Why I am not a PBL evangelist

I am a teacher who is very interested in trying to think differently about how we do education. I love the idea of real work that meets a real need for a real audience.

Project Based Learning has become an idea that is growing in popularity in the branch of Christian schools that I work with. When Hamilton District Christian High first developed it's Teacher Academy to train teachers to do this well I was quite interested in getting involved.

But it's a few years later and I still haven't attended the Teacher Academy at all.

I've been struggling to understand why.

Now don't get me wrong. I happen to think that PBL has a lot going for it. When my principal says that this is what our school is going to do, I get behind it and engage in the work. I've done a few projects now and I'm learning more and more about how to do it well. But I have not become an evangelist for the topic. As powerful as PBL can be I'm not out there pushing to see it adopted as much as possible.

A recent conversation with a fellow educator has finally given me clarity as to why.

PBL does not directly disrupt the factory model of education.

I've mentioned before in this blog how much I detest the fact that we educate students in batches based purely on their birthdate. I think we dishonour each child's unique God given individuality in that system. I am most invigorated by the tools and ideas that directly challenge the foundation of the factory model.

I think that PBL can and probably should have a role in what a new education system looks like. But I also am watching PBL be used to reinforce the silos in our schools instead of tearing them down. PBL is not being used as a disruptive innovation, but a sustaining innovation.

I will happily continue to develop my skills as a teacher using PBL and will continue to learn more about how to do it well. But I'm not going to champion it or evangelize for it.

It isn't the killer app that will take down the factory model. And that's what I'm looking for, assuming such a thing even exists.

The Perils of Facebook

In my role as teacher and Technology Coordinator at a Christian school I hear lots of conversations about social media. Many of those conversations are focused on how much time is wasted, how shallow the connections are etc...

In fact, I almost never hear people speak about the positive benefits of social media. So let me tell you a story.

My daughter is sick. We've been struggling with her health for months. After a bout of flu that didn't seem to be going away I took her to the emergency room in our local hospital. After a long night they diagnosed appendicitis but there were complications and she would need to be transferred to another hospital more equipped for this situation.

It was in this busyness of organizing which parent would be where, where the van would be, who would pick up the kids from bus and so on that I posted a brief update to facebook. It was only a couple of sentences dashed together while in a hurry. I don't even use facebook much and I have a very limited pool of facebook friends. (That's a topic for another day.)

What happened next was joyful, helpful, and relieving.

Within hours our family and church community had mobilized. Supper appeared at our door. Lunches are being delivered to school tomorrow. People volunteered to take our kids. Prayer warriors from across the entire country were on their knees.

It has made a rough couple of days easier.

Thanks Facebook.