middleclassgirl.com

This morning I attended a forum that was organised by the HTANSW which focused on the National Curriculum. And yes, the phrase “making history come alive” was used on at least one occasion.

The forum was only advertised a week or so beforehand but despite this, more than 150 teachers were in attendance. To me, this is amazing. Some of you might think that 150 is somewhat of a paltry number considering that there are thousands of teachers who teach the subject. However, to me this is a very significant, encouraging turn-out – especially for a Saturday morning. The turn-out is also, I believe, a testament to the strength of history in that state. Whether one believes in a compulsory curriculum or not one cannot simply argue that specialists who are passionate about their subject and have the opportunity to demonstrate that passion in a supported environment then professional networks will emerge triumphant. 

Oh dear, it’s all a bit evangelical, now, isn’t it? More to come .. just gathering my thoughts on another couple of things. For more information about the National Curriculum please keep an eye on their website which will be updated regularly.

[Photo courtesy of Zavosh (Flickr)]

from The Sunday Age

Either it is a slow news period, the authorities want to distract people or something is a-brewing. 

This article that appeared in The Sunday Age today talks about the same old, hoary chestnut that arises its mundane head time and time again: is Australian History Boring (TM) ? or SHould students learn about Australian History? (TM)

The same view, including mine, are noted. But, in my defence, I feel as if the point I make about the importance of teachers in the ‘history’ classroom is valid. Without well-trained, passionate teachers who have the opportunity to develop themselves professionally, in a profession that finds it hard to be treated as ‘professionals’, any teaching, whether history or not, is ‘boring’. 

The photograph, which depicts the history classroom (one assumes) was not wasted on me. Teacher up front, notes on board, obedient students willing to share knowledge. I am not criticising this teacher or his methods. What I am skeptical about though is that this was the kind of ’stock’ photo that the Age chose to run. 

In classrooms, many exciting things are happening with History education and the 19th Century model does not always prevail. Just check out what this school is doing. It’s not ‘ground breaking’ but at least they are ‘having a crack’ at it. Schools i have visited recently are challenging the ‘traditional’ approach and giving students to demonstrate their skills and understandings of history though things like creation of movies, online writing and multi-media formats. 

Without professional support, training and the willingness of teachers to contribute to professional discussions, transformation in the history classroom to debunk “Australian History is Boring” (TM) is unlikely.

I will say it again, we need expertise coupled with dedicated, passionate professionals to make education a worthwhile, exciting experience. This expertise will not come without the professional learning structures and funding that teachers need to “do their job” well.

This past week, I have learned a couple of things.

1. That from social networks meaningful relationships can emerge.

2. That social networks can inspire. 

3. That social networks can make someone like me feel inadequate. 

I do not mean to be overly maudlin about this. By and large, I am happy that I a ’sort of’ part of a social network. In fact, this week, my husband pointed out to me that now I “have friends” - which is point that we laughed about because, in actual fact, I am a private person. 

As I read the diligent blog entries and see the definitive actions of teachers in their classrooms with their students though, I can’t help but realise that I am a talker, not a ‘doer’. No matter how much I think. No matter how much I think I have solutions, if I do not act, I am practically redundant. 

This does not mean that I am ‘going to chuck it all in’ - but I will take a break from thinking so much. 

There is no doubt. I love language. I love listening, speaking and reading words. I love listening to the way other people speak, the words they choose to use, the phrases that are particular to them. 

There are not many things that I am good at, but I must say that I am a good mimic. This paid off for me when learning languages other than English and when I used to sing. This ability paid off for me more times than actual hard work - which is good, I suppose. 

Yet, when it comes to language of work, business or education, my ‘love’ of language diminishes. 

Don Watson has pointed enough to this in ‘Weasel Words’. These phrases or combinations of words aren;t particular though to politicians or business or ‘uncreative’ (note the qualification, please) industries. They appear everywhere. Even in Education - which comes as no surprise seeing that Edication is so heavily politicised. 

Last month, I visited a university where they wanted to engage with ‘other community organisations’ in “knowledge transfer”. Err, so, like , learning? I am still confused. When I told a colleague about this, and the fact that the University had a whole department devoted to knowledge transfer she guffawed “What? They only have one department of knowledge transfer?” Exactly. 

Some people are offended by words like ‘fuck’, ’shit’ and even the dreaded ‘c’ word … but honestly, I take much more offence at ‘knowledge transfer’ than any of those. Although, it could come in handy as a euphemism ..”Yeah, [insert name] was a complete stupid, knowledge transfer” … “Oh God! Did you see that knowledge transfer cut me off?” … “Oh…knowledge transfer it.”

