why? what is this all about?
Over the past few months, as part of my Master of Education studies, I’ve been working to grow, understand and develop my Personal Learning Network (PLN). Given that I have been out of the classroom for nearly eight years since the birth of my first child, this felt not only a daunting task, but a completely novel idea. I have considered my professional growth to be largely on hold since making the decision to stay home with my children. Although I have done intermittent tutoring over the years, beginning my MEd last year was my first real step towards reclaiming my professional identity. A critical part of this, due to the ever changing nature of teaching (Trust, Krutka & Carpenter, 2016) was to address the gaps in my digital knowledge and skill. Establishing a social network identity (Lupton, Oddone & Dreamson, 2018), particularly through Twitter where I engage primarily on a professional level has been a new and significant step in this process. I’ve had to overcome some substantial hurdles, not in the least addressing my own thinking about my capacity for digital literacy and the pedagogical approach I want to embrace when I return to teaching. Like many others, my previous experience of teaching, whilst collegial to a degree, existed mostly in the isolation of the four walls of my classroom (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2010), and my use of technology was largely ‘technical’ (Baker-Doyle, 2017) in nature in that it was a useful tool, but not an integrated part of my practice. Over the semester, time, and my competency using technology have both worked against me building my PLN to a level that I am truly happy with (Oddone, 2019). Importantly however, working to develop my digital literacy (Lupton et.al., 2018) has challenged the idea that I need to know “everything” and encouraged me to work instead towards the more manageable goal of being able to competently search for and access relevant ideas and information (Oddone, 2019). Indeed, theories of connectivism (Siemens, 2005) highlight that the capacity to learn is more important than what is actually known. Learning to harness the collective knowledge and ideas of a vast network of educators is slowly becoming less intimidating and more exciting as I continually explore, examine, critique and hone my PLN.
in the beginning...
Initially, my PLN was very limited and involved minimal online interaction. I engaged informally with a number of teacher friends, but my perceived lack of currency in my thinking meant that even these face-to-face interactions were limited. As an English tutor, I had a core group of people to whom I could turn for advice or support, but essentially this was the limit of my PLN. I did not have a professional digital identity separate to my personal digital identity (Lupton et.al., 2018) and had not considered developing this prior to embarking on this ‘connected learning’ unit as part of my masters at QUT.
development
Initially my learning was very passive (Olsen, 2012) in that I followed people on Twitter and joined targeted groups on Facebook, but didn’t engage beyond reading content. Over time, I experimented with writing and retweeting posts, asking questions in forums, and linking to interesting articles (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011), functioning much like a ‘linear linker’ (Oddone, 2019) in that most of my activity involved information gathering and storing. However, in order to more actively participate in my own learning (Macia & Garcia, 2016), and in line with the requirements of my course, I also worked to produce a number of digital artefacts, including a blog post about exam stress, a video on returning to work after an absence, an infographic on the same topic, and a blog post about cultural appropriation in writing fiction. During this time, I also worked considerably at ‘stretching’ my PLN (Oddone, 2019), by expanding my network through actively engaging with others, and a with view to transforming my future teaching practice. In order to make my learning not only relevant, but hopefully useful as I venture back into the world of employment, I decided to cultivate a focus on the teaching of English literature, aiming to engage with people (Krutka, Carpenter & Trust, 2016) who offer and discuss innovative teaching ideas and debate issues that arise in this subject area.
critical incidents and reflections
The first critical incident I encountered was related to the nature of my online engagement, which, despite some progress, was still overwhelmingly passive (Macia & Garcia, 2016). Of significant importance to the development of an effective PLN is the learning that occurs through active participation (Oddone, 2019). The interactions that occur, and the way in which knowledge is shared, transformed and re-created is what drives learning, over and above cultivating simple connections. Despite being aware of the importance of active participation, I was still reticent to share my ideas due to a lack of confidence that I had anything interesting to contribute (Sivers, 2011). An impulsive decision to record and upload a video whilst walking my dog, led to an opportunity for significant consideration and reflection on the nature of my PLN and my own worth within it.
Ironically, the video, in which I highlight my insecurities, has thus far been my most successful interaction on Twitter, with over 500 views, and over 100 engagements, including comments and retweets.
