I teach boys. They are quite happy to use a computer to finish a task, but they will focus on the “finish” bit. It’s a race to see how quickly they can get it done and get back to their networked COD game which I will quickly find out about and break up (they ALWAYS try).
Capable? Yes, but only idiosyncratically. For “digital natives”, they have remarkably low adaptability to online instruction. They LOVE it when I lecture them (delivery content in a didactic fashion). They say it feels like “learning”. I find this disturbing. I record lessons for flipped delivery but they don’t watch them unless they “have” to.
On the other hand, I’ve got students who are able to think like this. They’re the ones who immerse themselves in learning and see tasks as opportunities to develop skills rather than short-term prison sentences to be served as quickly as possible.
I got very cross with a senior class earlier this year. A performance assessment was completed poorly. They had tried to cram. This is impossible with a skills based assessment (ever tried to cram for a language assessment? A maths assessment?) There were no facts that could be remembered and regurgitated (“drill and grill”). Their skills were on show and they all fell short because they didn’t develop their skills. You need to practise if you want to get better.
As an analogy (and to introduce some vulnerability/authenticity) I told them that I was very unfit. I took them down to the school oval and asked them what would happen if I ran around it 20 times right now. I asked “would I be fit after doing that?”. They answered “No, you’d be dead!” (This excited some of them). I then asked them how I could become fit. They answered “by doing a little every day”. They know the theory of skill development intuitively. They are reluctant to commit to it.
The fluencies presented here require an attitude shift. There is no such thing as a set point at which a student could be called “fluent”. Stop work, pens down. Congratulations, you’ve achieved fluency. Some students long for this moment. They see it as the pinnacle of learning. The payoff. the end of the third act. The win. The story arc of education exists, but it's a little longer than a 3 year bachelor's degree. It lasts as long as you do.
Student attitudes need to change from matriculation (what number do I need to pass?) to skill development (I am better at this today than I was yesterday). This is a tough sell to students and parents. Any ideas?
