Time Perspectives and Education

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3oIiH7BLmg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Yesterday I watched this talk given by Phillip Zimbardo, a psychologist and professor at Stanford University. In the talk, he focuses on how cultures are divided by perspectives of time and uses education as a case study. He broke it down the differences into being “past oriented” or “future oriented”.

Past Oriented

Zimbardo states that our current model of education is a “past oriented” one: a culture that connects to adults and what they needed in order to function based upon their understanding of time. While this model was successful in the past, it has not successful for students today and is leading to a student dropout rate of one student every nine seconds.

Future Oriented

Current students on the other hand, are growing up in a digital age and are “future oriented”. Students are living in a world where they create and play. They are using digital technologies, playing video games, and their sense of time and what is important to them is vastly different from that of adults. Young adults are struggling with the current model of education, as their brains have been “digitally rewired”.

Conflict of Time Perspectives

As we deal with these two orientations, Zimbardo suggests that we do our best to balance this conflict of time perspectives. When thinking of the current education system, it is our job as educational innovators to do the following:

1. Do everything we can to help “past oriented” folks understand the shifts that are taking place and why they matter to how we teach;

2. work with our administrations and teachers to examine alternative paths that reach the “future oriented” students;

3. and find a balance so both “past oriented” teachers and “future oriented” students are successful.

If we can find that balance between the “past oriented” and “future oriented” cultures, our students will be more engaged and will want to be in school. Speak to your administrators, show them this video, and have frank conversations about what approaches work for your school’s culture and moves you closer to addressing the needs of a “future oriented” student body.

See below for examples of some schools that are implementing a different approach to address this problem. Hopefully these examples will help as you try to address the conflict of time perspectives at your respective school.

Links

• Philip Zimbardo


• Quest to Learn


• New York Harbor School


• Think Global School

Hacking Secondary Education

A great deal has been written about education reform. It seems as though there are as many approaches to reforming school as there are reformers. This is as true in secondary education as it is in higher education. To a certain degree, the principles behind reforming or “hacking” the educational system are uniform. In an era where technology is completely transforming how we connect, collaborate and create, the world of education is struggling to deal with this shift. In my mind there seem to be three areas where secondary educators can “hack” classroom and curriculum design.

Independent Learning

In an era where information is everywhere, educators must reexamine how and from where content is obtained. Students should receive a Google Reader account rather than a textbook. Information is no longer static, we should no longer be willing to accept that a textbook offers us the best option. Access to RSS feeds and direction from a teacher on what to look for, allows students to become curators of their own learning. When we empower students with the opportunity to learn on their own, while helping them understand what to look for, they take ownership of their learning and it inherently becomes more meaningful. In addition, using micro-blogging platforms like Twitter or creating using social bookmarking sites like Diigo allows the emphasis to be put on the students as curators of information rather than the teachers as the distrubtors of knowledge. When a student takes ownership of his or her learning, not only do we disrupt the current model but we create students who see begin to see the value of learning.

Authentic Learning

The end result of learning does not have to be a multiple choice test. When learning can be directly connected to something real, something tangible, something meaningful, students will rise to the occasion. This is not a unrealistic goal. With the advent of mobile devices like the iPhone, learning does not have to be restricted to the classroom. Using a number of applications on their phone, Math students learning about geometry could develop a greenhouse for their school. Following the CrisisCommons model and aiding their local community, a History class could learn about the 1950’s atomic culture by documenting all the public emergency locations on a Google Map and releasing it to the public. No matter the discipline, there are opportunities to make learning a real and meaningful experience that goes beyond the test.

Styles of Learning

To truly hack the secondary educational system, we need to have multiple tracks for students to take based upon their learning style. If a student is not a morning person, then he or she should be given the opportunity to take the majority of his or her core classes online at their leisure while coming into the physical school in the afternoon for labs or collaborative planning sessions. Online learning not only allows flexible schedules but also provides opportunities for students to learn through their strengths. Auditory learners can listen to recorded podcasts on any given topic. Visual learners could access a repository of videos. Online media can become an opportunity for students to master content on their own terms. Learning outcomes that are developed when a student is learning in his or her comfort zone will lead to a deeper understanding.

Conclusion

New technologies are transforming the way we operate on a daily basis. Many traditional institutions are struggling as they adapt. Secondary education is no different. The opportunities are there, the platforms are online, the information is available. It is now up to us to take the and ensure that our schools understand their options and realize that the status quo is not good enough as we move further into the 21st century and our students need to be prepared for an entirely different world.