Think Differently!
Posted by Steve Denniston on March 6th, 2008
Greetings from Grand Rapids!
Wow! What a start to MACUL! Mary Cullinane of Microsoft challenged us to think differently. It was one of those sessions where you walk out thinking “let’s do it” but at the same time, creating conflict within because it is a process that takes time and lots of difficult (yet fulfulling) thinking. One of the most challenging thoughts she shared is actually a quote by David Warlick, who in paraphrased terms said that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, for using technology that has not yet been invented in order to solve problems that we don’t even know are problems yet. Isn’t that a challenging thought.
I wondered if the focus would be a rah-rah session on what Microsoft did with its School of the Future in West Philadelphia, PA, but that was not the case. All throughout the session, Mary downplayed the role of Microsoft and stressed the process of people in West Philadelphia making the decisions. It wasn’t about the technology, but the learner and the needs they bring to the classroom. Do we really understand our students? Do we really understand the world they live in?
Mary shared this quote and while it rings true, what challenges me is how we solve this dilemma: “There is a prevailing culture of fear in education today, and because of it, we hesitate to innovate. When people are afraid of failure, they retreat back to the norm. We have to remove the culture of fear, or we will continue in the culture of the status quo.”