The Process of Making a Difference

Over the last few weeks the students in my Peace Studies class have been identifying issues which interest them so that they can develop a plan of action to try to address the issue. They have now created their action plans and are attempting to raise awareness and to make a difference, if only a small one. The sheer fact that they are trying to make a difference is a step forward. It has been exciting to see the range of topics being explored- from packaging food that was made but never served in our dining hall and sending it to local food kitchens to addressing adult illiteracy to protesting against puppy mills.  

 From: peaceactionphiladelphia.org

Each student is expected to identify and analyze:

* the causes of the issue and its history

*  the organizations (Governmental and/or Non-Governmental (NGOs) working in the area of their issue. They must identify and discuss:

§  who they are;

§  what they are doing;

§  what their successes are;

§  what obstacles they face;

§  and whether or not they making progress and how one  can tell.

·        They must describe the criteria they are using to gauge success- use of philanthropic dollars, impact on the problem, education, rehabilitation, placement of those who are oppressed (ex. places to live for those who are homeless), other?

·      

* any other people who are involved with the issue and what they are doing. What is working? What isn’t? Why?

*how the issue relates to peace, social justice, and non-violence, as well as why the issue is important. Why should we care about it?

The culmination of this project is a multimedia presentation of their analysis of the items above as well as their analysis of the action plans and their effectiveness. 

These students would benefit from feedback. Those who have social media sites so far can be reached at: 
AIDS in South Africa 

End Family Illiteracy - Facebook

End Family Illiteracy- Twitter 
Drive Safe Now (Eyes on the Road) 

Global Warming 
Help End Animal Experimentation 

Help Homeless in Baltimore 

Help Stop Violence Against Native American Women 

Hunger in the Horn of Africa
Recycle Plastic Bags

Stop Discrimination Against Hispanic Immigrants 

Stop Puppy Mills 

Stop Teen Dating Abuse

Support Veterans with PTSD 

Please encourage these students with your questions and reactions.

True learning involves direct action

I am one of the members of my school's cohort through Powerful Learning Practice as we explore how to implement 21st century learning skills effectively. This year we have joined several teachers from Pennsylvania schools. Our focus is on Inquiry-Driven Instruction. As a group, we decided to target our explorations on the question of "How can we make a difference?" Each of us is working with a group of students to have them try to find ways to answer that question and, in fact, make a difference. We are sharing our processes, obstacles, and successes through our blog.

I have to admit that I am not starting from scratch with this project. I have been teaching Peace Studies for several years and each year the students have been assigned a Peace Action Project.  However, I have adapted our project to include even more 21st century skills, especially including more feedback and insight from outside of our community.

Students in the class range from grades 10-12 and students in the school come from all over the world. Their major project is to identify a problem, research it, develop and implement an action plan (to make a difference), and to create a multi-media presentation of all of their work and their evaluation of it. Last year was the first year I required the multi-media presentation. In the past, students turned in term papers. I was blown away by their presentations. Not only were they exceptionally well-done, but I realized that a term paper is between the student and me. The presentations led to much greater learning.  I was sold.

From: http://www.fiveaoks.on.ca/

This year my students have projects including a comparison of homophobia in China and the U.S. (a Chinese student is doing this one), puppy mills, food waste in local restaurants, human trafficking, teen dating abuse, and much more. Each student must create and enact an action plan to try to make a difference. These plans will be in effect for a minimum of six weeks. Part of their work will involve communicating with someone in the field who is already trying to make a difference. They must communicate via email, twitter, facebook, or some other social media, or skype. Note: We have discussed how to find people through these media and then how to communicate with them. In addition, we have discussed what type of information they should not be giving out.

For their plans they are required to identify what they will do, when, and what resources they need to accomplish their goals. It is through direct action that they will become even more involved in the process of being change-agents. Research is valuable but actually trying to make a difference opens a whole new world. Personally connecting with others, seeing the obstacles, and reviewing what has worked and how to make adjustments gives students skills that go well beyond what they can find in any book.  Let the deep learning begin!

Un-doing the Expected

Yesterday, one of our students led a lunch-time fast to raise awareness of the famine in Somalia. That, in and of itself, is not something that is so uncommon in an educational setting. Student group after student group endeavors to raise awareness about one cause or issue or another. For over a week, Sara, the student, had been making announcements and she hosted a discussion about the famine. Sara is the student head of Amnesty International. What made the awareness exercise so unusual and so powerful was uncommon fund-raiser that accompanied the fast. In partnership with our school's "Service League", the student-led umbrella organization for all community service activities, a food-less,  or "un", bake sale was held to raise money to donate for Somalian relief. That's right. NO food was sold. Baking dishes and plates were put out and even some crumbs and sprinkles could be found here and there.

