7. Paradigm Shifts
Partial Listing!
• teaching to learning (teacher no longer sage but guide)
• passive to active learning
• intuitive to intentional instruction
• finite bodies of information to master to infinite information to process
• limited number of vetted sources of information to unlimited number of unfiltered sources
• textbooks to multiple resources
• established authority of authors to personal responsibility for establishing author authority
• individual effort to collaboration
• linear to layered approach to subject matter
• focus on a single discipline to multiple disciplinary, integrated approach
• singular views of subject matter to multiple perspectives
• accepted views of subject matter to critical evaluation
• discipline-centered to child-centered curriculum model
• print to multi-format opportunities to share learning
• academic focus to development of multiple intelligences--Howard Gardner
• rote learning/memorization to discovery
• lessons on lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy to learning on upper levers
• top-down teacher assessment to multiple assessments, including peer and
self-assessment
11. The Search Begins
A Wide Net
In the Ether Heads of
Books, School
Journals, Kim Wargo
Lila Lohr
TED Talks
Conferences Innovation
Michele Williams Pat Bassett
STEM ThinkTank President
Innovation Summit NAIS
AASL
Fab Learn
21st Century Learning
Conversations
Mission Jenny Howland
Susan Faust
Statement Professional
Review Development
Board Faculty 21st Century Grant
Committee
Meetings Committees
Spring 2010 to Joelle Auberson, Nelly DerKieureghian, Claire Devereux,
June 2012 Angelique Downes, Susan Faust, Donna Hamilton, Val Hansel,
Anne Monk, Jenny Howland, Lila Lohr, Elizabeth McDonald,
Marilyn Schaumburg, and Kim Wargo
16. Model for 21st Century Learning
Building Blocks and Bridges
Center
Who am I as a learner with surround that represents
institutional priorities, represented in the mission
statement—growth mindset and wellness. On the
outer core are the areas generally associated with
program and priorities that again are mirrored in the
mission statement: multiple perspectives, disciplines,
and intelligences.
Left
Learning Community
• personal exploration and collaboration as building
blocks
• empathy and ethics as bridges
Right
Learning Process
• play and design thinking as building blocks
• risk-raking and problem-solving as bridges
Bottom
Purpose
• knowing why we are learning something
• What are the the ends? What is the meaning?
19. Personal Exploration
Personal Qualities Self-Knowledge Meta-Cognition
7th grade
Cultural
Heritage Fair
Upper School Student
Led Conferences
To see a video click on the picture
23. Purpose
Expression Innovation Citizenship Application Decision-Making
Sustainability Appreciation Advocacy Other
Self Expression: Ode to a Flower
Self Expression: The Violin and Me
Kindergarten
8th grade
To see videos of these projects click on the pictures
Notes de l'éditeur
How We Learn. A Model for the 21 st Century
Students today stand to inherit and shape a world transformed by exponential change.
Some obvious facts about 21 st century life: We live with constant and instant communication.
There is powerful connectivity—a world flattened by social media.
And, of course, there is an explosion of information. It is a world of untold opportunity as well as challenge.
It would be a mistake to pigeon-hole such evolutionary and revolutionary change, along with the incumbent challenges and opportunities, as exclusive features of the 21st century. There is in fact no line in the sand, between the old century and the new. The truth is that there are many forces, long at work, that contribute to the present landscape--changed attitudes toward authority, geo-political realignments, economic trends, social movements, burgeoning scientific discovery, and, of course, technology.
In keeping with such broad and sweeping change, education too has undergone paradigm shifts. The list is long. Take a look. As an example, think about the shift from teaching to learning, from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side.
Paradigm shifts and dynamic change in education characterize the 21 st century learning landscape. If a 20 th century world felt finite and knowable,
the 21 st century is a universe of expanding information, communication, connection, opportunities, challenges, and unknowns.
Schools can purposefully prepare students to survive and ultimately thrive in the 21st century, and Burke’s has adopted its own approach. Here’s a little history.
Without going into great detail, we can tell you that the touchstone was designed with input from many quarters over the course of several years now. What we were really doing is joining a national conversation about the demands of the 21 st century and the role of education in preparing students to meet those demands.
The conversation has been led by many thinkers, Including Pat Bassett, Daniel Pink, John Seely Brown, and Tony Wagner, to name a few. Many commissions have also tackled the task, including Partnership for 21st Century Skills, professional and curriculum-based organizations, and various governmental groups.
We were on the hunt for what are often referred to as critical skills. This is a partial list of skills.
What to do? We needed to find some shape to the long list of words and ideas. So a 21 st century skills committee played with ideas, grouped and re-grouped, prioritized and re-prioritized until….
Shazam! At last a model emerged that would give shape this list. We found utility and meaning.
This is a visual representation of the model that was devised. It is a synthesis but also a new creation that speaks to our community. Much like the mission statement, this model reflects the needs of girls in grades Kindergarten through eighth grade. We have been through many “versions,” changing the look, incorporating feedback, and clarifying content. This is a product still in process.
The whole idea is to help our students become effective learners. So here is a student version, preferred by many adults in the community as well. The idea of the this student version came from feedback we got from a trustee after we presented in 2010. We hope to use this version directly with students, helping them reflect on how they learn.
From small moments of pleasure reading to grand productions like the eighth grade play, Burke’s students are 21 st century learners. Yes, a unit on painting vegetables in Art is about watercolor and nutrition. And yes, a performance of Circus Arts asks girls to balance and twirl. But both also allow girls to practice the building blocks on the Burke’s model for 21 st century learning.
The Burke’s model for 21 st century asks a central question: Who am I as a learner? Students are encouraged to develop personal qualities that further their learning, for example, perseverance in a jump-roping challenge. Students gain self-awareness in a super-heroes project in 4 th grade Art and in the 7 th grade Cultural Heritage Fair. The Upper School student-led conferences are another example of how Burke’s encourages responsibility for one’s own learning.
From a strong sense of self comes the ability to work well with others. Empathy and ethics help shape outlook and outcomes. In every venue from Tech labs to the gym, Burke’s students work together. They work in pairs, small groups, classes, school families, divisions, and as a whole school. They are preparing for life.
Whether students are playing with blocks in the Imagination Playground or gears in Science, whether they are dressing up for Halloween or doing a pretend “beach read” in the Library, learning is taking place. That kind of necessary play activity at the K-8 level fosters the creativity and curiosity needed for problem-solving--simple or advanced, mathematical or social-emotional.
Problem-solving and risk-taking link play and design thinking. From playful tinkering come prototypes for the 3 rd and 4 th grade invention conventions. In playful dress-up, seventh students show their deep understanding of elements on the periodic table. In every discipline, students learn to conduct research and often to design and re-design—R and D in the K-8 setting. Critical thinking is key as students reflect on information and ideas, on research and design. Feedback is part of the process. You can see above the thoughtful feedback from 4 th graders on Minecraft, an online game.
From kindergarten through eighth grade, from music to poetry, students express themselves in unique ways. Students use the building blocks in the Burke’s model for 21 st century learning for their own purposes—for personal expression, advocacy, appreciation, and the like. There truly are 400 ways to be a Burke’s girl.
