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Teacher for Learning

 

If this image is not an accurate depiction of not only my mind, but education overall then I do not know what is. When I began Ontario Extend, my mind was (still is most days) swimming with resources, exhibits of my lesson plans, ideas, concerns, successes, hurdles, misconceptions and opportunities. Honestly, Ontario Extend was rather overwhelming while teaching remotely and homeschooling two kiddos. I pinned Ontario Extend to my bar and left it there for six months or so. Eventually, I selected to embark on the Teacher for Learning and honestly mentally and emotionally I represented the tangled messy red lines. A respected college and good friend sent me the above image stating, "basic issue in education" when I felt like taking on the concept of prior knowledge. A picture is truly worth a thousand words, because suddenly I shifted my mind from the chaos and stepped into the focus room. 

There are many great concepts in education. Unfortunately, we as educators realize (often with some resistance) that these concepts do not always fit perfectly into the teaching environment we are navigating. One misconception that I struggle with personally and professionally is that rooted in Prior Knowledge (PK). The all or nothing of it. Seems to represent that like the above image there was a straight line between A and B. It left me as a learner and advocate for my students feeling like something was wrong with me and/or my learners if I could not glide from A to B effortlessly. I started to question if prior knowledge really is a straight line why do so many learners struggle. Back out into the chaos of my mind I went. 

I discovered that prior knowledge is rooted in language. If everyone is not speaking the same language, how can we say prior knowledge is an either/or situation. For example, currently I am teaching in the Sultanate of Oman. In Arabic the word 'harass' means 'to guard'. The word harass to an American means to bother or molest. When I would engage with near-native speaking Omanis in academia, they seemed unbothered when I mentioned doing 'X' was harassing. The L1 significance behind the disconnect. How many other words have I unknowingly used to engage PK with my students and then applied the all or nothing concept of PK to? In my example, I had to shift and use the word molest. The language used by the teacher and the language used by each student when activating PK is essential. I also discovered that prior knowledge is deeply impacted by each learners culture, sub-culture and trauma experienced while learning. As conscious as I am in working to understand and respect culture, unless I am of the learners culture and even sub-culture, I am still a square peg in a round hole. I felt as if I had been kicked out of the focus room back into the chaos struggle to advocate for my learners and myself. 

How can I as an educator engage prior knowledge and avoid the pitfalls of all or nothing? Well, it is in the sauce! Yes, sauce. It fills gaps. It blends ingredients. It binds. It creates something that titillates the mind and feeds the soul, and it is different for each learner. The misconception that PK exists or does not exists and mislabeling students now felt like an opportunity. And the best part is that really it is the learners that are making the sauce! The Sauce is three simple questions, "How can I use this?", "Why must I use this?" and "When will I use this?" These questions provide a level of autonomy for learners to activate PK, fill gaps, blend old information with new, and bind them together for actual use (enjoyment).


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