Which principles of Material Design are most important for you? Why?
This is a very broad questions. I will be breaking the question down by answering it from the perspective of my roles as a teacher, school owner, a material developer and a parent.
As a Teacher:
Materials should stimulate my students’ needs . I carefully consider: word count, language patterns, themes / topics, language functions, skills, competencies and interest. Materials should be easy to find, quick to use, and provide a comprehensible assessment. As a teacher, I want to focus on engaging/interacting with students and not developing content. I want flexible activities that supplement my teaching beliefs and support my expectations (goals).
As a School Owner:
I want my teachers (myself included) to work with flexible content (synthetic outlines with analytic interactions). I want teachers to be focused on narratives and interactions they have with their students while aligning to the school’s mission and experience.
As a Materials Developer:
Materials need to be designed and curated for a purpose. They need to align to the school’s mission while using frameworks and guidelines that support: better relationships, leveling, SLA theory, content and resources, courses and schedule, lessons, assessment and reflections that encourage a holistic approach to curriculum development.
As the Parents:
Parents breathe life into my school through the enrollment of their children. Materials need to align with the parents’ vision and beliefs for their child’s education. Resources needs to be organized, easy-to-follow, and provide the reassurance that their child’s needs are taken CARE of.
Principles in different roles:
Materials should:
enhance my teaching; not hinder it;
support the school’s experience;
be easy to create, implement and refine with students/for students
and provide reassurance to the parents.
That's a pretty thorough post, Rhett. Thank you. It is interesting because it highlights an important issue - that we sometimes need principles from various perspectives and not only from that of a materials writer. I wonder if these ever conflict? In your case, as you are the school owner, they probably don't but Imagine that if the school owner and the materials developer aren't the same person, there could be disagreement. Pleasing the parents is vital when it comes to YLs of course. You've raised some important points.
ReplyDeleteCommunication is always hard. I am always in conflict between what I think, know, want, need, don't want/need and being told by others. Sometimes I listen and do so carefully... and sometimes I just zone out and ignore all noise.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting, Rhett. Have you found that teachers/ other school owners/ parents are able to articulate their beliefs and goals? I also wonder what you think your students' perspective might be?
ReplyDeleteAnne Hendler I don't know. I do believe that people lean toward to what they believe regardless if they are aware of it or not. I have found that the more clearly I can articulate my beliefs, vision and process; the better I can share those values with others. I can admit to not knowing a great many things. And I will also drink my own kool-aid while being ignorant of them. I feel i have to because the anxiety feel from not would drive me out of the classroom.
ReplyDeleteAs for student's perspective, for me, I like to follow to Carol Reed's C wheel. carolread.wordpress.com - C is for C-Wheel
Rhett Burton Thank you for sharing the link and responding to my questions.
ReplyDeleteAnne Hendler Your question is so important and it is so big. I didn't mean to blanket it with the C wheel but I thought it might be a good first step. My students are young learners like want to be children and they are very curious and love to talk in both l1 and l2. I allow them some flexibility with the goal of enriching the conversation and sharing knowledge. I do recast some what what they same with expectation that they become aware of what 'we' said in the interactions. The language i give them is scaffold to their level. I invest a lot of time into materials development but I don't use it as my primary source of engagement. I only use it as a driver for the course and the parameters of language I would use. The reason is because my materials are only tools. And i have many tools: puzzles, crayons, scissors, games, magnetic, drawing boards, toys and a variety of materials/tools' to engage the kids. My interactions with the students are usually negotiated. Sometimes I control the narrative. Sometimes they control the narrative. And we always work together to create 'our own' memories of the experience. I try to get very specific with the C wheel but sometimes it can get overwhelming to juggle all roles. I will be honest, I don't plan my interactions. I know my content. I know my expectations. But I don't know how I am going to negotiate how the interaction will transpire. That i leave to my intuition in the moment.
ReplyDeleteHere is how I used the c-wheel to encapsulate what i want to create for the students.
ReplyDeletedrive.google.com - The learners.001.jpeg
ReplyDeleteThanks again :)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I cannot imagine a world where all these perspectives are not in conflict. I strongly believe that the teacher is the one that has to balance the principles, desires and views of school owners, parents and material developers. For that reason, I totally agree with you in that materials should allow for flexibility. They should be easy to adapt to teachers' and students’ background, the aims of the course, learning styles etc.
ReplyDeleteAndreas Charatzidis One struggle for creating resources I have is: my synthetic approach to materials development and my analytic approach to interacting with my students. It is natural for me to do, but isn't natural for me to explain to a teacher who will be teaching my course and wants a standardized lesson plan.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rhett Burton for such a thoughtful post and follow-up with everyone here, which I've read with great interest and leaves me with more food for thought.
ReplyDeleteOne observation:
"I have found that the more clearly I can articulate my beliefs, vision and process; the better I can share those values with others"
- this also seems crucial to getting your teachers and parents on board and drinking your kool-aid. If it's clear to them that you are clear about what you're doing, then it's easier to follow. Sometimes teachers/principals are clear in their own mind but don't necessarily articulate it confidently which can then lead others to second-guess or question what's going on.
Phil Brown It is a challenge.
ReplyDelete