The Road Less Travelled

The Road Less Travelled (or The Road Not Taken) - Robert Frost's famous poem has always been one of my favourites. It comes to mind again as I seem to be repeatedly drawn into discussions about education and employability. There is also a project on hand to design resources for young children to learn "work-related skills". And much discussion about learning outcomes. One of the outcomes identified is to help youngsters recognise common stereotypes in their lives and how stereotypes affect and limit their attitudes, choices and opportunities.

There is also an enlightening discussion about the subtle way in which stereotyped thinking and deep rooted assumptions are woven into our lives, and how and why we tend to fall for tall, dark and handsome men in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. To learn more about the implicit associations that underlie our perceptions about life and people and affect all our decisions, try the Implicit Association Test. You may be very surprised at what you learn about your own way of thinking! Definitely a must for those who pride themselves on being open minded!

How do we learn these stereotypes and how can we avoid teaching these same patterns to our children? How do we unlearn these patterns? Can these patterns be unlearned? While our brain needs to classify and categorise information in order to make sense of the world, this process is not always objective or based on evidence. Breaking the mould takes courage and risks isolation as it is based on asking questions about the relevance and integrity of traditional classification systems and rejecting irrelevant data. It's never easy to walk the road less travelled.

I think it all starts with asking questions. Questions such as, Is this the only way? Why this way? Is there another way? Is there a better way? Why not this way? It also means delving into the past to uncover how many of these classification systems have arisen and understanding their dangers and weaknesses. Let's teach our young to explore the roads less travelled. For that, we must first confront our own fears.

Yakkity Yak - Don't talk back!

Picking up from where I left off -- I failed my driving test last month. Aargh! 'Twas the devlish roundabout that led to the rout! I was felled in thirty seconds by a faulty manoeuvre attempting a Second Exit Right. When we returned from the test for the debriefing, my instructor said to me, "You are a good driver. What happened?"

Not really sure what happened. For some inexplicable reason (fear of tests!) I was not able to communicate my expertise to the tester. Despite twenty years of driving in Mumbai.

Delving deeper, what really happened is what happens to many people when they're faced with having to prove their worth. They are unable to communicate their skills with the degree of sophistication that may required.

It is the ability to communicate that determines the survival and success of a species. History Channel's Evolve Series offers an indepth insight into how communication has played a critical role in evolution, providing different species with the ability to fend off predators, acquire a mate and find food.

Not surprisingly, one of the key skills identified for Employability is Communication, both verbal and non-verbal. Fostering employability is about cultivating skills and building the confidence and communication techniques needed to show and tell people about it.

That brings us to the role of Conversation and Dialogue. Many generations (and I!) have suffered school systems where talk in class was forbidden and punished. Today however, conversations and dialogue are recognised as essential to development and learning. Dialogic literacy is recognised as a critical necessity in a revolutionary new pedagogy.

New research into brain development and socio-economic status suggests a possible link between talking to children and their ability to process visual stimuli.

There is much in the literature about the role of conversation and dialogue in fostering exchange, collaboration and learning. Many educationists have highlighted the role of the role of dialogue and the community of inquiry in facilitating self-evaluation and feedback. Lipman (1991:19) writes that “…ideally the relationship between teacher and students has this character of face to face dialogue…”

But how exactly does it work? You'll find an excellent overview and references to the subject in Engaging in Conversation and Dialogue and Conversation.

For an indepth discussion, read Robin Alexander's 2005 paper, Culture, Dialogue and Learning: Notes on an Emerging Pedagogy. He suggests that classroom talk tends to become mere recitation or pseudo-enquiry and points out that though"...classrooms are places where a great deal of talking goes on...Teachers rather than learners control what is said, who says it and to whom. Teachers rather than learners do most of the talking."

Shall we let the learners do the talking for a change? To be continued.

Learning vs Training

Last year, many of my friends (and I) turned forty (!) and at every party, we reminisced about the numerous gaffes and blunders we had survived as we made our way through schools and colleges into our first experiences of work and life. Most of us (but not all!) had recovered sufficiently from these misadventures to be able to laugh as we looked back. In hindsight we were unanimous in saying, “If we had known then what we know now….”

This is exactly what education for employability is about. You can read about it in a series of publications called the Learning and Employability Series produced among others, the by the Pedagogy for Employability Group, in consultation with the Enhancing Student Employability Co-ordination Team (ESECT) and the Higher Education Academy (Generic Centre). You can also access some of these and other related papers here.

This series of publications, (edited by Professor Mantz Yorke) offers an in-depth, balanced and thought provoking discussion of the key issues in providing an education that ensures that learners can “hit the ground running fast”.

So what exactly is employability?

Most definitions say it's "a set of skills, knowledge and personal attributes” that improve an individual's chances of success in whatever path they may opt for after their education. It's essentially about teaching individuals to reflect on what makes them tick and finding out what they really want to do in life.

“Employability derives from complex learning, and is a concept of wider range than those of ‘core’ and ‘key’ skills.”

“Employability is not merely an attribute of the new graduate. It needs to be continuously refreshed throughout a person’s working life.”

Source: Employability and Curriculum Design (Kenneth Aitchison and Melanie Giles).

Moving beyond content mastery

While different teaching approaches can lead to similar levels of content mastery in a subject, they can lead to significant differences in other outcomes.

Conventional passive delivery approaches are not renown for fostering independent thought, creative problem solving, critical thinking, experimentation, reflection and transfer of learning to other contexts. Problem based or scenario based learning approaches may be better suited for such outcomes.

The underlying ethos of this series of publications is that there is no conflict of interest between promoting good learning and in promoting employability and that it essentially involves a shift in perspective and approach, a fine-tuning of the curriculum to include the development of skills and attributes in addition to and not in lieu of content mastery.

The primary purpose for the introduction of personal development planning (PDP) in schools is to develop in learners the capacity for reflection and self-awareness. The exercise is meant to help them gain clarity about their attitudes, aptitudes, personal goals and explore how they can work toward these goals.

Making explicit connections

It is now univerally acknowledged that for real understanding, learners must be made to see the big picture. It's critical to make clear the rationale behind these PDP exercises by means of explicit connection building, because,

“provision without student awareness is a missed opportunity. Students need to know that PDP has these purposes and to see how it can link to job-getting and employability generally. They need to see the significance of PDP for their personal development, rather than treat it as an externally imposed requirement (which might be perceived merely as a bureaucratic chore with no apparent benefit).” (Pedagogy for Employability, p. 14)

More to come. Once I’ve passed my driving test (critical to employability)!