An Analysis
Introduction
In the last six months or so, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted known practices and beliefs and added further change to an already changing world of education. While old methods can legitimately continue, the disruption is such that they alone will not suffice. New issues are arising, including what non-academic skills they will require beyond school.
One will be developing human capital. Human capital is a term used in business and commerce but seemingly alien to education. In a post Covid-19 world, adapting it as an activity system, a process to guide teacher and student actions, in providing a class culture that is dynamic enough to combat the disruption of the pandemic is urgently needed.
Educational human capital is the stock of habits that shape the way the organisation can contribute effectively to providing the formative, bottom-up leadership that integrates the sum of intelligence available. It is not an exclusive teacher attribute; it is not an exclusive student attribute; it is not an exclusive administration attribute. The three must not be separated as individual entities that provide for a them and us dichotomy, which in turn provides a niche for disharmony, and buck passing. Instead, human capital can and must be minted to provide paths and practices for holonomy to flourish.
To achieve this, the culture must be an activity system of collaboration and togetherness where there is non-competitive interaction. It is more a social entity that moderates, rather than an academic identity to be measured. It does not just happen. It must be a series of planned connecting mini activity systems, an array of baby steps, introduced in a sequential and incremental way over time, eventually becoming parts of the whole.
Rituals: A Case Study
The rituals that are in vogue in the school and the classroom are an important part of the growing of healthy educational capital. Students are neutralised or empowered by the rituals used. Students not being called on to answer questions can develop a low level of confidence believing that you, the teacher, do not believe they can answer, or at least that others will have a better answer. They may even believe that the problem is that you, the teacher, do not like them. All this negative expectancy too easily becomes an alibi for inattention and beyond that, ill-discipline. Who gets asked to answer the questions becomes the arbiter of success or failure. Beliefs have a profound effect in spending or growing human capital.
Therefore, to grow educational capital some form of positive and inclusive rituals across the school, across the classroom, across the group, and across individuals not only gives a sense of purpose and confidence, but also grows the capital of all class members. There are several aspects to develop here but pick just one to get started.
Mary Bud Rowe’s original research shows that most teachers require immediate answers, and beyond a one second wait if an answer has not already been forthcoming the teacher either answers the question themselves or poses another question. Further research showed that by waiting just three seconds before requiring a response a positive mindset is developed with the students then able to be fully engaged and able to give higher quality answers.
Paige Alison who followed Mary Bud Rowe and carried on the research at Florida University, in private correspondence with me, stated that by devising a random selection the quality markedly improved. No one could switch off and remove themselves from scrutiny by not raising their hand. This is enhanced by not allowing hands to be raised while they waited for the teacher to select the next speaker.
As this basic activity system is developed, a baby, but important deeper learning activity system, can be added. Requiring the next speaker to paraphrase what the previous speaker said not only requires and rewards good listening, but also gives the previous speaker an opportunity to correct any unintended misconceptions in what the speaker had said.
For this in whole class teaching, the teacher must assiduously record every speaker. This requires a mark on a class list, or some will be favoured, and others miss out and the collegiality will be destroyed. Likewise, students working in bubble subgroups must keep a list, too.
It works. Fifteen months after introducing both wait time and random selection as a school wide ritual for questions and answers a teacher volunteers that the quieter boys are now stirred to answer with a quality response. Another teacher states, “I now have a class of keen ‘answerers,’ they tell me by their eyes.”
Still another teacher raised the educational capital to the overall consciousness level of her students, when she explained to her class that once she had asked the question, she would count down from 25 under her breath as wait time. One day when she asked for a speedy reply one student said, “Boy you must have skip counted down that time, Mrs D.” Rapport (still further human capital) between student and teacher develops when the students know what is going on and why, and can thus make light hearted semi-humorous comments like this because to him, the classroom is a safe place which is another manifestation of educational human capital being present. By involving everyone – not just the favoured few, in the questioning and answering, the teacher is growing all her student’s human capital and her own as a bonus.
Quality Control
An important part of any activity system is an associated sub activity system which provides for regular student metacognitive reflection. Fifteen minutes on Friday afternoon will suffice, whether face to face or in lockdown. This then becomes an important in-built quality control system, indicating to the teacher their successes and failures and therefore, areas that the students need further attention, perhaps as a mentor, or a coach.
All that is needed in the reflection is a sentence or two detailing a new understanding the student got from one of the activity systems, or alternatively a problem they have and following distributive leadership principles how they might solve it.
Hattie has recently advocated that teachers get inside their students’ minds to see things from their point of view for more successful teaching. Student reflection is a suitable beginning step to do this.
Conclusion: Homework
Do an audit of how this article has changed or is changing your mental models, and in so, doing developing deeper learning and understanding. Use this window diagram recommended by Silver and McTighe as one note making visual format that encapsulates the elements of deep learning. The aim is to identify one simple, straightforward core idea under each heading that is meaningful.
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As many readers will be novices in this, included here are questions a mentor may ask:
• Facts: Enter one substantial detail which can become an organising question.
• Feelings and Reactions: Include one positive emotional response.
• Questions: Suggest a question that can be asked to aid planning (See facts above)
• Connections: How does this reveal the unexpected consequences of an experience, or what is one positive way this could be used in the future?
Keep it simple and manageable