment), and CIA (Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment) which is aimed
to improve student performance. This ties them both together because one of the
most important tenants of constructivism is the student taking responsibility
of their learning, and the teacher becoming more of a facilitator (Deulen,
2013). The foundational concepts that Sheninger mentions are: leadership,
professional development, culture, organization, curriculum, instruction,
assessment, relationships, and equity. Out of these, I would recommend changing
the culture of the school first. In an article I read Allen points out that in
2005 the UK started looking at ways to integrate talking or discussion as a
constructivist approach to the online learning model. That this was a culture
change for the school since it was usually always lecture based before. I also
would recommend making sure leadership is savvy and that there is plenty of
professional development opportunities for the students as well. In my opinion,
you need to have buy in from your teachers and staff. They need to be fired up
about this change to insure that the curriculum and instruction is being
delivered in a tech savvy, responsible, and exciting way. He also talks about the
six stages of systematic school improvement that will greatly assist school
leaders. They are meant to integrate the Pillars of Digital Leadership. Sheninger
says that it is imperative that school leaders have a vision to move from vision
to action in the area of the digital age and the use of technology and how it
will be implemented in their respective school districts. The pillars provide
points of reference to improve leadership behaviors, practices, and strategies
with the assistance of technology. They will also lay the foundation for
rethinking how learning spaces and time are structured in order to provide more
personalized experiences for all stakeholders by institutionalized autonomy,
mastery and purpose. I could not agree with Sheninger more here when he talks
about mastery, purpose and autonomy. We need to as schools rethink the way we
do everything in education and start becoming autonomous technology learners
ourselves first. It is hard to become a facilitator as a teacher and
relinquishing some of the control in the classroom. One of the changes I would
make here is to provide an inservice where a couple of teachers actually teach
a live lesson in front of the staff to show them and model to them what this
process could look like. Thanks for listening!
Allen, K.
(2005). Online learning: Constructivism and conversation as
an
approach to learning. Innovations in Education and Teaching International,
42(3), 247-256. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/210667865?accountid=12085
Blaydes, J.
(2003). The educator's book of quotes. Thousand
Oaks,
CA: Corwin Press.
Deulen,
A. A. (2013). Social constructivism and online learning environments: toward a
theological model for Christian educators. Christian Education
Journal, 10(1),
90+. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA326851740&v=2.1&u=vic_liberty&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=ff63639d4dcc0b07b045a336a3661294
Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing
paradigms for changing
times. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
No comments:
Post a Comment