To my embarrassment, I realised later that I had appropriated the hashtag #runandrant without understanding that specific topics were set weekly. However, despite this, or perhaps because of it as I’m sure that this added to my vulnerability, people were generous and helpful in their responses to my questions. Not only did this make me feel more comfortable in accepting that I don’t need to be a fountain of knowledge in order to participate in my PLN, but it helped to highlight the personal, yet interdependent nature of a successful learning network (Downes, 2012). This incident also led me to feel comfortable repurposing and sharing the feedback I received (Oddone, 2019) by combining it with my own ideas and using it to create a summary of suggestions to help people stay professionally engaged while they’re not working. I shared this infographic across both Twitter and Facebook and received a positive, if limited, response which nonetheless was critical to further reinforcing the benefits of more active participation in my PLN (Macia & Garcia, 2016). Most significantly, the responses I received to both the video and the infographic were critical in that they allowed me to realise that my experiences were shared and my contributions potentially valuable.
The second critical incident that I encountered actually came in two parts, beginning with my first blog post which I linked to my Twitter account.
Although 91 people saw my Tweet, only one person actually engaged with it and nobody commented on or liked it.
Despite this being disappointing, it actually became an important consideration for me in developing further content. This incident was followed some time later by my exposure to an amazing blog post (Milos, 2019). Not only did Milos’ Tweet about her blog receive far more engagement that mine, but when I retweeted her links, there was greater engagement with my posts. This led me to reflect considerably on the nature of the sharing I was doing (Krutka et.al., 2016) and the ways in which I actually hoped to contribute to my own and others’ learning. I had hoped that my blog would initiate discussion, but realised that I have far too few followers and have not yet developed an online reputation to warrant people taking the time to interact with it (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011). However, in addition to this, I was also forced to consider the value of what I had written about and the time I had taken to do it (Oddone, 2019). Milos' blog is teeming with insightful ideas, useful teaching strategies and a multitude of explicit examples which model her ideas, whereas mine simply offered an opinion and posed a few questions. These two incidents combined had a cumulative and critical effect on the way I decided to approach my second blog post. After following an online discussion on Twitter about artistic licence in writing ‘the other’ and a similar conversation with a student of mine regarding a text she was studying, I decided to write a blog which not only posed questions, but which made suggestions, offered teaching ideas, and linked to a range of supporting material which I had reviewed.
Encouragingly, when I tweeted a link to this blog, it was received far more positively than my previous attempt, and when I shared it to two Facebook groups I am part of, it was liked and shared also. Reflecting on this incident has made it clear to me that I value insightful and practical contributions to my PLN, and aspire eventually to learn from and interact with mine as a ‘global connectivist’ (Oddone, 2019) who carefully considers and curates the content I encounter and contributes in a meaningful way to a rich, international network of educators. obstacles
Throughout this unit, managing my confidence levels around posting and engaging online has been a persistent obstacle. Despite this being a common experience for teachers (Macia & Garcia, 2016), I have become aware that it is not sharing itself that I find difficult, as I have cultivated an active social network identity over the years(Lupton et.al., 2018) and my reticence about participating in discussions around teaching is not mirrored by my active participation in other communities and networks around topics like parenting and early years schooling. Specifically, it has been sharing on a professional level that has been difficult as I have felt disengaged from my professional life, and unsure of my digital capabilities in a world where technology is continually and rapidly changing the way we interact (Trust et.al., 2016). Finding a balance between the comfort of my personal digital identity and my desire to develop a professional one, including the expanded digital literacy which that requires, is likely to be a continuing challenge, as is managing the inevitable crossover between these two areas (Lupton et.al., 2018).
Another significant issue I encountered in trying to build and cultivate my PLN was the sheer amount of information that I was required to wade through (Oddone, 2019). As a result of my initial focus on trying to simply develop connections rather than hone a specific focus, I found that my Twitter feed became full of posts that while interesting, were not highly suitable or even relevant to me (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2010). Connectivist theory notes the importance of being able to make distinctions between important and unimportant information and build connections through recognising patterns between sources (Siemens, 2005). Consideration of this led me to trim my Twitter contacts, create a Twitter list and make more of an effort to interact on posts which aligned with my goals (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011). Admittedly, and most likely because of their more clearly defined and shared purpose, I generally still prefer interacting on Facebook groups which act more like communities than networks (Wenger, Traynor & De Laat, 2011), as I don’t face such an information overload in those places. Hopefully in time however, I will feel more comfortable embracing the increased opportunities for novel and unexpected learning directions that are afforded by a network (Oddone, 2019; Wenger et.al., 2011), and be able to establish my Twitter account as one that works more effectively towards my individual professional goals.