Cut to conversation with woman who owns coffee shop (who, incidently, makes THE best coffee in Melbourne). - 

I was discussing with her where she was going to send her son to school. She told me the options and asked for any ‘advice’. But the thing I noticed most, and laughed at, and shared with her, was the fact that she started ’speaking’ the language. “At my son’s kinder, they have an inquiry-based learning program.” I laughed because it just reminded me of how educational institutions use phrases to impress parents. She had an idea of what she was saying - but in the end, does it matter to her? 

It just reminded me of the time when P, A and I were looking for a school for A: one school we walked into turned us off straight away. P said “As soon as I saw Edward de Bono’s six hats we should have turned around and walked out.” The reasons? Well first, when the Principal pointed to te hats and said that the school follows the principles of de Bono, one, she assumed that in our white, middle-classed-ness that we knew of de Bono, much more cared about him. Secondly, there have been other thinkers since de Bono (and before) that help with ‘ideas of critical thinking’. 

I just wish people would sometimes talk as teachers as opposed to educators, of kids as opposed to students and of knowledge transfer as learning. I just don;t know why any ’substantial’ conversation regarding education has to include ‘pedagogy’ or ‘paradigm’ … yes, they are words, and often used correctly but often misused as well. 

Sorry to end on a whimper. But I like the simple life. 

This came as a grave shock to me today.  A colleague and I were discussing the benefits of having teachers who were trained in a discipline teaching students. Apparently, this is an outdated idea. Teachers are now earning faciltators which means, from what I can understand, enables them know even less than what they might know.

It reminds me of the old adage, “Those who can’t, teach. Those who can;t teach, teach P.E.” It makes me wonder how that would look if one were to change it as such: “those who can’t teach, facilitate. Those who can’t facilitate know absolutely fuck all.” I am offended by the fact that some people feel that teachers should just be able to “teach anything”. I would hope that if I was a student, my teacher, or teachers (as I believe it should be) would have maybe a little bit more expertise in one area over another. What is wrong with having someone who is a passionate about history, geography, english literature, languages, maths and is able to impart, with any luck, some of that passion and intrigue on to a student? Nothing. That’s what.

The counter argument is that a good teacher can teach anything. Personally, I think that this is a load of bollocks. I studied languages, history and literature in my main degree. When I did the Dip Ed I was required to take ‘Studies of the Society and Environment’ as a method. Technically this qualification meant that I am able to teach history, geography, politics, legal studies, sociology. I can tell you, I have not taken one course in geography, politics, legal studies or sociology. Luckily, I was never asked to teach any of these subjects. WOuld I have been able to do so? Undoubtedly. But would I come to the class with the same passion and enthusiasm as if I was teaching something that I knew about? Definitely not.

Study beyond post compulsory levels of schooling is not for everyone. I know this. There are MANY reasons why this may be the case. However, I would hate for anyone to make an assumption of any kid and pigeon hole them to suggest that they “Won’t go on to further study.” Some teachers, it seems to me, live in this paradoxical world where on one hand they espouse how important education is and the “life skills” that go hand-in-hand with this education yet see the pursuit of further knowledge, or the satiation of any fucking intellectual curiousity through further study, whether it leads to employment or not, as “not for everyone”.

The reason why this angers me so much is that it stereotypes. It also angers me because it assumes that young people can’t acquire “life skills” any where but school. Don;t we want to, as educators, ignite intellectual curiosity - and I am not just talking about being able to write in frickin iambic pentameter or knowing the origins of the First World War - it could be knowing how a combustion engine works or how bridges are constructed - whatever it is though, wouldn’t the best person who is able to this a great teacher but also passionate and knowledgeable about their subject matter?

This is not just a rant in support of HIstory. It is in support of disciplinary approaches to education and having people who know about that discipline being able to teach that well. I am not saying that students have their 200 minutes of English per week, 250 of Maths, 100 of History , 10 of Civics - some collaboration is needed. But specialisation needs to be a part of that. Do I go to a podiatrist to get my heart checked out? Do I buy tofu form a smallgoods vendor? Well, maybe if the vendor was cute, that would be another story. Hopefully you understand my drift.

So anyway, being in support of intellectual curiosity and having that pursuit linked to a humanities discipline apparently make me elitist. Well, if that is the case, you can get your pseudo-socialist butt out of my face.

