Asking how we identify the future – and how we bring the future into the present form a large part of current educational discourse – especially in those edu_conference keynote conversations and breakfast sessions.
Jensen (Witnessing the Future pdf) cites Serres and Latour and suggests that “assemblage”, “design”, “finish” and “slickness of advertising” all play a role in how we identify the future .
“What are things contemporary? Consider a late-model car. It is a disparate aggregate of scientific and technical solutions dating from different periods. One can date it component by component: this part was invented at the turn of the century, another ten years ago … Not to mention that the wheel dates back to neolithic times. The ensemble is only contemporary by assemblage, by its design, its finish, sometimes only by the slickness of the advertising surrounding it” (SERRES & LATOUR, 1995, p.45). [1]
Refer: Artichoke Blog Post: Acting like a kite, witnessing the future and marshalling resources.
Once you get past imagining the spaces of “future school” check out how the future focused Transport Agency curriculum resources online help us re-imagine the learning in future schools.
Find it here: http://education.nzta.govt.nz/resources/primary/road-safety
The Transport Agency Resources are designed using SOLO Taxonomy to:
Flip School
Forget flipping the classroom, many of the Transport Agency curriculum resources flip the way we think about the whole purpose of school. Instead of viewing school as a place where ‘knowledge is built’ from what we already know, the Transport Agency resources re-imagine school using pedagogical activism as a place where students can work together to ‘produce knowledge’ for road users in local communities. Schools as a knowledge resource for local communities. The Transport Agency curriculum resources allow us to re-think school; to see local schools as places where the community can go to find out things about local transport and safer journeys. Refer Chris Bigum’s work with Knowledge Producing Schools in Australia
Promote “pedagogical activism”
If we are promoting citizenship as personal responsibility, we will prioritise opportunities for students to learn about (and act with) responsibility and good character – to make wise choices and act for the common good for safer journeys on the road network. If we see citizenship as collaboration and participation for the greater good, we will encourage students to find out about how government agencies work and take an active role in school, community and local government organisations working for safer journeys on the road network. If we believe active citizenship is about justice, we will use ‘pedagogical activism’ (Kerr 2014) to provide opportunities for students to find out about and seek equity and moral rightness for road users even if this means disrupting established institutions and processes.
Build “democratic imagination, motivation and involvement”
Any action that makes a positive difference to the common good can be construed as an act of citizenship. Enabling students to think critically about their own lives and society as a whole is a powerful way of making citizenship visible to them. To develop what Hayward (2012) refers to as a democratic imagination, motivation and involvement, students need a context where they have a voice and feel like they belong, matter and can make a difference. A context where they can value, and act in ways that promote community and participation for the common good. A context where they can experience agency and demonstrate the rights and responsibilities they have as citizens. Working with others to create a safe road network is just such a context
Pass the Pizza Threshold Test
Students of all ages understand that, when we share something with others, it affects what those others can do. Everyone who has ever shared a pizza therefore has something to contribute to a discussion on the road as a commons. Because every student is a road user – a pedestrian, cyclist, passenger and/or driver – they can come up with examples from their own lives that affirm we need to share the roads in ways that are fair; in ways that do not spoil the safe road system for others. The resource imagines future learning will use UDL frameworks to ensure students are engaged and have multiple means of accessing and expressing learning. UDL recognition, strategic and affective networks are catered for in the design of the resources.
Connected Educator Month Discussion here: http://www.vln.school.nz/discussion/view/894065
