Enhancing teaching in a technology-rich global environment
 |
Professor Ian Gibson (at back) with children from the slums in Nairobi, Kenya wearing 'helmets' knitted by Grandma Joy in Sydney - part of a global social awareness component of the Teachers for the Future initiative and the 2006 Children's Conference. |
Teachers for the Future, a new initiative at Macquarie University, is working towards a new brand of teaching and learning that is appropriate for a technology-rich, global learning environment.
“This program aims to ensure that the teaching profession is regarded highly and retains an experienced and mature workforce that embraces the changes of the future and the values of the past in an approach to teaching that is appropriate for the 21st Century,” explains Professor Ian Gibson, Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation Chair in Education.
Gibson is passionate about technology, teaching and learning and with colleagues in the Australian Centre for Educational Studies, aims to make it engaging and relevant for the new millennium through outreach and research.
“I did some research with colleagues in the United States and we asked 3700 kids at all stages of schooling the one word that would define their school experience,” says Gibson. “By far the most common word that was used was ‘boring’. We should be ashamed of that. What we are trying to do is get kids engaged to a point where the word boring doesn’t even come into it.”
“Learning is the core concept that you and I should be worried about and I think we are,” says Gibson. “Then there is a process of leading. I don’t mean just school leading. I think everyone has a capacity to lead in some way based on their skills whether they are in kindergarten, year 12 or even a veteran teacher. We need to respect the skills and talents of every individual in the classroom.”
Children’s conference
A children’s conference hosted by the Australian Centre for Educational Studies in collaboration with the Ryde Council, the NSW Department of Education, and local schools in December was the first major outreach by the Teachers for the Future initiative. It brought together 250 primary school students and 40 high school students. The aim of the day was to draw up a series of resolutions in regard to technology, health and education.
Students were given the opportunity to learn from their peers from around the world. The keynote address was delivered in real time by 15 children from Kansas in the United States and a pre-recorded presentation came from a group of children who live in the slums of Kenya.
“The day broke down many cultural, social and distance barriers,” says Gibson. “Kids (and teachers) learnt a lot about learning in other countries and they found out how they could learn differently and how easy it was to do via the computer.
“We made an impact on those kids’ lives by having them consider big questions and giving them a voice,” says Gibson. “You can expect big things to come from our children when you give them the opportunity.”
For further information contact Professor Ian Gibson ian.gibson@mq.edu.au