map of my current plnfuture directions and challenges
The challenge for me in continuing to build my PLN is definitely going to be developing the confidence and digital literacy to move to higher levels of both interaction and coherence across a range of platforms (Lupton et.al., 2018; Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011). Learning to manage the operation of my PLN is an ongoing challenge. Despite trying to adopt a more regular and focused approach, my engagement has continued to be episodic (Olsen, 2012) and I am yet to develop a more immersive, coherent practice (Lupton et.al., 2018) where I interact regularly as a necessary and integrated part of my work. The reconstruction of my professional identity is still in its infancy after so many years away from the profession, and I feel that until I am back in the classroom, this distance from a school environment will continue to act as a barrier to higher and more constructive levels of engagement. While it is empowering to know that technology affords me greater control over my learning while I’m not working (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2010), my sense of a persistent barrier comes from understanding the kinds of engagements that I value on social media (Richardon & Mancabelli, 2011). I am less interested in people’s opinions and more interested in evidence-based practice, especially when it is supported by examples and demonstrations of how things might work in a classroom.
Until I am teaching again, it is likely that my status within my PLN will lean more towards that of a 'peripheral lurker', rather than an active, committed participant (Trust et.al., 2016), but I am definitely looking forward to that changing. Understanding that I need to continue to foster and maintain the connections that I have built (Siemens, 2005) means that I intend to continue to interact with my PLN. My experiences with Twitter and my exposure to blogging in particular have ensured that I would like to continue to develop my interaction across these platforms. I’m confident that as my understanding of other platforms such as Instagram grows, I will also feel more capable of further expanding my PLN into a range of different arenas. I am however, also aware as a result of reflecting on the critical incidents I encountered during this unit, that to become a more effective connected learner (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2010), I will need to commit greater amounts of focused time and energy to improving the quality of my online interactions (Whitaker, Zoul & Casas, 2015), and reducing the noise levels in the various online platforms I use (Wenger et.al., 2011). Ultimately, and why I look forward to teaching again, I view the real power of an effective PLN to be in discovering and experimenting with new ideas and teaching methods (Krutka et.al., 2016) with the intention of enhancing the learning experiences of my students (Trust et.al., 2016). Overall, connecting with other educators online and developing my PLN has been a humbling, inspiring and ultimately transformative experience. I look forward to my PLN eventually working truly as interactive professional development (Macia & Garcia, 2016) where my teaching informs engagement with my PLN, which in turn influences and improves my teaching.
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Sometimes in life we come across those wonderful questions which seem simple enough at first, but on closer examination, prove themselves to spiral in tremendous and vicious circles. Questions which draw us in and then drag us around and around till our heads hurt and we feel farther from resolution than we did at the beginning. Recently, I’ve been working on a novel with an ATAR literature student who I tutor… and we’ve run into one such question. “Can writers write outside their own experience?”, or as Kit de Waal put it in her 2018 article for the Irish Times, can they "dip [their] pen in someone else's blood?". The immediate response is usually an emphatic “yes!”, of course they can. This is in any case the fundamental basis of fiction - that we ‘create’ characters and inhabit their minds to write them. This confidence however, may not last when specifics are introduced. Can a woman write a man? Can an adult write a child? Can a person of privilege write a pauper? Can a white person write a black person? Can the coloniser write the oppressed? Some of these scenarios seem more fraught with moral, ethical and indeed logistical dilemmas than others, which raises the question of why. When is it ok to write the ‘other’ and when is it not? Or is this the wrong question? Perhaps we should not be asking if we ’should’, but ‘why’ we want to in the first place? My student fell far down the rabbit hole with this one as it pertained to her study of Kate Grenville’s fascinating novel, The Secret River. This novel has courted controversy as well as critical claim since its publication in 2005. Grenville has drawn both acclaim and ire for the way in which she handled the writing of the Indigenous characters in her novel. She herself readily acknowledges the ethical minefield she traversed in coming to conclusions about who to include, and who to give voice to (see her memoir, Searching for the Secret River). Despite extensive research that saw her travel to the far north of Western Australia and spend time learning from Aboriginal elders, she ultimately decided not to write the Indigenous perspective into her book, and instead write exclusively through the eyes of her convict protagonist, William Thornhill. Where Greville ultimately decided that it wasn’t her place to inhabit these characters or tell their story, this omission perpetuates a silencing of Aboriginal perspectives that pervades Australian literature. Did she make the right choice? And so the spiral goes on. So what could this question look like in the classroom?The beauty of this discussion is in the way it invariably challenges our thinking and forces us to acknowledge and try to incorporate new ideas and perspectives (and this for me is the goal of a great classroom discussion!) As a result, I’d like to get students thinking about the smaller issues first and then build up to the more gritty elements.
