I firmly believe this push for “personalized learning”, which isn’t even what it was originally, is a corporate education reform push to get rid of the teacher unions. The ONLY way they can do that is to make the profession less than what it is. Instead of celebrating teachers the way countries like Finland does, we are going the wrong way with this. Please let him know your thoughts on this as well.
In a series of recent posts, I discussed possible future scenarios for special education teachers (Part 1 here). One of the scenarios I described involved teachers morphing from instructors to facilitators as innovations such as personalized learning software encroach. Similar changes are happening now. Special education teachers in many districts have relinquished roles closely associated with teaching: lesson planning, assessment design, and content instruction. Instead, they’re implementing scripted lessons as part of commercial direct instruction programs. General education teachers could experience a shift of their own. Some would claim they have already in an age of test preparation.
My question for readers is this: should classrooms be in the hands of teachers or technicians? I’m not asking who readers want in charge of classrooms. I’m asking who should be in charge. Do we want teachers to maintain their roles as designers and implementers of instruction, or do we want them…
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