TRANSFORMING LEARNING CULTURES IN SECONDARY EDUCATION – WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION Deon Edwards-Kerr, PhDSchool of EducationUniversity of the West Indies, Mona

AIM/KEY QUESTIONWhat learning should secondary students experience to acquire twenty-first century competencies?

The underlying aim is to examine how we might transform secondary schooling for all students.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM IN CARIBBEAN SECONDARY SCHOOL CURRICULUMCurriculum design in the Caribbean is largely academic rationalist or subject oriented

National curricula represents official knowledge, a way of knowing or a LEARNING CULTURE

Epistemological basis – SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

THE POWER OF THE LEARNER Encourage and accept student autonomy and initiative

Teaching strategies involve the use of raw data, primary sources and manipulatives

Student responses are used to drive lessons, shift instructional strategies and alter content

Students engage in dialogue with teacher and each other

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Curriculum Evaluation - CIPP Model

Stufflebeam’s (1971) Management Oriented Evaluation

Stake’s (1967) Countenance Evaluation Model Combined Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Survey Interviews OBSERVATIONS this paper Documentary Analysis

METHODOLOGY Draws on observations of lessons in 3 countries – Jamaica, Montserrat and

Belize between 2012 and 2015

Participants

Instrument designed to capture evidence of classroom atmosphere, teaching strategies, student-teacher and classroom management. 27 items on 3-point scale (Observed All the Time, Observed Sometimes, Not

Observed)

Country Sample

Jamaica 54 lessons in 32 secondary schools – upgraded and traditional

Montserrat 9 lessons in the single secondary school

Belize 58 lessons on 28 secondary schools

KEY FINDINGS – WHERE IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM? Teaching and learning was subject –oriented, and assessment is based on mastery of limited aspects of discrete academic disciplines

Extensive remedial teaching to address students who have fallen behind

Teacher directed and centred classrooms – traditional methods of teaching were prevalent, exposition, examples and exercises.

KEY FINDINGS – WHERE IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM? Limited attempts at differentiation – one size fits all approach, very little variation in content, assessment, tasks and instructional strategies

Very little application of content across the curriculum and to the real world

Very little use of materials or raw data – irregular use of technology

Disconnect between assessment and instruction.

WHERE IS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM? The testing and academic cultures that define the secondary school in the

region has rendered social constructivism extinct –

But wait, not so fast!

There are at least some technical high schools where the idea has been operationalised and is evolving

For example…….

KEYSTONE TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL – THE TECHNICAL LEARNING CULTURE

NON-FIELDWORK LESSONS Characteristics Observed All the

Time - 1Observed Sometimes - 2

Not Observed - 1

3. Learning activities are student-led and/or in small groups   √  

4. Teacher provides well designed materials √    

5. Teacher invites discussion √    

13. Students get a chance to ‘try-out’ problems √    

14. Teacher applies lesson to the real world   √  

15. Focus of the lesson and activities appear to be aligned √    

19. Students express their own view of the lesson   √  

21.Teacher questions, listens and responds to students √    

23. Students seek assistance from the teacher √    

       

Themes, Concepts, Transferable Skills

(thinking skills, technological literacy,

problem-solving, literacy skills, research skills,

teamwork, communication,

questioning, collaboration )

Chemistry, Physics and

Biology

History, Social Studies & Geography

Agricultural & Environmenta

l Sciences

MathematicsModern Languages

TD, IT, etc

Plumbing, Construction,

Hospitality etc)

THE TECHNICAL LEARNING CULTURE AT KEYSTONE Transferable – not related to a specific field, but is relevant across disciplines

Multi-dimensional – knowledge, skills and attitudesHigher-order – skills and behaviours that represent the ability to cope with complex problems and unpredictable situations

(Voogt & Roblin 2012)

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NATIONAL CURRICULUM POLICIES

Curriculum reform at the secondary level by necessity should being with defining the purpose of education for the particular nation – how will be a secondary education be used?

CURRICULUM POLICIES MUST ACCOUNT FOR ….. The local and global contexts – especially the changing needs of the society evidenced in demand for services, product design, virtual lifestyles etc.

technology as a way of knowing rather than just a product Re-tooling teachers in all subject areas to work in ways that create the kind of students that are “mind workers” rather passive recipients of static knowledge (communicate, problem solve, mediate information)

Praxis – move away from universal theories and abstraction to focus on the centrality of human activity – object, process, knowledge and volition