EDU60010 Teaching in the 21st Century

Reflective Essay

Luke Eberbach

Student Number: 1077260

Introduction

I will be examining the theory, ideas and skills covered in the first five weeks of the Swinburne

Online unit Teaching in the 21st Century:

• 21st Century learning

• Personalised learning

• Equity, diversity and inclusivity

• Curriculum that uses deep knowledge

• Rethinking the roles of learners and teachers

Excitement, engagement, and intrigue motivated me during this time. The readings have confirmed,

strengthened and challenged my views formed over the last thirteen years during which I have been

engaged as a teacher in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. I will reflect upon the

three concepts covered that resonate most deeply with my own teaching philosophies; 21st Century

learning, personalised learning, and curriculum that uses deep knowledge.

Body

21st Century Learning

“In 21st Century Learning, students use educational technologies to apply knowledge to new

situations, analyze information, collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions.” (British

Columbia Ministry of Education, n.d.).

I believe that 21st Century learning is independent of technology (although technology should be

used where it supports 21st Century learning) because it is a set of ideas that bring about a change

in education from schools of the industrial age to a world where “the typical teenager has at least as

much access to knowledge about the world as parents and teachers have” (Senge, 2012, p.60).

Senge (2012) describes the industrial age school as a “school system fashioned in the image of the

assembly line, the icon of the booming industrial age” (p.35) , where the school had the monopoly

on information (Senge, 2012, p.59). 21st Century learning occurs when:

Students are generally engaged in independent or group projects, often choosing tasks to

work on and setting their own targets with teachers, who serve as Coaches. The

cultivation of independence and active learning encourages students to develop problem

solving and metacognitive skills. (Premier's Technology Council, 2010, p.13)

Robinson (2010) advocates a learning revolution away from the industrialised model of education. I

agree; adopting a 21st Century learning approach is a matter of urgency to bring about this

revolution:

And human resources are like natural resources; they're often buried deep. You have to

go looking for them, they're not just lying around on the surface. You have to create the

circumstances where they show themselves. And you might imagine education would

be the way that happens, but too often it's not. Every education system in the world is

being reformed at the moment and it's not enough. Reform is no use any more, because

that's simply improving a broken model. What we need – and the word's been used

many times during the course of the past few days – is not evolution, but a revolution in

education. This has to be transformed into something else. Robinson (2010).

Bolstad et al. (2012) describes why change is needed; a vast increase in human knowledge along

with significant social, economic and technological changes are creating unique and complex future

problems (p.3). We need a change in the education paradigm in order to successfully challenge

these problems. In my teaching I reduce the emphasis on teacher-led learning; I adopt the role of

coach or facilitator, providing the students with the opportunity to guide their own learning

independently or in a socially collaborative context. Students are able to personalise and develop

ownership of their learning. I believe that 21st Century learning is at its best when students are

engaged in personalised learning where the teacher is not a font of knowledge, but a facilitator there

to guide and encourage students to learn in a way that explores their environment and helps them

identify and embrace their talents.

Personalised Learning

Personalised learning embraces several key concepts:

• putting the learner at the centre of the system

• moulding the system around the child

• having high expectations of every child

• shaping teaching around the way young people learn

• promoting learning beyond the classroom

• focusing on developing learning skills and strategies (metacognition)

• providing clear pathways through the education system, whilst retaining a core

entitlement

• planning for a combination of independent and collaborative learning

• using the learning needs and talents of young people to guide decision making

• allowing for individual interpretations of the goals and values of schooling

(DES, 2004)

Curriculum & Leadership Journal. (2011)

The focus on personalised learning is about “customising to your circumstances and personalising

education to the people you're actually teaching … it's about creating a movement in education in

which people develop their own solutions, but with external support based on a personalised

curriculum” (Robinson, 2010). I believe that the importance of personalised learning is that it is in

direct opposition to the industrial age model where students were taught in an assembly line manner

using a teacher-centric focus, delivering the same content to all students.

We discussed personalised learning in the discussion board, identifying self imposed labels that we

have experienced, and looked at the importance of personalised learning assisting those situations.

