Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Challenge Continues
March 30-April 1, 2003
Enduring Principles of Teaching [Technical Disciplines] in the 21st Century
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By: Rob Byrd |
Abstract
Reemphasizes the purpose of teaching, which is to help students learn how to learn. Attention is focused on two areas: leadership in the classroom and appropriate use of technology. The right leadership style will motivate students to give extra effort in the course. Specific examples are provided. Building on the concept of teacher leadership style, the concept of appropriate technologies is introduced, with specific examples of how to implement these concepts.
Description
Teaching is a profession. And by definition, a profession is an "occupation requiring advanced training....and usually involving mental rather than manual work" (Webster's, 1953). Mastering and employing techniques which result in reducing the profession of teaching to a manual skill is not only demeaning for teachers, but ineffective as well. Whether explicitly stated elsewhere at this conference or not, no teaching methodology is meant to be mechanically implemented. Without the expertise and wisdom of a qualified professional--that's you and me--a technique is no more than a checklist of how to bake brownies or assemble a bicycle.
Of course, the primary purpose of teaching is not actually teacher teaching, but student learning. In this light, two core principles become visible which, if internalized, will hopefully increase the effectiveness of every teaching method described in this booklet. One core principle I hold to is that, as a teacher, I am a leader of students, not a manager of students or classrooms. The difference may seem insignificant now, but my intent is to demonstrate how their difference is essential in fulfilling the purpose of teaching. And, in an attempt to be completely removed from any educational taxonomy or jargon for which you may already have a preconceived understanding, I will label the other core principle true learning. My goal in teaching is not to simply increase a student's knowledge of a subject, but to increase his/her understanding and capacity for subsequent independent learning of that subject. Without accomplishing this goal I am effectively handicapping the future graduate and not providing to society what it has already paid for, competent and self-sufficient citizens.
Paradoxically there are techniques, or at least guidelines, for implementing these core principles. In Part A: Leadership, not just Management, I explain the difference between leadership and management by introducing transformational/transactional leadership. I then give some examples of what leadership may look like in the classroom/technical lab. Part B: Learning in Spite of Technology contains some probing questions and illustrations of how I have tried to create true learning in a laboratory situation. These articles may at first seem to some readers negative or even antagonistic toward technology, but in the end, the audience will be made to think about how we practice our profession of teaching and to consider ways of making our mission more successful with, and possibly, in spite of, technology. This presentation is especially applicable to those who use technology in their teaching.
Part A then expands the role of the teacher in acting as a leader rather than simply a classroom manager. Part B expands the relationship between the student and the teacher, emphasizing important concepts to keep in mind, especially when the course is technically oriented. I have been teaching in technical disciplines and labs for about 12 years and draw from my experience as well as from my dissertation topic: leadership and values.
Proceeding