What should schooling look like?

By:  Michael Duncan, Superintendent

This question was posed to over 400 stakeholders over the course of the past year.  Interestingly, parents and guardians, school system staff, the business community, elected representatives, and faith-leaders all shared a relatively common vision for the kind schooling that children need in order to be contributing members of the community and to the ever-changing global economy.

Many of you have probably read a vision statement or been on a team establishing a vision for your business or church.  Often times, vision statements are a vague attempt at inspiration and do little to guide the culture or work of the organization.  Envision your perfect vacation.  Can you see it? What do you hear? As Dwayne Johnson (A.K.A The Rock) says, “Can you smell it?” How do you feel?  The vision should transport you to a different place and describe where you want to go- a road map for a journey.

Our journey begins and ends in the classroom and the dynamic interaction between the teacher and student.  As I write this my mind keeps taking me back to Disney’s Epcot and the Tomorrow Land attraction, where a computer allows you to look into the future.  Let us take a look at what future schooling will look like in Pike County.

As I enter the school, my attention is drawn to three students walking down the hall to the Media Center.  They are so engrossed in their conversation I have to step aside to avoid them.  I turn and follow.  They quickly dump their book bags at a work station, revealing tablet computers, which they quickly activate and navigate to the school’s Wi-Fi.  The computer screens are filled with text, images, video and applications.  The students inquire if the conference room is available; they have a SKYPE session scheduled with a group of students from Miami.  They mumble something about pythons.

My curiosity is peeked, so I follow them to the conference room and peer into the window as three smiling faces appear on the monitor, alternating between boardroom seriousness and silliness.  They all start to talk at once, and then laugh at the garbled mess they created.  Next, an agenda and a flow chart appear in adjacent windows on the monitor.  The students alternate speaking, addressing topics such as progress updates, timelines, references, drafts and deadlines.  Another group of students enter the Media Center, so I take my cue to stop my surveillance and ask the Media Specialist to direct me to the students' classroom.

Walking through the hallways, I am struck by the hum of activity I see in each classroom.  Teachers and students deeply engaged with one another- whole group, small group, and individually.  I reach my destination and knock on the door.  The teacher greets me warmly and welcomes me to the room.   After a few moments of conferencing with a small group of students, the teacher comes along side me as I listen to students discussing the dietary habits of the armadillo.

“What are they working on”, I ask. 

 “They are investigating the rate of geographical expansion of the armadillo and its impact on local agriculture and native species”, shares the Teacher.

 I learn the students are building on the knowledge they gained from the teacher’s lessons to develop a model to predict the future impact of uninhibited expansion of the armadillo’s habitat and possible solutions to curb the pace of habitat expansion.  Once completed, the students will present their findings to the local farmer’s association.

 “A team is down the hall on a conference call with a biologist from Texas A&M”, says the Teacher. 

“Wow!” I exclaim.  “They must be having a blast.” 

“They are, but the key is using the information we teach them as a vehicle to enhance skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and digital literacy. Of course, this type of learning requires a great deal of personal responsibility in order to self-monitor and reflect on learning goals.  But, perhaps the key ingredient is a clear understanding of what we are trying to accomplish with specific feedback for improvement every step of the way”, the Teacher added.

I approached a group of students in the corner who were drawing a graph on a large Post-It® easel pad. I asked them what they thought about the school.  A young man wearing a lime green graphic tee-shirt bellows from the back, “It’s not all about the stupid test. I feel like we’re doing something really important.”

“You are”, the Teacher responded.  “You are learning how to learn and so are your teachers”.

I wanted a little more clarification on this thought of teachers as learners, so I dropped by the principal’s office on my way out.  After hearing a recap of my visit, the Principal smiled and said, “Learning for All:  That’s what we are about!  If we aspire to be a learning organization, learners must be teachers and teachers must be learners. We must encourage a culture that rewards trial and error.”

As I started my car to leave, I couldn’t help but think the armadillo didn't stand a chance.