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.

The Guide vs the Farmer

I read a recent post claiming that "the guide on the side" position currently put forward as good practice needs to be reconsidered as the teacher should be at the centre of things and a new idea was put forward to consider - the teacher as farmer.
I've thought about it. Here's why I think a guide is going to work better than a farmer as an analogy in education.
A farmer controls just about everything that happens on their farm - apart from weather. They buy stock they want, sell stock they don't want, put fences in place to stop stock movement and drench everything. Hmm. I'm not convinced I want to be in their room as a learner. Drench, drench, drench. Weigh, weigh, weigh.
For me, I want a guide. Someone who has expertise and will offer it to me when asked and when they see I might need it.
Here's my analogy. I'm a novice tourist - never been out of NZ. I wish to go somewhere exotic and different to home. My travel guide should inform me of unsafe places that I would want to avoid. They should listen to what I'm telling them and then ask more questions to find out more about a suitable destination. They may make suggestions and offer me brochures. I get to make the final decision though - not them.
A local guide can be handy when in a new and unfamiliar place. This local expert knows people, hidden gems and the language. This local guide may have been suggested by my travel guide. Ideal!
While visiting my destination I might take a guided tour  - headphones on - where I'm able to pause while I ponder, fast forward past the boring part or rewind to hear it again. It suits my pace and my interests.
Now - here's where my guide is useful again. After my travels they find out about my experience  - what worked, what didn't, what I enjoyed etc, so that the next novice tourist is given this information too.
I'm now no longer a novice. I've travelled a bit. I still need a guide, but less so. I've learned from my first experience and want to make some changes- longer here, less time there, learn more local language etc etc/ I need to be guided, but I'm not entirely dependent.
Eventually, I'm able to self-guide my own travels.

I'm excited about the concept of  learners as explorers and teachers as guides.

(I'd be willing to talk to a teacher/farmer who is willing to go free range perhaps)

Will I be able to write something everyday for 28 days?

How one small change can transform outcomes..

To get a feel for what I mean, watch the following clip... The collaborators on this project didn't tell people to use the stairs - they gave them a reason to want to use them and the way they did it was through fun which led to engagement and motivation. If we want to bring about different outcomes, we will need to make changes! Here's a short clip from Ken Shelton's ulearn13 keynote address on change. I need to underline the point he makes here, it's not necessarily a massive change that could bring about different outcomes for learners. In the example above, the stairs were not ripped out or taken away, but something was added to them to make a the change that was required. (I'm thinking now of how the SAMR model applies...) In looking through edtalks there are lots of excellent examples where teachers have made changes to an aspect of their practise and the outcomes for students have gone way beyond what the teacher could have ever imagined. Here are some examples that could provide inspiration for others:
Newsboard for the 21st century from EDtalks on Vimeo.
It's a great idea from Laetitia - all classrooms have cameras in them - use them! Checking out her Hauora TV is quite inspiring with 5 year olds interviewing and presenting. And how lucky are the parents of those parents to have such an open window into their children's classroom. This travel buddies idea is a small change from what a lot of new entrant teachers might do with a class toy or mascot that goes home with students, but rather than a written diary that comes back to the teacher and might be shared with the class, this takes the same idea to a whole new level. And Emma Watts talking about engaging struggling writers: What we have here are a number of examples where changes have been made to existing practise that have led to exciting outcomes for students.