I love being part of a good book club—so much so that I'm currently participating in two of them! One of them is with my colleagues and the other is with a group of girlfriends. This week when I met with my colleagues, we discussed the book Grit by Angela Duckworth. In our conversation, we discussed many ideas revolving around education and the motivation of students and teachers. My coworker told me that she has been hearing the same thing over and over from teachers: “Our kids do not have any motivation. They’re not lazy, but they have no motivation.” After that, I told her I had heard similar statements, but on the Instructional Technology side of things, I hear that teachers don’t have time to create. It’s interesting to think that students aren’t motivated and teachers feel they don’t have the time to create because I think the two issues go hand-in-hand.
While so many of our teachers are innovative and willing to learn and grow, there are many teachers who, without any fault of their own, are deeply grounded in the old model of teaching and 20th-century learning. This is what they were taught, and it’s what they now model. After watching the video “21st Century Education vs. 20th Century Education” (21st Educator, 2009), I was able to see very clearly the difference between the two. 20th-century education is focused on filling the vessel, retelling, textbook-driven, passive learning, and time-based, just to name a few. When watching this video, I thought about those teachers who have trouble with creating and integrating new ideas. I thought about their resistance to change. I also thought about their comments on student motivation.
In contrast, 21st-century education is based on kindling the fire, discovery, learning to learn, research-based, collaboration, and active learning. Based on this information, I think we must ask ourselves what we are doing to provide students with these opportunities. The 21st-century learner is the polar opposite of the 20th, and as educators, it is imperative we understand their needs and provide them with learning opportunities and environments that help them flourish.
One of my passions is empowering teachers, and I believe that this foundational idea of 20th versus 21st-century learners is a great place to start. I think that when we shift from the traditional model to a new culture of learning, our students respond. While it takes time to create new lessons and innovative experiences for our students, the motivation and curiosity we see in them are worth every second.
21stEducator. (April 2, 2009). 21st Century Education vs. 20th Century Education [YouTube]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiD1UqLPrOg
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