CLASS ACTIVITY One of my favourite activities to do in the classroom is to line students up along ‘opinion continuums’ where they get up and move around the classroom till they find their place along a line which represents their position on a given topic. Here is where I’d like to introduce the notion of whether a non-Indigenous author can write an Indigenous character. Ask the students to line themselves up from yes to no and then defend their choice. Image by BSK from Free Images Hopefully this question interests you and your students as much as it has me and mine! Below is a list of resources that have been fantastic in helping to unpack the issue further. Please let me know if you have any questions, concerns or feedback - I welcome them all! useful resources
"The world of chalk paint, distress & decoupage"A connected learning environment of furniture up-cyclers.
what is connected learning?Connected learning involves people with shared interests coming together online to learn together. Ito et.al., (2013) explains that it "seeks to build communities and collective capacities for learning and opportunity" (p 7). The core properties, crucial contexts and design principles of connected learning are highlighted below: (Ito et.al., 2013) Image by author. Made using https://www.visme.co/make-infographics/ map of the Connected learning spaceImage by author. Made using https://coggle.it/ Connected learning environment - critical commentary“Technology has reorganised how we live, how we communicate, and how we learn” (Siemens, 2005) The desire of people to paint, up-cycle, improve or refurbish their furniture is nothing new. Indeed for some this exercise extends from hobby, to passion, to career. It’s an exercise built on technique, an enormous range of products and a significant amount of trial and error, and the sharing and development of ideas and knowledge is as old as the art form itself (Reynolds, 2015). The growth of technology however, has allowed for the significant expansion and sharing of ideas and skills associated with furniture up-cycling (Siemens, 2005). There now exists a vast array of online networks dedicated to people’s interest in learning, refining and honing their skills in this area (Dron & Anderson, 2014). In particular, the Facebook group “the world of chalk paint, distress and decoupage” (CPD&D) now boasts a membership of over two hundred thousand people. According to the core properties and guiding principles of Ito et.al. (2013), who coined the framework for ‘connected learning’, this network will be explored, unpacked and analysed with a view to better understanding how it functions to grow the skills, knowledge and understandings of its members and to develop shared goals (Ito, et.al., 2013). https://www.hometalk.com/36313013/clara-s-journey-desk-redo-long-post?fbclid=IwAR2VUEehsi8QzMa3VbCGvgScVOTqUbIvuCbUI4U1HP8KrL8I6-8OB3dRy6A Images reproduced with permission from the creator. Interest Driven “Learning in networks begins with our passion to learn” (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011) A very specific interest in one kind of furniture up-cycling drives the specialised network of people who are members of the CPD&D community, and it is this interest, not personal bonds, which has brought them together (Rheingold, 2012). While the group yields a wide variety of participation and skill levels, members are connected by their passion for learning (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011) about chalk paint, distress and decoupage, have a common interest in developing their knowledge and skills, and a shared appreciation for the aesthetics of their work. As a result, the level of engagement with the community is high (Ito et. al., 2013) and member posts frequently attract hundreds of comments. This collective interest means that people are often motivated to share their work (Dron & Anderson, 2014). Importantly however, there is no expectation of participation and new members are free to hover in the wings as spectators (Lave & Wenger, 1991), something they often do as evidenced by new posts declaring just this. This spectatorship is encouraged within the group, both by regular calls to freely display amateur as well as accomplished work, and by the regular posting not only of ‘before and after’ pictures, but series which display the process behind the product, thus providing visible avenues for success (Ito, et.al., 2013). Peer Supported “Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning” (Siemens, 2005) An integral part of young people’s social experience is the opportunity to share ideas with each other and receive feedback (Garcia, 2014), and effective learning communities are based on this same premise (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2012). Dron & Anderson (2014) note the increase in attention and