Fantastic, Nick. Brings together your exploration of the last few years in one compelling argument. My own experience - entirely subjective but based on working with hundreds of small teams in schools - backs this line of thinking up completely.
Thankfully, there are some maverick educators who are beginning to challenge the notion that "we do not have a pedagogy that recognises the importance of care (or enthusiasm) in teaching", but they are in a small minority and of course are attempting to do this in an the context of culture (and an inspection regime) which does not reward it and where they may even find themselves penalised for their imagination.
I found this a stimulating and challenging read too. What struck me in particular was the simple design distinction - are we addressing existing concerns or trying to create new ones. I've seen so often that the first is ignored and the second is addressed by giving information. The assumption was ' I understand how important this is and it means a lot to me. If I tell them how important it is they'll get it and behave differently. If they don't it's because I haven't told them enough'
Yes, I know there are educators who get this instinctively - I'd like to think their work might be extended by a model which recognises and explains the central importance of affect. I think this would have helped me when I started out.
Thanks for the comment, Norman. There's something odd that happens when people pass on learning - something we came across when interviewing people in BP, trying to get them to pass on their learning: They had important things to say (content) but would try to convey this without the affective context that made it so important to them in the first place. So they might say 'diversity is important' but would neglect the personal story which took them to this point of view. And of course without the story, the content doesn't stick. As you say, it's one thing to say 'diversity is important!' another to say 'let me tell you how I came to feel that diversity really matters...'.
Nick - as someone who's trying to get into an L&D role in my company this was an incredible read, both challenging and invigorating for me. There's so many great ideas here that I'm going to read this again to digest and apply. Thank you for sharing, contributing and glad I've found your content to learn from!
Fantastic, Nick. Brings together your exploration of the last few years in one compelling argument. My own experience - entirely subjective but based on working with hundreds of small teams in schools - backs this line of thinking up completely.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, there are some maverick educators who are beginning to challenge the notion that "we do not have a pedagogy that recognises the importance of care (or enthusiasm) in teaching", but they are in a small minority and of course are attempting to do this in an the context of culture (and an inspection regime) which does not reward it and where they may even find themselves penalised for their imagination.
I found this a stimulating and challenging read too. What struck me in particular was the simple design distinction - are we addressing existing concerns or trying to create new ones. I've seen so often that the first is ignored and the second is addressed by giving information. The assumption was ' I understand how important this is and it means a lot to me. If I tell them how important it is they'll get it and behave differently. If they don't it's because I haven't told them enough'
ReplyDeleteThanks Mark, Norman -
ReplyDeleteYes, I know there are educators who get this instinctively - I'd like to think their work might be extended by a model which recognises and explains the central importance of affect. I think this would have helped me when I started out.
Thanks for the comment, Norman. There's something odd that happens when people pass on learning - something we came across when interviewing people in BP, trying to get them to pass on their learning: They had important things to say (content) but would try to convey this without the affective context that made it so important to them in the first place. So they might say 'diversity is important' but would neglect the personal story which took them to this point of view. And of course without the story, the content doesn't stick. As you say, it's one thing to say 'diversity is important!' another to say 'let me tell you how I came to feel that diversity really matters...'.
Nick - as someone who's trying to get into an L&D role in my company this was an incredible read, both challenging and invigorating for me. There's so many great ideas here that I'm going to read this again to digest and apply. Thank you for sharing, contributing and glad I've found your content to learn from!
ReplyDelete