And don;t worry, my next post is going to be about why I am not an elitist - a curriculum vitae so you can take all of your assumptions and put them in your hat. Dear reader, middleclassgirl is somewhat ironic.

Earlier this week, I had some fun with Al and Sapphire and their new jet boat in Second Life. As usual, I took some pictures to add to my vast collection. Something earlier this week though was making me feel a bit melancholy or useless or something - it was silly thing, sparked by - quelle surprise - an email. In any case, despite his trifle, I was feeling down. 

As is my wont, i was thinking about the importance of communities of practice but couldn’t help feel that I have ‘missed the boat’. On one hand, I feel part of the community of people who I have met in Jokaydia yet on the other, I feel a little disconnected because of the fact that I can’t put my ideas into immediate place. This idea of being in some sort of professional limbo does make me feel like I have missed my chance to make an impact on education. And by impact , I do not mean worldwide accolades or the chance to hold national press conferences, I mean having an influence in a wider community, with a a community. 

Then I end up having two really great ‘professional’ conversations with two different history teacher educators this week. And after such, I felt buoyed or inspired to write. Without going into the minutiae of the conversation, I was inspired to start writing about the need for teachers to realise how important ‘collaboration’ is in he future of not only their own professional development but in the future of their students’ lives. And, jut as i am having these thoughts, it seems that (from what I can judge) the truly wonderful Chris Betcher was espousing similar thoughts at CEUG in South Australia this week. 

And now i will sign off with one of my dubious metaphors - I realise now that I may not have missed the boat, but at least I am on the jetty!

Here is the first draft of a conference program that i worked on, on Friday. I really loved my day at work on Friday as I had the opportunity to think long and hard about ‘educational things’. the state of education and ‘the future’. 

Oh and here is the revised version of my build on SL:

It has also led me to think about the appropriation of the phrase “global citizens’ but i have to have a longer think about it before i put thought to paper. here is the very very first draft…. 

Welcome to the 2008 HTAV Annual Conference program.

It is such a difficult task to come up with a conference theme – especially when it is so easy to fall back to a few cant expressions that deal loosely around the theme of time and the past. This year’s conference theme could have been any one of the following: ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Past. Present Future’, ‘History Today’, ‘Days Gone By’, or, a personal favourite, ‘Step Back in Time’. There is rhyme and reason though why we decided upon ‘History: The Days Ahead’. The theme obviously points to both past and future, which certainly suits the purpose of our conference, yet it echoes what is happening in an Australian educational and political context.  

The move towards a national curriculum for history, points towards a confirmed and certain future for the discipline. This idea is not retrograde, as some would assume it to be: teaching the past through a discipline not only brings with it the benefits of learning about the past, of being able to place one’s self within a global schemata, it brings with it the demonstration of a craft that has been fashioned in many ways, over millions of years. Just as knowing the craft of a poet, or an artist, or of scientific thinking, innovations in mathematical scholarship, a disciplinary approach exposes people to opportunities to learn about a craft which can be appreciated in its own right.

As we all know, excellent teaching, of any discipline, will teach students things ‘other’ than the discipline. History ( and history teachers for that matter) often get a bad rap for being too “stuck in the past” to make learning relevant to the lives of students. Yet, certainly the same could be said of maths teaching, language study or music. Excellent teaching of the disciplines will make the learning relevant and authentic for students. To suggest that a disciplinary approach is outmoded is as faddish as the suggestions that mean to replace it with are.

This said, the time that we are living in now, educationally speaking, does demand that  teachers change or adapt their practice,  especially when it comes to the use of new technologies in the classroom. We are at a stage where it is no longer optional to use technology in the classroom. The rapidity with which technologies emerge, and the rate of change  that today’s students are used to, make it necessary for every teacher, of any subject, to be digitally literate. The use of technology in the classroom is no longer an amusing add-on, or frivolous adjunct – it is as essential as having pen and paper, books and whiteboards, chairs and tables. And the use of this technology does not mean that the disciplines do not become the focus. In many ways, technology is yet another tool that we will use, as teachers, to ensure that we are able to give the best education to our students.

So, when we refer to ‘The days ahead’, I ask you to consider how you will be approaching the teaching of discipline in the ‘days ahead’ in your career. One of the joys of this profession is that one can always be continually learning – something, I hope, that we would want to encourage in our students – and who best to model it for them? In attending this conference, you will be making a small step towards ‘the days ahead’ and be celebrating that there are always more things to learn – even if it is through revisiting them.

