6/3/23 – After being an educator for over two decades, it is refreshing to view the work from a different perspective with these assignments and discussions. Reflectively, I can see in many instances over the years where I was reactive in creating a learning environment versus being proactive for my students. I appreciate how we need to “take a step back” and look at the whole picture – not the pieces – and start with the learner in mind (Harapnuik, 2015). Too often, we do not see how the learning environment needs to fit the learning (Thomas, 2015) and just copy what some other veteran teacher is doing in the classroom.
In many cases, how classrooms functioned in the past is not catching up to what is needed for today with the mass of resources we have and the needs of society. Like Thomas and Brown share in their book, today either the constraints tend to limit passion and imagination which limits the learning, or in a other cases, the constraints are too open and chaos in the learning ensues. “For effective learning,” there has to be balance and harmony of these “elements” (Thomas, 2011).
I also love Bates’ comparison of a teacher and a gardener. The gardener creates the environment for the learner to grow but cannot make the learner grow – “the plants have to do the growing” – the learning. Thus, the teacher cultivates the learning environment to influence the learning (Bates, 2015).
As educators, we need to think of ourselves as cultivators of a learning environment and all that this entails in the 21st century with what we now have available. As an instructional coach, I want to incorporate this shift in culture in my work with teachers and in my work with students.
References:
Bates, T. (Dec 14, 2015). Building Effective Learning Environments. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/3xD_sLNGurA
Harapnuik, D. (2015, May 9). Creating Significant Learning Environments (CLSE). Retrieve from https://youtu.be/eZ-c7rz7eT4
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A new culture of learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of Constant Change. CreateSpace
Thomas, D. (2012, September 12). A New Culture of Learning at TEDxUFM. Retrieve from https://youtu.be/lM80GXlyX0U
Wings and a Wand 