learning that occurs when people are interacting with others, and indeed the opportunities for peer connection and interaction are the fundamental reason for people’s membership of the CPD&D community. The group is populated by members with significant experience and expertise as well as novices, and feedback is not only sought, but importantly is freely given (Nussbaum-Beach & Hall, 2012). The sharing of this expert knowledge through inclusive practices such as encouragement and empathy and the offering of constructive critique, which are all visible in the CPD&D network, is key to building a supportive community, and works toward creating a continuing cycle of knowledge building where individuals’ pursuit of learning works in turn to develop the knowledge base of the whole group (Garcia, 2014, Ito et.al., 2013). On an individual level, people who might not have a physical platform available to share their work in the community, are given a real opportunity by CPD&D to become aware of and hone their talent (Ito et. Al., 2013) through the system of peer support and the ability to connect with mentors. Participation in the group allows them to build their reputation and through engagement with like-minded peers, they are encouraged not only to build their knowledge base, but to expand their network across other digital platforms and help others do the same (Dron & Anderson, 2014), with members sometimes choosing to build their community through linking their posts to personal blogs, business pages, Youtube channels and Instagram pages (Reynolds, 2015). https://www.facebook.com/JKVintage18/ Images reproduced with permission from the creator. Academically Oriented “Cultivation of career relevant skills and recognition” (Ito, et.al., 2013) The orientation toward civic engagement and in this case, potential career opportunities is a powerful element of the CPD&D community (Ito, et. al., 2013). While some members are content to hone their craft for personal reasons and this is no barrier to involvement in the group, significant numbers are motivated by the desire to show and sell their work and for some, their craft constitutes their primary career focus. Garcia (2014) notes that while being production centred is an important feature of learning communities, connecting with tangible purpose, in this case the chance to sell items, provides even further motivation to learn. The availability to connect with mentors and experts (Ito et.al., 2013) allows members to be assured of the quality of their work, and posts are often related to the viability and potential for sale of certain pieces. Thus an important function of the group is also to build a standard of work and move collectively towards building an appreciation for the talents and skill of members within the community (Ito et.al., 2013). In accordance with this, participation in the group is not expected to be only for monetary compensation, but also for reputation-building and the mutual appreciation of each other’s work. Shared Purpose “Joint activities that are defined by a shared purpose, goals, or collaborative production." (Miell and Littleton, 2004 as cited in Ito, et.al., 2013) Members of the CPD&D community hail from around the world and from a heterogeneous selection of backgrounds, and are brought together by their common goals (Ito et.al., 2013) of sharing their knowledge and creations, developing their skills, and ultimately producing high-quality art work. Whilst furniture up-cycling itself is largely an individual pursuit, many members also share the collective desire to build awareness of, and appreciation for their craft within in the community, and this is linked to the goal of selling their creations. These goals are all facilitated by the dynamic environment of the CPD&D network where individual members work together to share, critique, support and encourage one another (Dron & Anderson, 2014). When individuals work together to test and validate knowledge in this way, the group arrives at more thoroughly investigated and tested collective understandings (Dron & Anderson, 2014). In the CPD&D learning community members frequently question and discuss ideas, techniques, products, finishes, sales strategies and prices to arrive at collective understandings about current best practice (Siemens, 2005). Characteristic of learning communities, these understandings are distributed throughout the group, with some members specialising in particular areas so that the knowledge base of the whole group is far greater than that of any one individual (Dron & Anderson, 2014). This shared knowledge base then works cyclically (Siemens, 2005) to further the goals of the learning community and provide opportunities for individuals to hone the skills necessary to produce high-quality artwork, which furthers their interests within the wider community.
