Developing
effective strategies for a learning curriculum is just as important as the
content itself. Like many others, my student career prior to university consisted
primarily of standardized tests and rubrics. Although this is an effective way
for teachers to gauge how much content the students can regurgitate, it does
not show the ways in which students came to form their knowledge and does not
provide much feedback for them to grow as learners. Teacher’s today should be
fully focused on incorporating the Know, Do and Be framework into their
classroom, proposed by Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2014) as a means to help their
students develop successful strategies to acquire knowledge.
There are four different types of knowledge making up the “know”, the initial step of the framework. Factual and conceptual
knowledge are essential for a teacher’s marking scheme and a student’s grade,
however their procedural and metacognitive knowledge is essential to their growth
as a learner. One of the primary issues in my student career was my own lack of
understanding of how I learn best. Being exposed to so many lessons where I was
placed amongst twenty-five other students, I would simply have to take in the
information being lectured from the teacher. However, students have different
ways of forming knowledge; whether they be visual learners, need to work in
groups, individually or need their lesson to be placed in some sort of real life
context. Once teachers expose students to more strategies and techniques to
learning, the students themselves can then further develop procedural and
metacognitive knowledge. This could result in many more students taking
initiative in the classroom to participate as well as help their peers whom may
use similar strategies to form knowledge.
After the “Know” is completed than students must be able to perform and demonstrate
their knowledge in the classroom. The “Do” is the part of the learning process
where students exercise the knowledge they have gained, as well as other sorts
of interdisciplinary skills (Drake, Reid, Kolohon, 2014). In order for students
to complete the “Do”, they must have knowledge of the proper strategies to do
so. Being educated does not simply guarantee success or a job. Instead, it is the twenty-first century skills or life skills that are greatly valued in neighbourhood communities as well as the workplace. This includes but is not limited to skills such as communication, collaboration or critical thinking. These types of skills and traits are essential to succeeding in both teaching as well as learning positions.-first century skills provide students with traits that will
be useful inside and outside the classroom. This is why I believe twenty-first
century skills should be renamed “life skills”; they are necessary for work and nearly all aspects of community life.
What
is to be done after one learns the knowledge and acquires the skills to perform
the task at hand in the classroom? In order to reach the final step of the
framework, students must become moral and ethical learners. This is considered
the “Be”, where the overall growth of the learner can be recognized and assessed. The "Be" involves a class-first mentality for
students which includes respect, tolerance and participation. I feel that this
is an essential part of learning even if the proper knowledge or skills were
not acquired. Having moral and ethical students who are eager to learn is vital
in a classroom.
In
order for students to become critical learners they must obtain the proper
knowledge (“Know”), the proper skills to perform (“Do”) and become a
responsible student whom contributes to their community of students (“Be”). The
following link provides a short video that demonstrates the need for
twenty-first century skills amongst students in today’s society. Although their
definition of twenty-first century skills is slightly different than the one
used in EDUC 4P19, the goal in creating optimally effective and fully functional learning
environments remains the same. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AvZ5ulVyLc)
The picture above raises acknowledgement of an issue many students, including myself sometimes contemplate. By developing twenty-first century skills students can ensure that they will not find themselves wondering the same thing. With the implementation of twenty-first century skills during lessons and tasks students will be capable of learning the required curriculum and becoming moral and ethical learners, prepared for the real world.
