Independent schools shifted dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, but essential academic shifts continue to drive our strategic plans as we strive to meet the needs of today’s students. As technology and academic leaders, we must stay informed about emerging trends, new technologies, and the movement toward student attribute development and measurement. Our schools’ priorities are evolving, and we must adapt accordingly.
In this article, we will discuss several academic shifts and how schools can respond to the changing priorities in education.
Impact of AI
Educators have always struggled with the lack of available time. Teachers initially started using chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and more to help them craft emails and conduct initial research. Usage of AI tools continues to expand as teachers have learned about popular options such as MagicSchool.ai, Diffit, and Canva Classroom Magic, which can be tremendous time-savers for lesson planning and content creation. I think we can all agree that time-saving AI tools are here to stay.
Schools have struggled with using AI with students. Many schools have crafted draft policies and recommendations about appropriate use. Others have begun comprehensive discussions about the positives and negatives and how to best move forward as they balance the goal of preparing students for the future with the desire to ensure that work is not plagiarized.
As we think about how we might adapt to the disruption brought on by AI, we might want to refer to the work of Matt Miller (@jmattmiller) of DitchThatTextbook.com. He suggests six shifts that we can make in our classrooms right now:
- Focus on "why" over "what."
- Focus on process over product.
- Emphasize problem-solving skills.
- Discuss the ethics of actions.
- Highlight how to become a better learner.
- Emphasize collaboration and relationships.
Dynamics of Teacher-Student Relationships
We know that strong teacher-student relationships facilitate learning. When students know their teachers care about them and believe they can be successful, student achievement increases dramatically. Strong teacher-student relationships are likely to be increasingly important to the future of education for several reasons.
As educational trends move toward learning models where the role of a teacher is more of a guide and mentor, teachers who have strong relationships with students can better personalize instruction as they understand each student’s unique needs, challenges, and strengths. Teachers who have strong relationships with their students are more likely to recognize and respond to students’ mental health needs and work to create inclusive environments where students feel safe, valued, and understood.
Students respond to teachers who are authentic, embrace an equity lens, and promote a caring climate and culture. Teacher-student relationships may be strengthened by the administration of student personal inventory surveys to discover students’ passions and interests, which enhances personalization. Additional practices that may prove helpful include the integration of classroom thinking routines, protocols, and check-in activities to support social, emotional, and ethical well-being, and showing students we care about them by communicating frequently with them through conversations, open-ended questioning, written feedback, and giving sincere compliments.
Importance of Developing Student Agency
Aristotle said, “For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.” We are all working to prepare our students for an ever-changing future, but the latest research tells us that our priority should be to develop learning opportunities designed to foster student agency. Bill Zima, a director at Marzano Academies, encourages us to think of agency as “the perceived ability of the individual, based on his or her capacity, to shape his or her life.” These enriched experiences will put students in situations that are appropriately challenging and yet will incorporate elements of agency to develop our students’ abilities to make decisions, solve problems, manage themselves, and explain their thinking.
Ideas to promote student agency include the implementation of student-led discussions and presentations to provide the opportunity for students to share their knowledge and insights with their peers. In addition, providing the opportunity for student choice and voice in real-world assignments and projects through authentic problem-solving is essential. Another suggestion is for teachers to be flexible and responsive by being open to changes in the curriculum and teaching methods to cater to student curiosities, interests, and needs.
Articulation of POG Attributes
The World Economic Forum’s The Future of Jobs Report 2020 states, “Skills gaps continue to be high as in-demand skills across jobs change in the next five years. The top skills and skill groups which employers see as rising in prominence in the lead up to 2025 include critical thinking and analysis as well as problem-solving and skills in self-management such as active learning, resilience, stress tolerance, and flexibility.”
The adoption of a set of student outcomes or attributes we want our students to acquire and demonstrate before they graduate is often referred to as a school’s portrait of a graduate (POG) skills. Collaboratively identifying a set of student outcomes will serve as a North Star or overarching vision for your school as we work to best prepare our students for our changing world. The articulation of POG skills will unify and align your vision by adding clarity around what is most important. Additional impacts include the promotion of student agency and self-management and a shift in pedagogy toward more facilitating, guiding, coaching, and less direct instruction.
When schools identify and implement POG skills as the cornerstone of their vision, this can become the foundation for the use of technology such as AI to make POG skills visible, the strengthening of teacher-student relationships, and the intentional development of student agency.
Moving forward with the articulation of a school’s unique POG student attributes must be a collaborative process for faculty and students. Include research and diverse voices and build on current exceptional examples of teaching and learning. Integrate the process with the ongoing revision of learning goals and consider assessment shifts that may need to occur as meaningful evidence gathering is embedded into the process. Consideration must be given to how you will incorporate student reflection, design portfolios, leverage technology tools, formulate skill progressions, revise report cards, and provide engaging, ongoing professional development to earn buy-in from teachers.
Managing transformational change through ongoing work takes time and constant conversations with teachers and parents. I cannot think of anything more important than our efforts to ensure our students are prepared and ready for the challenges and opportunities of the future.