Production Centred “Structures support and encourage creating, remixing, sharing, and curating of personally meaningful work.” (Garcia, 2014) Sharing is at the heart of connected learning (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011), and in line with the collective purpose of creating high quality works which highlight the skill of the artists and allow for sales to reflect this, the CPD&D learning community is highly production centred (Ito et.al., 2013). Significantly, learning almost always happens through the process of ‘doing’ (Ito, et.al., 2013, p 78) and the production of pieces is often experimental in nature and may be tracked closely by the group. Member posts frequently invite critique and discussion of works in progress and displays of finished pieces celebrate the beauty and aesthetic quality of the work. Production is also encouraged in line with the design principle of connected learning that ‘challenge is constant' (Ito et.al., 2013, p 78) by regular competitions and informally by the frequent requests from members for others to show pictures of finished pieces for inspiration. Constant product innovation also means that there is a steady stream of new paints and tools available to be tested, reviewed, critiqued and evaluated by the CPD&D network. In addition to the production of physical pieces, there is also constant creation of digital media within the CPD&D community. Members are able to engage with a variety of ways of learning about techniques and products (Ito, et.al., 2013). In addition to member posts and photography, the group pins a variety of instructional and informational posts, and members provide links to online tutorials, personal blogs, and video tutorials and demonstrations. Production is at the heart of the community and encouraged by the ready availability of support from peers (Garcia, 2014). The sum of the content produced by the CPD&D community, and the sharing of this content beyond the bounds of the group works to create a viable currency of appreciation for their work in the community. Openly Networked “Transparent and open standards that allow for people and institutions to connect and extend infrastructure across diverse settings.” (Ito, et.al., 2013) Of significant importance to collective learning environments is the stipulation that anyone is free to join (Ito, et.al., 2013). Despite the CPD&D community operating from the central site of a closed Facebook group, access is nonetheless open to everybody. Acceptance into the group does depend on correctly answering a few questions demonstrating a basic understanding of the focus of the group, thus highlighting the interest-driven nature of the community (Ito, et.al., 2013). The limitations of this model of participation however, will be examined in the following section. Within the CPD&D community, access to the substantial amount of pinned content is freely available as are the wide variety of cross-institutional links from members to sites such as Youtube, or personal webpages and blogs (Reynolds, 2015). Some platforms such as Instagram require access through a personal account, but these are freely available also. Garcia (2014) notes that connection is a basic human need, and one that is broadly facilitated by the internet. Indeed, the geographical and social boundaries that separate members of the CPD&D community are subsumed by the instant connection afforded them by the Facebook group and the variety of digital technologies that are linked through it (Dron & Anderson, 2014). This global collection of members also facilitates debate and discussion due to differing cultural norms (Dron & Anderson, 2014). Member sharing and active support invites others into this space and allows them the confidence to participate in this online platform (Garcia, 2014). Particularly for this connected learning community, the cost benefit of this form of open digital network is significant as the physical size of the products involved makes face to face collaboration challenging (Dron & Anderson, 2014).
Risks and Recommendations While the ever-growing membership of the CPD&D community on Facebook demonstrates an open and inclusive community, there are some elements of the group which do not appear to work completely in line with the idea that everyone can participate (Ito et.al., 2013). While only a small and as previously mentioned, interest-focused hurdle, the questions which precipitate membership may act as a barrier to some. This could mean that some individuals who may otherwise develop a keen interest in and desire to participate in the production practices of the group, could potentially be excluded. In addition to this, there exists within the group, offshoot membership opportunities which require a paid subscription to access specialised content. Some members also charge for the option of accessing additional content or tutorials that they have personally created. Whilst it is the shared purpose of many members of the CPD&D group to sell their products, and making money from their expertise is a valid and viable way for them to draw an income from their work, it may be prudent of the group to monitor the amount of direction toward paid content that is visible in the group. Whilst overwhelmingly, member posts and links offer free advice and mentorship, this aspect of the group may work to deter some members if it becomes too visible. Despite this, "The World of Chalk Paint, Distress and Decoupage" remains a lively, active, supportive and productive community where its members are continually challenged and encouraged to produce interesting and beautiful work. Members are free to ask questions and receive both complimentary and constructive feedback, leading to the significant and ongoing development of both individual and collective knowledge of this art form.
Assignment finished... time to paint some furniture! "Side tables" by Karen Wilkinson
https://www.facebook.com/TreasuresThroughTime/ Image reproduced with permission from the creator I find it incredibly frustrating to have the same conversation with students year after year. I started teaching over ten years ago and I'm still saying the same things about testing now that I was then. When the topic of exams comes up, it generally goes something like this "I know it doesn't seem fair, I understand that it doesn't really test what you know/what you can do, I get that it's feels more a measure of how good you are at exams than how well you know your subject... but unfortunately, it's the best we have." Really? I'm sure we can do better. Teachers want to do better and students demand it.
So what can we do? I was talking to a student yesterday about the simple addition of time. As they currently stand, examinations in WA appear hell bent on assessing not what students know, but what they know and can communicate under significant time pressure. If time stress forces you to work faster and better - great, but if you're one of the many students who find this kind of stress difficult at best and crippling at worst - it just doesn't seem fair. Make exams longer! Give students space to breathe. Space to think. Space to really work through their thoughts and develop answers that are more fairly indicative of what they can do. Time for change! Well, it's taken me nearly an hour to work out how to set up a blog, and my head is hurting. This will be a learning curve for sure!
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About meI'm a teacher, student and advocate for better education through ongoing questioning, thinking and learning.
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