An outsider looking in

Seeing myself as a bit of an "optimist," somebody who likes to think about what could be or how to make things better than they were before, much like David has recently posted about being motivated by an optimistic view to make things better. I'm often listening to speakers on TED or even rummaging through Reddit's education forums for discussions on education. Recent posts by peers about the need for reform or change in the existing models of education has sparked thoughts on being in a system, and how much our thinking is shaped while we are in it and how different it begins to look once one is on the outside looking in.

   by  opethpainter 

Although I still see myself as part of the discourse in educational communities, and always will be (once an educator, always an educator) I'm no longer teaching as a high school teacher or university lecturer, engaging in the institutional practices of everyday structure, order and control. Well, this is how I experienced it. I'm now on the outside, providing tutoring and coaching to high school and university students, listening to their experiences in a whole variety of schools, from public to private, from schools of humble means to ones with swimming pools, and even golf courses. What has been most interesting is using the different learning platforms that high schools and universities are delivering their learning resources through. Most are using LMSs, certainly not the "menu-like" approach that Anne highlights in her discussion about offering a more individualised experience of learning for students.

Recently I was offered by a long-time colleague friend who is also has her Doctorate in Education at a major university about creating a training organisation that provides literacy and numeracy certificates for teachers, particularly ones that prepare them for the mandated literacy and numeracy tests that teachers will have to undertake to obtain their degrees. I was initially interested in the idea until I gave it some thought. My major concern was doing more of the same and eventually turning into a system that supports the very system that is far too long and outdated. Do I want to perpetuate that system, being a pawn in the system I thought to myself. No.

However, I admire individuals like David, Anne, Brendon, Mari and many others in NGL who remain a part of the system and still hope to make things better from within. As Anne writes how she is trying to "nurture communities of practice" in the "highly traditional structures" within which she works. This is indeed noble but I think as David highlighted it can be depressing, leading to a "pessimism" that I think permeates secondary and higher education, and something in the end that I, and many of my colleagues who left to other areas, some even leaving teaching for good, did not want to be a part of. What I learnt and fundamentally believe is that negativity arises when one is not living according to their values. When this happens it is only natural to feel pessimistic, frustrated and hopeless.

When reading my peers posts it is as clear as day that we are all passionate educators who went into the profession because of our love of learning, particularly of the potential of learning to transform individuals in who they have the potential to be. When there are so many constraining forces, it is inevitable that the participants are going to feel frustrated. This is why Sir Ken Robinson and Sugra Mitra, as Anne highlights, are getting so much attention online, I don't think I haven't seen a forum on education that has not highlighted their speeches in way or another about the systemic issues in education. They are all speaking about a fundamental reality, our education systems are archaic and have to change. However, my concern is that teachers are targeted as the creators of the problems, as I think their powerlessness invites them to becoming scapegoats far too easily. In my opinion the issue is far more complex.

There is a really good analogy shared by Derek Stivers in his post, "Fish don't know they're in water." He uses the fish in the tank analogy. When the fish is in the tank he or she cannot see the water because that is all he or she has ever known. It is not until the fish jumps out that he or she sees a whole new world, a new way of looking at things. I came across Derek after Brendon reshared a video by David, the lecturer of NGL. I then proceeded to watch all his videos - all with the theme of living a life on your terms, but also the importance of learning new things and seeing things from a different perspective.

I've noticed that it was not until I left the "system" until I really could start thinking of other potentialities. While I was in there, regardless of type, the institutional factors permeated my entire being, I was like the fish in water. It was only through leaping out of the water, particularly through my interaction with individuals in other areas of education, such as teachers at progressive schools like Steiner or Big Picture, or other fields, such as coaching, that I began to see there are other ways of being educated.