“I am a giant derivative” with these words Dean Shareski begins his keynote address to the K-12 Online Conference. His message is a simple one. Given that he, like all educators, has benefitted tremendously from the thoughts and research of others he, like all educators, has a moral obligation to “pay his learning forward” specifically online. He claims that sharing is a quintessential part of being a teacher and that to claim ownership of ones lessons amounts to turning ones back upon one of the foundational principles of the profession. He goes further when he agrees with Ewan Maintosh who claims that “sharing online is the work of being an educator”.
I would like to agree, but I have some reservations. First off, I question whether or not teaching and learning is as portable and transferable as a commodity. I don’t believe that it can or should be passed from one classroom to another as easily as whiteboard marker or a spare meter stick. By now, most educators have rejected the “mug and jug” approach to knowledge in large part because we have come to realize the diversity that exists within our classroom. Shareski acknowledges as much when he rejects the traditional factory model, but his insistence on the idea of online sharing suggests to me that he believed that while individual students may be diverse, classrooms, and the educational goals of teachers and students, are largely homogeneous. His moral imperative for sharing presupposes that the materials being shared will be useful to others, but having taught in a number of school settings- both within Canada and abroad, public, private and religious- I’m not convinced that this is the case.
However, in disagreeing with him on this point, I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that the opposite is true- that what I am doing has no use to other teachers and shouldn’t be shared beyond my classroom. I would just stop short of agreeing with Ewan Macintosh that “sharing online is the work of an educator”. For me, the educator primary responsibility must be seeing to the needs of the students in his direct care. Learning relies upon a teacher recognizing the unique individuality of each of his students and building a relationship based upon trust and understanding. Education is the result of cultivating shared interests. For me, this is the work of being an educator. This is sharing upon which teaching is based.
To his broader point, sharing is a good idea and it benefits everyone, I would agree. While I worry sometimes that we have become over-reliant on pre-packaged lessons that arrive in the blink of an eye from a Google search, that teachers aren’t putting enough of their own thought and creativity into their lessons, I recognize that the internet has given me access to a far greater selection and quality of materials than ever before. I would be doing my student a huge disservice if I didn’t tap into it in order to make my lessons as complete and engaging as possible. And in recognizing how useful some online resources are, it does make sense to contribute to their development by offering comments, suggesting revisions and referring other teachers to do the same. It even makes sense to add my own, but I would stop short of calling it a moral imperative. That suggests to me more responsibilities and obligations and teachers have enough of those as it is. Let’s call sharing what it is- the neighbourly thing to do.
I would like to agree, but I have some reservations. First off, I question whether or not teaching and learning is as portable and transferable as a commodity. I don’t believe that it can or should be passed from one classroom to another as easily as whiteboard marker or a spare meter stick. By now, most educators have rejected the “mug and jug” approach to knowledge in large part because we have come to realize the diversity that exists within our classroom. Shareski acknowledges as much when he rejects the traditional factory model, but his insistence on the idea of online sharing suggests to me that he believed that while individual students may be diverse, classrooms, and the educational goals of teachers and students, are largely homogeneous. His moral imperative for sharing presupposes that the materials being shared will be useful to others, but having taught in a number of school settings- both within Canada and abroad, public, private and religious- I’m not convinced that this is the case.
However, in disagreeing with him on this point, I want to be clear that I am not suggesting that the opposite is true- that what I am doing has no use to other teachers and shouldn’t be shared beyond my classroom. I would just stop short of agreeing with Ewan Macintosh that “sharing online is the work of an educator”. For me, the educator primary responsibility must be seeing to the needs of the students in his direct care. Learning relies upon a teacher recognizing the unique individuality of each of his students and building a relationship based upon trust and understanding. Education is the result of cultivating shared interests. For me, this is the work of being an educator. This is sharing upon which teaching is based.
To his broader point, sharing is a good idea and it benefits everyone, I would agree. While I worry sometimes that we have become over-reliant on pre-packaged lessons that arrive in the blink of an eye from a Google search, that teachers aren’t putting enough of their own thought and creativity into their lessons, I recognize that the internet has given me access to a far greater selection and quality of materials than ever before. I would be doing my student a huge disservice if I didn’t tap into it in order to make my lessons as complete and engaging as possible. And in recognizing how useful some online resources are, it does make sense to contribute to their development by offering comments, suggesting revisions and referring other teachers to do the same. It even makes sense to add my own, but I would stop short of calling it a moral imperative. That suggests to me more responsibilities and obligations and teachers have enough of those as it is. Let’s call sharing what it is- the neighbourly thing to do.