As I examine my current existence in the educational system and compare the reality of where I am to where I see my service as needing to go, I realize that I am looking to create a disruptive innovation. Formally called Special Ed, but really a subcategory of Alternate Ed, I work with students who have non-consuming tendencies in their appetite for educational consumption, in a program called Supportive Learning. These students neither have a natural affinity for the traditional setting of a brick and mortar school nor do they have a natural interest for the content being covered or the style of instruction being used. They typically struggle with text-based and expressive communication and usually have higher comorbidity rates, meaning their learning difficulties often coexist with chronic physical or mental health issues. Many have huge gaps in their learning. In a nutshell, they don’t easily fit in.
What I see as the most urgent problem for me to solve is one of multi-access. I want to create multi-levels of access to learning (mainstream or otherwise) that allows students to be able to “start where they are” and move dynamically through connected content. How far in a particular direction students would go, would depend upon the learning goals set out by them and their parents, and supported by both on and off-site school “personnel.” Though I have currently seemed to have convinced both students and parents in what is the early days of innovation, to accept the ideology of this model within the confines of a brick and mortar, small classroom situation, I do dream of the day where this model could be expanded to a broader student base .
What I see as the most urgent problem for me to solve is one of multi-access. I want to create multi-levels of access to learning (mainstream or otherwise) that allows students to be able to “start where they are” and move dynamically through connected content. How far in a particular direction students would go, would depend upon the learning goals set out by them and their parents, and supported by both on and off-site school “personnel.” Though I have currently seemed to have convinced both students and parents in what is the early days of innovation, to accept the ideology of this model within the confines of a brick and mortar, small classroom situation, I do dream of the day where this model could be expanded to a broader student base .
To continue on the path I am currently on, I really only need a Functional Team. Myself getting a nod from school board directors and the school principal as the lead designer supported by School Counselors and an “assigned” Educational Assistant. On the other hand, if I were to organize for “the dream,” moving this model to reach a broader student base, the team that I would need is likely an Autonomous one. I am fortunate that my current principal would be an excellent choice as a leader. I would like to have one of the Tech Coordinators at the District level as well as one school board trustee. I would choose progressive teachers, both male and female, that could bring core content expertise to the group, but have others (both from the school but also from the community) who would flex in and out of the group depending upon student focus. For example, if there was a substantial group of students who were interested in agriculture, inquiry projects could be facilitated by the collaborative teacher team, but also supported by members of the community from the long-standing, farming families in the area.
I do realize that a model such as this, diverges away from the “egg crate” structure to education that we have grown over-accustomed. I do see a need however, to create more stimulating learning experiences for those who are marginalized but perhaps more importantly, for those who may marginalize themselves due to lack of interest in what can kindly be called outdated curriculum and uninspired organizational structures. To borrow from Gordon Neufeld, I am solidly focused on figuring out how “to create an invitation to exist” in the learning folds of what we call public education, for all youth but especially for those who want to study in ways that are more immediately and directly relevant to their next steps of contribution in the society they find themselves.
I do realize that a model such as this, diverges away from the “egg crate” structure to education that we have grown over-accustomed. I do see a need however, to create more stimulating learning experiences for those who are marginalized but perhaps more importantly, for those who may marginalize themselves due to lack of interest in what can kindly be called outdated curriculum and uninspired organizational structures. To borrow from Gordon Neufeld, I am solidly focused on figuring out how “to create an invitation to exist” in the learning folds of what we call public education, for all youth but especially for those who want to study in ways that are more immediately and directly relevant to their next steps of contribution in the society they find themselves.