47
important to leave to chance—and that the peril of not undertaking this inquiry is in not reaching out to students at all.
Our next poster emphasises the need for stimulating the students: «Teachers need to adapt to the group and disciplines, and not only focus on the content and knowledge. They need to motivate their students with different approaches, some not technical. They need not be afraid of trying new methods, and make students reflect upon their future work and world. It is only fair that you should get feed- back and reflect first. Creativity and innovation, self evaluation and learning have to be stimulated, so the students can work it out no matter what comes ahead.»—
Carola Bruna. Nov 20, 2012.
Curiosity is driven by questioning: «The students can develop the art of ask- ing questions, which in my opinion is more important than thinking.»—Francisco Cua. Nov 21, 2012.
Develop students’ thirst for knowledge. Teach them to how to question criti- cally and deeply.
L2. Lifelong Learning
Students will no longer have one occupation and one job title for the whole of their lives. Jobs will no longer remain static, and required skills will change.
Teachers and students must commit themselves to the difficult but rewarding task of learning for the rest of their lives:
Teaching is no longer about the traditional approach of content delivery. It is about inspiring and motivating your students to want to know more, and (sup- porting) them with the skills to do so. Modern day educators need to sup- port the development of skills (for) self-regulated learning so that students (can) apply these to ongoing professional development and learning beyond the formal classroom. Self-regulated learning processes can be built into the I don’t think teachers in my country, Brazil, are being prepared for the unknown future. At this time they are worried (about) surviving (doing) more than one job, long hours of preparation and correction. (There is a) lack of motivation for studying and … difficulties in applying for a Master and Doctorate course. In Brazil it is difficult and expensive to apply for such courses. And as teachers, we know how important it is to keep on studying in a lifelong education.—Maria Olavia Santos Monteiro. Nov 28, 2012.
important. If you have a curious, playful, adventurous attitude, you’ll pick up the skills you need.—Robin Turner. Nov 19, 2012.
Students will learn informally as well as formally:
49
Trying to do research to validate the new paradigm is not easy and one poster feels very lonely:
curriculum structure for greatest impact so that they are contextually bound and relevant to learning. By developing skills in identifying gaps in knowledge, set- ting achievable learning goals and monitoring learning through to goal achieve- ment, students will enter the workforce with the necessary skill-set to continue on their lifelong learning journey.—Lisa Thomas. Nov 28, 2012.
I teach English and French. I love studying and learning. In fact, I study English and French “with” my pupils! Sometimes one of them thanks me for making it possible to feel that power.—Crisaidi Bento Sodré. Dec 21, 2012.
the right answer is to encourage the student to learn to ask and to be an active actor for his education.—Dorin Isoc. Dec 20, 2012.
I have … posed a question …: “What is the nature of ‘discovery’?” The responses from thoughtful, informed researchers have been revelations on many levels, and remain guides to my thinking in education and my profes- sional practice.—Jonathan Edwards. Dec 14, 2012.
The learning dynamic is quite unique, and I have been lurking on other RG discussion threads to try and develop a way of defining what occurs.
Educational research of a new paradigm is not simple, since (the concept has) both traditional and non-traditional roots—I have not been able to put them all together yet. I have no source of validation outside my own experi- ence, no real colleagues.—Jonathan Edwards. Dec 4, 2012.
Later he reveals that he is investigating the process as part of his own lifelong learning:
A poster confirms that asking questions is an art that can be taught:
Part of the lifelong learning of teachers is to be learning with the students:
L: Learning to Learn with Curiosity …
The lifelong learner needs to be flexible, and requires reprogramming:
I think that Google will never replace a teacher. Previously here in Brazil teachers were called masters. I think in many (other) places too. Maybe it’s time to redeem the broadest sense of the word master and its function in our society.—Sérgio Silva. Jan 3, 2013.
Students should learn not to be fed. They have to engage actively with their peers to navigate their learning. Thus, four words are crucial in their learn- ing—explore, create, understand, and share. What (has been) said about learning, by doing what professionals in their fields actually do, (is) what I call authentic education, through apprenticeship. Sad to say, the professional (licensing) examination uses multiple choice (questions). Underdevelop(ed) countries copy from the big brother (United States) perceiving that (to be the) norm. Probably, it is a norm, but a bad one.—Francisco Cua. Dec 28, 2012.
Today’s teacher has to be more dynamic and more versatile. He must be agile enough to update his knowledge and information. The flexibility that is needed now was never known ever before. With the emerging trends and changing circumstances, today’s teacher is faced with an uphill task.
However, it’s (a) matter of attitude. This should be kept in mind that learn- ing is not for ever. Sometimes you have unlearn what you have learned before, particularly in view of the new realities and new discoveries that are taking place so rapidly. Learning, unlearning and relearning are the processes that have to be followed to keep up with the modern ways of teaching.—Muhammad Iqbal. Dec 23, 2012.
A key to lifelong learning is never to give up researching. «I appreciate your theory and methodology in reference to up-grading and excellence in the area of
“Teaching”. I would like to start following your philosophy. Further, I strongly recommend a coordination between teaching and research in relevant areas to uplift the standard of teaching of students and scholars.»—Sanjay Mishra. Dec 25, 2012.
Cua outlines four steps in simple research:
Teachers should become experts of their domain:
51
With lifelong learning, the responsibility for learning shifts to the student:
One of the skills of the teacher of the 21st century will be to help students discover the systematized knowledge and propel them to use those skills, organizing and directing learning situations involving students and articulat- ing around learning processes.—Sérgio Silva. Jan 15 2013.
“Self-teaching and lifetime learning” are important and complementary.
Lifelong learning may seem to be a trait to learn continuously for life.
To inculcate students to be lifelong learners, they have to learn to solve
“real” (authentic) problems, where there is no perfect solution. We call this (an) ill-defined problem.—Francisco Cua. Jan 7, 2013.
If you can instill self-teaching and lifetime learning in your students, you have done your job!—Mario Blanco. Jan 6, 2013.
(We) are right about empowering students to hold “themselves the responsi- bility to choose their educational path.” … (We) are right too that the teacher should no longer play the role of transmitter of knowledge. … I believe that teaching and learning should prioritise (1) development of skills, which is then a means to (2) the acquisition of knowledge. For example, we teach (or we motivate) students how to do critical thinking and empower them to choose the context that fits their needs. Developing their thinking skills and judgement –empowering them to choose the context and be responsible for the choice– becomes a means to learning knowledge.—Francisco Cua.
Jan 6, 2013.
Blanco tells us simply how to assess whether teachers have done their job:
Since the real world does not require the solving of clean textbook questions, lifelong learners need to be able to solve poorly-defined problems:
Students should research to satisfy their learning needs:
L: Learning to Learn with Curiosity …
Learning is a complex, lifelong pursuit and should not be made comfortable by us as educators. By disturbing the often narrow limits of our uniquely different students’ world views, we offer-up engaging challenges to learn. It also provides support to keep the unlearning and relearning dynamic for rapidly changing times.