Many students in the discussion had experienced self imposed labels during their primary school

career ranging from being very creative but being told to focus on subjects with a more vocational

outcome, being labelled as not creative, as shy, or as not smart enough. We also identified a range of

technologies such as web-based or mobile device learning tools for mathematics, literacy, and

languages that may assist learners succeed in subjects in a personalised manner where traditional

teacher-led instruction has failed. (Blackboard Learn discussion board, 2014).

One view asserted by many participants was that technology should be used in moderation

(Blackboard Learn discussion board, 2014). I disagree that the use of technology should be

moderated without good cause, and I did not read any evidence to validate the notion of moderating

the use of technology in creating a personalised learning environment. I do not suggest that

technology should be adopted for the sake of technology, however if there is a demonstrable case

for the adoption of technology for the purpose of fostering personalised learning I think it should be

adopted without hindrance.

Curriculum that uses Deep Knowledge

I believe a curriculum that uses deep knowledge is profoundly important. All of the concepts

discussed set out to promote and encourage learning, and my interpretation is that it is the

curriculum that is the vehicle that enables this learning in schools. My definition of curriculum has

been challenged by the readings in week four; previously I thought of curriculum as being only

concerned with well defined concepts and ideas that form the basis of learning outcomes required

for a particular course of study. Armitage, Evershed, and Hayes (2012) outline curriculum's public

nature, the input from teachers and students, the identity of an organisation, learning experiences

( p.197) and even describe it as a “menu presented to students for consumption” (Armitage et al.,

2012, p.197). As we move deeper into the concept of a curriculum and its intentions, Armitage et al.

(2012, p.198), paraphrasing Stenhouse (1975), encourage us to move beyond our original definition

of curriculum and to view it as an entity that helps us understand the actual outcomes experienced

by the students rather than the prescribed outcomes and to use this information to improve our

teaching. I think Tyler's model (Armitage et al., 2012, p.207) can be very effective; not as a purely

behaviourist approach to curriculum development, but as a tool to promote thought about how to

construct a curriculum that uses deep knowledge – as a set of questions to ask to help determine

whether the students are likely to experience deep learning.

Tyler's model (Armitage et al. 2012, p.204)

In my teaching I use Tyler's model to develop “rich tasks” (Brady & Kennedy, 2010, p.245) that

simulate complex real-life tasks that students will find in industry, requiring in-depth thought,

analysis and research. An application of rich tasks to construct deep knowledge in a primary school

setting has strong roots in constructivist perspectives in the undertaking of “Complex Learning

Environments and Authentic Tasks.” (Hoy, 2005, p.319), I believe that constructivist perspectives

are at the core of the development of curriculum that uses deep knowledge:

• Complex Learning Environments and Authentic Tasks

• Social Negotiation

• Multiple Perspectives and Representations of Content

• Understanding the Knowledge Construction Process

• Student Ownership of Learning

Hoy (2005, pp.319-320)

Conclusion

I have noted the importance of 21st Century learning concepts, personalised learning and the

development of a curriculum that uses deep knowledge. These concepts work together to bring

about a critical change in education and must be adopted to ensure that learners are equipped to face

the challenges of the 21st Century. I would like to conclude with a quote from the closing remarks

of Robinson (2010). I believe that it beautifully illustrates the importance of embracing a new

education paradigm. We must embrace 21st Century learning for the sake of our children's future.

I wanted to read you a quick, very short poem from W.B. Yeats, who some of you may

know. He wrote this to his love, Maud Gonne, and he was bewailing the fact that he

couldn't really give her what he thought she wanted from him. and he says, “I've got

something else, but it may not be for you.” He says this:

“Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,

Enwrought with gold and silver light,

The blue and the dim and the dark cloths of night and light and the half-light,

I would spread the cloths under your feet:

But I, being poor, have only my dreams;

I have spread my dreams under your feet;

Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”

And every day, everywhere, our children spread their dreams beneath our feet. And we

should tread softly.

Robinson (2010)

References

Armitage, A., Evershed, J. & Hayes, D. (2012). Teaching and Training in Lifelong Learning

(pp.195-230). Berkshire, England: Macgraw-Hill Education

Blackboard Learn discussion board. (2014) [Online forum] Retrieved from

https://ilearn.swin.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_3_1&url=%2Fwebapps

%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_151788_1%26url%3D

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-

oriented learning & teaching -- a New Zealand perspective. New Zealand Ministry of Education.

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