Is school just preparation for life?

I kind of understand what people mean when they say that school is preparation for life, that primary school is preparation for secondary school (and therefore secondary school must be preparation for university and so it's university that is preparation for real life). And I guess that means that kindy is prep for school.

My problem with this chain of thinking is that it belittles the significance of the "now" in each instance. What is happening now is important for each learner and is real life to them.

I tend to agree more with Dewey's quote above. The power of this way of thinking is that rather than viewing our work as preparation for the next stage we must consider what will make learners successful now. By guaranteeing their success now, we are probably guaranteeing their success later too. And by success I don't necessarily mean achieving NCEA or going to university.

When I consider what I would deem as being successful in life, I tend to think that someone is doing something they are passionate about, that they have chosen to do (not forced into or fallen into by default), that they treat themselves and others well, that they can contribute in positive ways to their community, they're happy (content) and they have a positive view of themselves.

We must consider if what we are doing is ensuring that learners of all ages are being successful in their life now, not just later.

My belief is that they Key Competencies of the NZ Curriculum are the essential ingredient in the recipe of ensuring our learners experience success both now and in the future. Are our classrooms based on teaching these competencies and allowing authentic opportunities for learners to practice and demonstrate these?

In order for schools to fulfil the vision of actively involved, confident, connected and life long learners then Key Competencies need to be at the fore of our thinking in curriculum design and school culture. It would be pointless to have learners who can only relate to others sometime in the future and who can manage themselves at some later point in their life. Surely, to be successful at school then learners need to be competent at these skills as soon as possible.
Think about your "ultimate learner" or what your top 3 outcomes are for learners in your class or school and then ensure that your class/kura is enabling learners to become capable in this now, not just in the future.

What's in a name?

Some schools have made the change. It's radical. It's cutting edge. It's hip. Students calling teachers by their first name. How can a relationship based on respect be expected when a student, not only knows your name, but is actually allowed to call you by it? Surely anarchy must follow?
I just don't know. I really don't.
With a name like Bede, which most people assume is a nickname, there could be problems. I for one am big on names. I've had years of people mishearing, mispronouncing and replacing my name. I'm Steve, Pete or Bedee to some over the phone. Because of that I'm big on names. I'm good with names too. I make it a point to know parents by first name. I call colleagues by their name, "Hi Peter, " I would say. I find it interesting that some reply to me without using my name. I'm not asking for a Mr Gilmore, just some recognition that it's me you're talking to you. The power of the name. It can be a weapon, silence someone in one word, or bring personal praise when used in different ways.
I'm Mr Gilmore at the moment. We are all on that formal name basis. There's a big part of me that would like to change. After all, I'm Bede. Mr Gilmore is my father. I like being Bede. My name suits me. Mr Gilmore has a whole other layer to it in my opinion. It's formal. It carries mystique - you may not know my real name. What's the big secret?
I'm not sure what your school does and does it really matter? Would it make a difference to a student's learning if they could call me Bede?
I understand it's a culture thing. It's about breaking down barriers. Respect can and perhaps should be earned other ways. I dunno. I grew up calling my friends' parents Mr and Mrs. Not by their first name. Have times changed? Have they changed enough?

I'd be interested to hear from you about this. What have I missed? Are you going by first name at your school?
If you do reply, please call me Mr Gilmore though. Show some respect, please.

Changing the script

It would be easy to buy some new furniture and create a look of a modern learning environment and then change not much in the way of teaching.
The teacher of the 21st century would need to rethink all they have observed and been of in their teaching so far. Challenges would include the structure of the day - what would a day look like in my class? when would we do things and why? What will I assess and why? What is the nature of the relationships I have with my students? How do I increase the learning capacity of the students in my class? What habits might my students need to "unlearn"?
Phew! The list just goes on and on. What an incredible challenge. Plus, still meeting assessment and data requirements that fulfill National Standards requirements.

Really, the 21st century teacher needs to prepared to "let go" of lots of established practice that has been embedded/ingrained in us for many many decades. In letting go some prior practices, they will be able to venture into new practice. It's a shift from "transmitting" knowledge and assessing student performance in set ways to working with students' strengths to see what they are capable of.
What needs to happen to allow these conditions to occur? I think the way we plan would need to change. Students would need to have a lot more input into the structure of what they were learning and how they might show their learning to others. Certainly assessment practices would need to be changed in many cases. Teachers would need to be able to focus on what the student has got better at, rather than deficit thinking practices.

So if we could "redesign" schooling, what would we change? If we could start from scratch (we still have the same buildings) and ask, how would our school run and what would students do if we knew nothing of requirements, policy and forgot all our current practices - what would our school look like?

How do we shift our culture based on what we really truly believe and what we want to achieve for our learners?