Monday 5 August 2013

Scanario Planning Through the Lens of a Secondary Teacher

My decision making context: I am reviewing the scenario through the lens of a secondary teacher in Brunei. My school has poor infrastructure and resources to deal with the needs of our "digital natives". Education in Brunei is not to give the skills for the future, rather it seems it is to give them old knowledge so they do not look to move forward and work towards a more independent life.

Overview of the scenario: This resource looks at the way the education community needs to adapt for the plausible 2025 future of education. The main focus is on the teachers and how their new role will evolve from a more traditional approach where learning experiences supposedly fit all students to a more creative, open and innovative way that will suit the future needs of society. It identifies the major drivers of change as being; informal and formal learning, teacher training, teacher networks (collaboration), 21st century skills, changing roles of schools, data protection and the widespread use and availability of technology. The scenario chosen by me is the diversified teaching career. The main focus here is to provide opportunities for students to learn in an environment that suits them. It identifies the drivers of change as being society, students, technology, role of the teacher and  by the need to create more personalised learning.

 Cachia R, Cao Y, Cuong Pham M, Fetter S, Garoia V, Klamma R,  Punie V, Rajagopal K, Redecker C, Sloep P, Vuorikari R, (2012). Teacher networks today's and tomorrow's challenges and opportunities for the teaching profession. Brussels, Belgium: European Schoolnet.
http://www.slideshare.net/europeanschoolnet/teacher-networks-todays-and-tomorrows-challenges-and-opportunities-for-the-teaching-profession

Brainstorm list of recommended decisions: Generate a bullet list of the decisions you would recommend based on your reading of the scenario, taking into account your decision-making context above.
  • Teacher education- training and support now for the future
  • Student education- identifying and exposing students to these new environments so an educated choice is made on their preferred learning environment.
  • Implement of support mentoring (varying levels of position where participants do not have an influence of position)
  • Educate society on advantages of these decisions for the future- this to include all stakeholders (education community, MOE, teachers, etc)
  • Create personalised e-portfolios for students (teachers will have training on these new tools)
  • "Model Schools" to help identify challenges and solutions to these. Also for these schools to be used as a support mechanisms for other schools.
  • Principal "Knowledge Net"- allowing for Principals to be leading from the front as a driver of supportive change
  • Access and trial technologies that will be suited for student use
  • Encourage better and cheaper access to the internet thus providing choice for students
Two most important strategic decisions: Education of new technologies and it uses for teachers and students is vital. Firstly in my context if teachers do not have that support throughout this new change in direction it will fail because they will make it fail. The local teachers are not motivated to learn new strategies but with guidance and support change has a good chance of being implemented successfully. Student education is also vital, if students do not understand how to utilise these new tools to suit their learning style then they may remain in a less motivating environment that pushes them towards failure. By educating students fully they have a chance with teachers to revolutionise
the learning environment.
Second major strategy will be to support the Principals in this new future. With an increase in power given to Principals here as opposed to being fully directed by the MOE it is important that these drivers of change are supported with the knowledge to motivate those in our community to implement new strategies. The culture within Brunei gives open respect to people in higher positions but behind closed doors the culture has the sharpest knifes in their drawers.

Transferability of recommended decisions for the scenarios alternatives: Education of students and teachers fit for the first three scenarios as well. By looking at the teachers as the change agents it is important for them to upskill and be confident with the plausible future. The fifth scenario lends itself to the teachers knowing and responding positively to collaboration which for some teachers does require education to change their understanding and mindset. By providing Principals (Managers) with support and knowledge can assist with the teacher recognition as indicated in scenario one. Scenario two  looks like a form of LMS and from personal experience by introducing this to my Principal last year it was decided that all staff would be allocated school email accounts. Not an LMS but now social networking within our school. By Principals working alongside other Principals their knowledge of new systems such as informal learning camps and the intelligent agents will be greatly accepted as a positive change which in turn will support teachers on the ground floor.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Aaron,

    Isn't it interesting to think about those drivers of change you identify from different perspectives! I've been thinking from a NZ context as well as from a UAE-based context and it's quite different to compare. It seems like Brunei is a whole different story again.

    I really like your idea of setting up model schools. In the UAE model schools exist but to date they haven't been used as efficiently as they could be - I'd so love to get my hands on one and be given free reign (and free budget!).

    Are you planning on staying in Brunei or heading back to NZ? I seem to remember reading earlier that you were contemplating a move back but I could have imagined that!

    Smiles for Tuesday,
    Phillipa :)

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