Instead of food, students and faculty found signs which indicated what a dollar could purchase in the equivalent of rice or some other food product.  The impact was tremendous. The donation jar quickly filled. I was surprised and pleased to learn later in the day that the donations were far greater than I had ever heard earned at any bake sale in the 25 years that I have been at my school.

Why did this succeed? I believe it was because the students tried something new. They challenged each other to look at information differently. For the rest of the day the halls were buzzing with student and faculty discussions about the impact of the "un"-bake sale.

If students are willing to try new things to teach each other, we should be at least as willing to do so as well.

Are there ever enough questions?

I have always loved questions. At times, I remember people telling me to stop asking so many questions. Sometimes people seem to fear questions because they worry that they are being questioned. Instead, the process or desired product are the subject of my questions. As a mother, I have to admit that hearing "why" for the sixth time in a row from my two year old can have a grating effect. Yet, I do know that my daughter truly wonders. Shouldn't we encourage as much wonder as possible in our students?

How many times have we had a speaker in an assembly ask at the end of a presentation, "any questions?" When no hands go up, one can hear the collective squeaking of faculty seats as they shift while praying someone will ask a question. When students respond to a question I pose in class, I often respond with another question. I want them to see the value of mining further. I hope that by modelling this they will "push" each other. I welcome their efforts to ask questions of each other in class. At that point the discussion becomes vibrant and evolving.

These days it is so easy to access information. It is crucial, then, that we model to students and teach them how to develop questions. Information alone can have limited value. If, and when, students learn to develop questions, they learn to burrow down for deeper meaning, regardless of the topic. A recent article in the Harvard Education Review focused on the importance of Teaching Students how to ask their own questions. The article includes one method for teaching how to develop questions. We can model other methods, too.

Learning how to develop thoughtful questions can help with innovation and more creative problem-solving. Students should not be satisfied simply with answers but, with the creation of new approaches and new experiences.  To create, we must wonder and ask "how", "why", "what if."  As pointed out in Learning in a Digital Age, there is "a need to promote creative approaches to learning. How do we prepare students for work that hasn't been invented yet? .... Our global environmental, economic and social challenges require non-standardized skills such as creativity, problem-solving and collaboration. Accordingly, these are becoming indispensable skills for learners and workers who hope to stay at the innovative edge of today and tomorrow."  Memorization or regurgitation of facts do not move us forward. Questions do. Questions drive possibilities. Don't they?

Mistakes can be a good thing.

Last month my two year old watched as I took two plates out of the dishwasher at the same time in one hand. Crunch. I chipped the bottom one as I smacked the top one onto it. She noticed and made my mistake very clear to me. I let her know that yes, I made a mistake. I should have taken out each plate separately. Then I said to her that every time we make a mistake we can learn a lesson from it.

It is so important to remind students that making mistakes is acceptable. I have always felt that we learn far more from our mistakes than our successes. Students feel more and more pressure every year to make no mistakes and to have the best grades. They worry about getting into "the perfect college" and having the "perfect record."  Their focus is on a product and not a process. They have let their value as people get caught up in a number or letter rather than the journey of learning.

For years I coached and I always felt that the teams that had "perfect records" (no losses) actually had more problems ahead of them than those who lost games. When we lost a game it was often because we made mistakes (and sometimes because the other team simply was much better). Yet, those mistakes gave us a clear focus for making adjustments, for practicing more effectively, and perhaps most importantly, for giving us the tools for dealing with disappointment.

In the same vein, making mistakes in class gives us an opportunity to examine our approaches and practices in more detail. I do not simply mean that students make mistakes. I make mistakes. I use them as opportunities to remind students that all of us are growing and learning all the time. When I first started teaching I worried when a student asked a question and I didn't know the answer. I felt like she expected me to know everything because I was the teacher. Of course, that's how I felt about my teachers when I was in school. Thankfully, I learned that it was perfectly fine to model continued learning. I do not have to know everything and I do not have to have students believing (falsely) that I do. We can explore answers to questions together. We can explore the process together. We can make mistakes along the way together. How liberating!

Of course it is important to try to anticipate mistakes that can put one in danger and to choose paths judiciously. I hope that I model to my students that they can venture into discussions and test out ideas. They may make mistakes or they may create new avenues of interpretation. If we don't challenge ourselves and, if we are unwilling to make and learn from our mistakes, we simply stagnate.