The range of workshops on offer will no doubt make it a difficult task for you to choose just three sessions each day of the conference. Whether it be attending one of the numerous sessions on developing your IT skills for the history classroom, or enhancing your knowledge on an historical period, event or teaching practice, I am certain that you will be able to find ’something’.

The work of this sort of conference is not possible without the contributions of our sponsors …., …..and the commitment and work of the board members and staff of the HTAV. Most importantly though, the work of this professional teaching association is not possible without the valuable contributions of you, our members, who will support and triumph the cause of history in school education “in the days ahead”. I apologise – it was too tempting!

It is always with some sort of envy that I read a) those blog posts of those who are over at NECC and b) those blog posts of those people who I can see are really forward thinking.

I just read one such post, over at Dean Groom’s blog. There, Dean laments, in his endearing, passionate style, of how one presentation he went to at NECC didn’t really live up to the expectations that he had before he went along. And even though I have been thinking about this for a long time, it was that post which has prompted me to rant here. Mind you, I only felt compelled to read Dean’s post because of his tweet which bemoaned that “its really really bad, this is web 1.0″.

Anyhoo, this all got me thinking about what Ihave been thinking about - a lot - lately and that is that teachers, in Australia, and certainly the teachers I deal with and meet, are still at Web 1.0 stage. And in any case, I think I am as well. Even though I see that many teachers are au fait with the concept of a wiki, a blog a ning .. they still don;t have either the infrastraucture, professional learning support or will to *actually* use it in their classroom consistently enough so that it is not always presented as ‘the other’.

Am I offering a solution here? Well, no. But, sometimes, the dumbed down versions of ‘I.T’ training are needed -  so that teachers can at least warm to the idea. Not that Dean, mind you, was lamenting this as the reason why he was so disappointed in the session- you will see that there are more obvious reasons for his  in his post. However, I still believe, from what I have observed and from my own expereince, that teachers (especially in history education) are generally at the web 1.0 stage of things. That’s not to say that there aren’t those who are doing some really fantastic things way beyond Web 1.0, nor is it to suggest that those not using tools beyond Web 1.0 are ‘bad’ history teachers. Yet, it does raise the question as to why there is such a glaring chasm in the consistency of development of teachers’ skills and approaches to classroom teaching which is changing as rapidly as the children who enter it each year.

I have been meaning to do this for a while. The crude drawing above is the way that I see the current state of play. And no, the irony is not lost on me that I drew something, with a pencil, top demonstrate this.

Now, I have drawn this as a broken pyramid for two reasons: the first being that History teachers love using a pyramid diagram for som many of their teaching moments - not least Ancient Egypt!! Secondly, you will notice that I have severed the apex of the pyramid the reason for this being that at the moment, in the teaching profession in Australia, I feel that those teachers, who are by far in the minorty, and are ‘on top of’ emerging technologies, are so far ‘out there’, pioneering unchartered lands, that they are not even part of the cohort to whom I refer.

At the same time, I feel that even though I have a basic understanding of some things, I am so far behind the likes of my colleagues who I have met in Second Life - hence my conundrum: I can really see the potential of gaming and virtual worlds in the learning of History, yet I feel like such a complete novice that I don’t know where to begin. And, according to my half-baked theory here, I feel like the effort to grapple with these ideas, when I see so many teachers at the Web 1.0 stage, is just so daunting that nothing would ever be achieved. ‘Cos, y’know, I like to help people ‘n stuff and not just see me liking the stuff I do! ‘

Yeah, it was a long one, but I feel better for having put it down.

Well, I think that I have finally got some of my thoughts together and after a good 7 or so months I have finally worked out what I would like to do as an extra-curricular activity.

I have learned many things so far in Second Life: mainly from other educators, but also from some of the wonderful ‘global citizens’ whom one can come across. I have learned much about the use of ‘IT’ in the school classroom and much about the types of professional learning activities that people undertake. I have also learned how to build - well, at least rudimentarily -

- and, all importantly how to change the look of my avatar!

However, the thing that I have learned most, and have been pleasantly surprised by, is the sense of community that emerges in this virtual world. No doubt, this has something to do with the space that I have chosen to ‘call home’ - the fantastic islands of Jokaydia. My involvement and interactions with the poeple I have met here have inspired me, humoured me and educated me and have helped me trundle along my own professional learning path.

So, Jokaydians … thank you! This blog then, is all your faults!