Changing Pedagogy for Modern Learners – Lessons from an Educator’s Journey of Self-Reflection

 In  this article Terry Taylor describes her journey as a teacher and how  her views on her role as a educator has evolved throughout her career as a teacher. She, like many of us, was born in the fifties and was exposed to traditional  ways of instruction. The students learned by constant repetition, memorization, recitation and constant drills with the purpose of achieving perfection. Nothing was flexible and there was no room for choice and creativity. The learner was subjected to a strict teacher directed lectures.

As classroom teacher in the late 1970’s, Taylor wanted her students learning to be dynamic and interactive. She wanted to develop the unique talents and interests of her students, but her principal who was double her age would not be very supportive of the approach she wanted to take. Even without support she organized her student in small groups, and even encourage the kids to sit wherever they wanted. It was evident that students enjoyed this freedom and the opportunity to be engaged in more dynamic activities. She continued that approach for six years but she eventually burnt out  due to the extra workload and demands of the system. She left teaching in 1980 to pursue other interests.

Years later Taylor found herself in the classroom again, but this time working with adults. Her views of how students should learn did not change. She encouraged students to write as if they were talking to friends. It was a time when people began to experience learning with computers. Her own children grew up playing and using computers. They were different types of learners, they were multitask and not linear learners. They were not the learners who not just acquired facts, but could understand instead. As technology developed even faster, the needs of the learners have dramatically changed. Today’s learner demands relevance, innovation and the opportunity to develop many skills. The modern learner must adapt to rapid changes in order to survive and succeed in this fast changing technological era. Taylor has designed computer science classes allowing students to choose to work on projects graded based on the level of complexity. Easy projects get less points, while more detailed ones get more. There are even bonuses points for those who work harder and want to achieve the highest possible grade.

The story of Terry reminds me of my own. Being a teacher in Mexico with very limited resources in the late 1970's, coming to the United States to teach Spanish as a foreign language, becoming a bilingual teacher, and going through so many changes of initiatives and trends in education hasn't been a very easy experience. I touched a computer for the very first time in 1995 and I feel I haven't kept up to date with changes in technology. I understand I must educate myself in order to serve better the new learner I am attempting to teach. I must develop the learned who does not know everything, but the one who knows how to find what he/she  needs and wants to know.

Taylor, T. (2014)  Changing Pedagogy for Modern Learners – Lesson from an Educator’s Journey of Self reflection. Educational Technology & Society, 17 (1) 79-88.