Every time my daughter sees the chipped plate she reminds me that I made a mistake. Yes, I did, and I know that she is watching and learning from everything I do. I am learning, too.

Of tomatoes, time, and clear communication

"Where is she? Where is she?" "I sent her to Sam, but she went to tomato. Maybe she's a jumper!"

I heard this exchange as I returned from a stimulating conference on Smith Women in Education. Exhausted, all I could do was laugh at the inanity of the dialogue. To translate: I was leaving a parking lot and the attendant was trying to help the shuttle driver find the next rider. Rather than confusing each other with, "was that 's' or 'f'?" they had learned to identify aisles not by their letters but by the words which began with those letters. Clearly, this is not the code in use when police band radios go off but, it worked for them.

As I drove home, that exchange replayed in my head.  Each occupation and each location has its own internal language. When new people come on board they must learn that language as well as the multitude of overt and covert elements of the culture of that community.

How often do we assure that newcomers, adult or students, understand the various elements of our school cultures? How many words mean entirely different things in our communities? If they are not entirely different, are the subtleties significant enough to put newcomers at a disadvantage?

When I was in graduate school I took a course where the fundamental principle involved our T.I.U., our Theory-In-Use. What that meant was that we needed to break down our vocabulary into discrete terms to be sure that we were operating under the same assumptions. This was essential in situations involving conflicts. At the same time, identifying our T.I.U. could help us avoid conflicts. If a student said someone was "mean" to her, how did she define that?  If we advise a new teacher to give more feedback to students, what should that look like? What are the expectations in the community in terms that are understand by all sides?

Our lives are busier than ever, or are they? Can we slow down enough to be sure that we help those around us to understand what we're saying and what it means? Will a few more moments of patient clarification help reduce stress for all of us? If not, I may send someone to the "eyebrow" and she'll be lost forever due to a lack of clear communication.

Translation: At our school, the "eyebrow" is a semi-circular driveway where people are dropped off and picked up.

Perhaps I'm an idealist...so be it

Yesterday I was sitting in my Peace Studies class listening as my students shared their action plans for trying to bring a measure of peace to a target group. I had already read their plans and given feedback to them. However, I thought it might help them to hear their classmates' ideas. It might give them food for thought or give them an opportunity to make suggestions to each other.  While some students wanted to examine global problems like human trafficking and child soldiers, several wanted to address problems in their local communities. Two, in particular, struck a chord with me as I continue to worry about the fate of public schools. One student is exploring health and fitness of youth and the other is interested in the loss of programs in the arts in public schools. In both cases, budget constraints mean that the ax is wielded at these programs first.

I realized that while these students have very valid concerns and there is an abundance of research which shows the importance and essential benefits of physical education and the arts in child development, these girls had no sense of the larger ax that is threatening teaching jobs on a broader scale.  The sheer number of classroom teachers is being threatened around the country. Rhode Island teachers are losing their jobs by the bushel.  The Emergency Financial Manager of Detroit public schools played with the idea of allowing class size to go up to 60. SIXTY! I have to wonder if he has been in a classroom to see if that is physically possible much less considering the educational ramifications.

We must examine the needs of our public schools on a broad scale. What kind of future does this nation have if we cut fundamental programs like the arts and physical education and then continue to shove more students into the classes that remain?

In Tuesday's Seattle Times, columnist Danny Westnest responded to Bill Gates's proposal for public schools in his commentary Bill Gates, have I got a deal for you!  He exposed the "research" study that Gates used to show that public school teachers are open to adding more students to their classes. In fact, Gates manipulated the information. Moreover, he pointed out that Gates and his children have benefitted from smaller class sizes, not larger ones. Why? Because Gates and his children attended private school. They could afford small class sizes.

While it may be oversimplified, Westnest made an interesting proposal to show the arrogance of Gates's "solutions", "Bill, here's an experiment. You and I both have an 8-year-old. Let's take your school and double its class sizes, from 16 to 32. We'll use the extra money generated by that — a whopping $400,000 more per year per classroom — to halve the class sizes, from 32 to 16, at my public high school, Garfield."

Call on your local school districts. Call on your state legislators. Demand funding increases for public schools. We should make smaller classes affordable for all students. Think of what we could gain. Imagine if public school students had the chance to attack global problems, to share, to innovate, to received detailed feedback. Budgets are stretched across the nation. Certainly, there are better places to cut than schools. There must be.