Social discussion of CS in K-12

[Martin Wolske <mwolske AT illinois.edu>]

We were talking at our digital literacy for all learners team meeting today about recent conversations with teens at one site in which they were expressing their dislike of school in general and some of their white teachers in specific. This brought to mind the introduction to bell hooks' Teaching to Transgress (attached) and also John Dewey's Experience and Education. Both highlight, each in their own way, that education that insights passion is one that centers what is learned in the issues and opportunities of the community. hooks in particular brings the point home for me as she relates the passion she had for learning in the segregated, woefully under-resourced school that made it clear she was learning to make a difference for her community, and how she lost that passion as she moved to the integrated school that emphasized the individual superstar -- which by the way as a person of color she would never be. Dewey's community school movement understood this need to make education relevant to the community context and issues as well. Ultimately, let's fight for well resourced, modern schools by all means. But the cool *things* won't mean squat unless we also get the community aspect right. From day one what attracted me to Kenwood was their founding on principles that situated technology and literacy as something done for the community. Their Collaborative Discussion framework is but one significant way they operationalize this core principle. As another example, George has been highlighting the participatory democracy framework used by Mission Hill. Ultimately, these take the historic strengths of the community schools approach and marry them to 21st century contexts.

-- Martin

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On 2/9/15 1:01 PM, Charles Schultz wrote:

Good afternoon, Shifters!

I am having a conversation with a friend about the location of the high school that is dominating local education news, and we are both saddened that more important issues are not in that conversation (Kerris, sound familiar?).

What will education look like in 50 years? Heck, what about 100 years? While the draft versions of the new high school have "modern" elements that include open work/collaboration areas, does the overall design take into account how the very fabric of education is changing? Will it support EdChats and EdCamps? Distance learning? The funny thing (to me) is that you can do EdCamps and distance learning in any building, new or old. Right?

True, nobody can accurately predict the future ("cloudy the future is, always changing"). But the current trends can at least give us an idea of where it is headed. So what do the current trends say? Is a $94 million high school a wise investment of our future?

PS - there are no wrong answers, I am truly inquiring. :)

--

Charles Schultz

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-- 
Martin Wolske, Senior Research Scientist and Adjunct Faculty
Graduate School of Library & Information Science
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Google Hangout: martin.wolske; Twitter: @MartinBWolske; Blog: http://mwolske.wordpress.com

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