What Shall Students Learn?

Several years ago, my religious community gathered leaders from our 16 high schools to try to create a profile of a graduate from a Marianist school. It seemed a bit contrived because our schools reflect socio-economic, ethnic, religious and gender differences among and between the schools. Although there are certain tangibles that one can observe in all Marianist schools, each school also had a distinct culture based on the aforementioned variables. So, it was very difficult to create an all encompassing Marianist graduate profile. While this was not successful on the national level, I do believe that this is a great excercise to do with faculty/staff/parents and students on the local level. Ozar (2006) recommends graduation outcomes, and I do believe that is a great starting place to designing any curriculum.

Designing curriculum based upon an "output" model, rather than an "input" model was telling and challenging to me in my own practice of teaching. I had the experience 5 years ago to design and implement a senior honors course in theology. Designing this new course in Pastoral Ministry allowed for more "output" outcomes rather than "input" outcomes because I was not saddled with a textbook from which others teachers also needed to teach. Designing this new course allowed for a great deal of creativity and flexibility that I had not encountered before in my own teaching. I would say that the course really was student centered and focused. Fast forward five years from this initial implementation and I took on an additional course in Psychology because I had some time and we did not really have additional money to pay another teacher for the period. When I look at the course design for that class, I relied heavily upon the text and the learning environment reflected the "input" model to which Ozar referred. Even asking the question, "What shall I teach?" seems so burdensome and so dependent upon me that teaching beccomes a chore and solely my responsibility. Asking, "What shall students learn?" opens the doors of creativity, curiosity, wonder and possibilities-that's far more exciting to me!

So, what helps this old dog learn new tricks? Ozar states, "Any outcome designed around learning rather than teaching is a step in the right direction. Good outcomes can be tremendous catalysts for increasing learning and improving teaching" (Ozar, 2006, p. 20).

Ready for the Assembly Line

The current model for schools and schools systems was borrowed from the organizational world of business. The creation of schools that mirror life in the factories seemed to prepare students to move from one environment (school) to another environment (work) with very little effort. This model had its place in the history and development of education and organizations for the Industrial Age period of history but today this model is seriously lacking. The curriculum for the Industrial Age was developed with the real world in mind. Using the Farmers Almanac, classes in accounting, typing, mechanics, grammar, and the sciences prepared most of the students for their place in the working world while a small minority continued their education on the college and university level. Today, more and more students are attending college before entering the work force (and many more are extending their studies earning MA's and PhD's without ever being gainfully employed) and the curriculum changed from the practical to the ethereal in many cases. In our technological literate world and work force that encourages team work, shared information, and creativity, it seems to me that if schools are to remain relevant in meeting the current needs and future aspirations of students, then change is definitely necessary both in the design of curriculum, the pedagogy used, and the schema for organizational leadership in schools.

As a teacher and educational leader of schools, I tried to bring as many voices to the table as possible when seeking to make changes or teaching a new concept. In the classroom, I often used collaborative learning on a weekly basis and always assigned a semester project that demanded group design, particpation and presentation. The students always had a series of topics from which to choose, but a rubric was provided to them so that they would know the parameters and scope of the project. Points were actually awarded for creativity. While the students generally liked the projects, they also learned valuable lessons in time management, group dynamics, dependability, supporting the weak and taking risks-points that I know are valuable in the work force. As an educational leader of school, although we functioned in the classical model of organizations, i.e., a hierarchical model where lines of reporting and communication were explicit, as a leader I often tried to bring other constituents into the conversation both formally and informally. I found that in most cases, this allowed for a greater understanding of the issue/problem and provided for a better decision in the long run.

The readings provided great challenges for those in education to dismantle the assembly line and transform schools to meet the needs of the future.