Innovation in Education: Building Capacity for Renewed Perspectives
Many teacher preparation programs approach education from a perspective that incoming educators are already familiar with. Even with college courses that teach modern pedagogical approaches, sixteen years of schooling have ordained many educators into teaching philosophies that reflect the practices of their former teachers. “New” teaching strategies are foreign and put us into a realm of perceived unknowns.
Ironically, some of these “new” and foreign teaching strategies – such as promoting movement for retention, incorporating mobile devices for academic gain, and taking risks for prosperity – tap into the very core of who we are as human beings. Movement, mobility, and risk-taking are three assets that are hard-wired into us and should be intuitive. We need to align our pedagogical philosophies with the whole-person paradigm of learning.
Easier said than done, I know. Given the constraints we’re operating within, what can we do to build our capacity for tapping into this whole-person paradigm?
- We can make straight row desks the exception by creating physical learning environments.
- We can chunk learning , promote activity, and alternate routines to maintain audience participation and active brains.
- We can incorporate immersive learning with standards-driven relevancy.
- We can make progress through trial and error and informed risk-taking.
- We can move beyond our content and gain perspective of the whole-person paradigm to promote further success.
Assuredly, the problems facing education won’t be fixed with a five-point bulleted list. However, we can be proactive by creating a new trail for others to follow.
