Schools are a principal influence in the development of a child’s character. However, the invention of traditional schooling did not stem from the desire to create empathetic citizens or innovative thinkers. This contrast is readily apparent in the behavior and mindset of our students. The need to slow down, to converse and interact as human beings with a sense of discovery, rather than fulfilling an agenda, is imperative. While all students are impacted by these trends, some students are affected more than others. Encouraging disenfranchised learners is not an easy task, but it is a worthy endeavor. We invite learners to explore the development of agency and identity through norms, roles, documentation and depth of understanding. We will model and practice the language of reflective listening and collaborative discourse, demonstrating how students develop and generalize these habits. Participants will document thinking, view classroom videos, and engage in collective discussions.
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special_requests: Projector, computer
Schools are a principal influence in the development of a child’s character (Ritchhart, 2002). However, the invention of traditional schooling did not stem from the desire to create empathetic citizens or innovative thinkers. Rather, school was primarily created to facilitate the memorization of religious texts, societal rules, or events of cultural significance (Gardner, 1995). Despite attitudinal shifts since the turn of the century, research indicates that in many educational settings, much of this reality remains unchanged (Zhao, 2013) (Wagner, 2008) (Ritchhart, 2015). This contrast is readily apparent in the behavior and mindset of our students. In a virtual world, with multitasking at a premium, students are living fast-paced lives and focusing on immediate tasks rather than their role as global citizens. The need to slow down, to converse and interact as human beings with a sense of discovery, rather than fulfilling an agenda, is imperative. It is essential to “reach out and speak a thought that will only emerge in connection with a listener” (Turkle, 2015). While all students are impacted by these trends, some students are affected by the current systems and structures of school more than others. Such disenfranchised learners are students who traditional schooling was not designed to teach (Grayson, 2016). While some disenfranchised students may simply sit in silence, many others will engage in noncompliant behaviors. Encouraging disenfranchised learners is not an easy task, but it is a worthy endeavor. Students’ perception of self not only influences their behavior, it also directly impacts academic achievement (Lee, 2017). With this daily reality, how do we develop mindsets and skills to promote interdependent dialogue and practices for respectful coexistence? We create spaces for students to emotionally and academically discover themselves with and from one another. We model and enculturate the skills of relationships alongside the skills for conversation. We initially embarked on a quest to meet the needs of our special education students in a collective fashion, rather than completing work in isolation. The traditional “game of school” wasn’t meeting the needs of students academically or emotionally (Senge, 2012). Moreover, we believed questioning, listening, and incorporating student voice were essential components of true understanding and global competency. Since that time, we have studied extensively the nature of science and cognition through the lens of numerous researchers, including Harvard’s Project Zero. We are continuously energized by the reciprocal nature of this work; the habits and dispositions we seek to develop in students are the very same we continue to uncover in ourselves. We invite learners to “cultivate mindsets as global citizens” as we explore our innovative approach to scaffold the development of agency and identity through norms, roles, documentation and depth of understanding. Participants will make thinking verbal, exploring understanding as a collaborative process of cognition. We will model and practice the language of reflective listening and collaborative discourse, demonstrating how students develop and generalize these habits. Participants will become crafters, document thinking, view classroom videos, and engage in collective discussions (Rains & Lusky, 2015).
