I enjoyed a wonderful talk in our second staff PD day at school from a Christian Apologist named Dr Frank Stootman. The good doctor made many great points, but the one I wish to focus on today is the human desire for significance.This desire is an intrinsic one, and without trying to espouse the religious reasons that were explained today by Dr Stootman, I want to point out a metaphor that is obvious in just about every community around the world - the signs of making one's mark in a public way. Even at the expense of public property!
Take a walk in a park and you see initials and a love heart on a tree, graffiti 'tags' on the pathway, cheeky S.O.S. signs made with pebbles in the dirt, .... there are many examples of people leaving their mark. And they do so in a deliberately public way. Why do people do that? Is it simply a way for those who are rebellious in nature to renege from social responsibilities?
I tend to think not.
Teenagers have a burning desire to find their place in the world and make their mark. And most of the time their most frequented places and institutions and family don't provide the avenue to truly express one's self. So, they are left to do the wrong thing as an outlet of this expression.
While not always the case, this general scenario is correct more often than not. But it doesn't have to be a negative experience.
Yesterday I witnessed an alternative approach. In fact, I encouraged it by inviting one of my computing students onto my Skype conference call to discuss "writing projects" with a bunch of teachers from all over the world. You can read what one teacher-participant thought in his blog post correctly titled, Students Teaching Teachers, and you can listen in on the conversation via the podcast.
What transpired was simply a revelation to me and I am only beginning to unpack it. One conclusion I have made is that students have a massive vested interest in education. Time at school for the average teenager equates to 1,600 hours a year or 19,200 hours in total. In every pupil we have a walking barometer, thermometer, teachometer, schoolometer! They know what has happened to them in every class - it's all stored up there in the grey matter and much of it deeply ingrained in their heart through positive and negative experiences.
Yet so often students are expected to check their experience and opinions at the classroom door, if not at the school gate. They aren't asked to contribute to a body of knowledge about education despite the fact that we could learn so much from them.As teachers, what is stopping us from surveying students at the end of each course? I haven't done this in a while but I certainly think there is merit in it. One approach could be a simple questionnaire embedded in our course websites. I know Moodle has one such function in the form of the Feedback module, soon to be integrated (possibly in version 1.9).
Alternatively, what about engaging with kids via podcasts, webcasts, blog posts and other forms of communication? Even via informal chats. I recall huge success achieved in the past simply through interviewing students via Skype on course material. It uncovers some amazing insights, sometime some gaping holes in understanding, but ultimately the student's feel empowered and often go on to greater heights.
I think great benefits can be had by providing a positive outlet for teenage self expression. Schools and teachers need to take the risk. As someone wise once said, "Go out on the limb, that is where the fruit is."
