There are four paradigm shifts which are:
- Content Delivery to Capability
- Building Role Driven to Relationship Driven
- Expounding Learning to Experiencing Learning
- Self-Esteem to Self-Efficacy
Which of these paradigm shifts will be the most challenging in your context and why?
Which one do I have control over to change? Where I am in a system that is fixed and rigid. Definitely the most challenging is content delivery to capability – where students often just want the content and pass the course. To engage them in thinking and researching and making decisions on their own is a challenge
I tend to agree with you a challenge is sometimes perceived as making things too hard
Susan I agree with your comments here. I was amazed to read so many participants found that the self-esteem to self-efficacy would be the most challenging. I too find shifting to a capability delivery would be challenging given the constraints of the vet setting i which I work. It is an area I would love to move on though.
Self-esteem to self-efficacy is the most challenging as finding ways to encourage that allows students to take a proactive role in learning is key. The amount of ‘spoon feeding’ in the past year or two has grown at such a high rate. As educators we must continue to provide constructive and relevant feedback and realistically support student on their learning journey.
I feel the spoon-feeding has been increasing due to the added pressure to cover so many topics in a limited timeframe. Instead of having the freedom to explore, especially where there is interest and passion, teachers and learners have to move on to the next topic.
Agree, nurturing and encouraging Self-Efficacy among in students would develop future learners to take risks . I believe to learn one must take risks & risk taking is only possible if the student has a sense of Self-Efficacy.
Self-Esteem to Self-Efficacy
We spend so much of our time giving feedback for every part of the assessments which I am sure the students don’t look closely because they when I leave the bad news to the end ie you need to something again they sometimes have not noticed. I feel standardized feedback is not meaningful.
We have been told that we don’t give enough feedback so we now have gone overboard with feedback for every little part of practical assessment. I really don’t think best use of our time as teachers and what do they get out of if all they want to see is “satisfactory or unsatisfactory”.
Where we dont get that one-on-one time to provide relevant feedback we have no choice but to try to impart it in writing on assessment work. yes, I find most do not read it – they want to learn only what they need and just want to pass and move on. I feel so many students are forced into a course that doesn’t interest them.
I totally agree. I myself do so as a student and my students do similar things like me, apart from few who are really keen to learn.
My students are mature learners, so I am honest and genuine when I provide feedback. Also I focus on effort feedback.
Building Role Driven to Relationship Driven might be challenging with high school students. However, even the mature aged students that we have , expect the teacher to be the authority and ‘giver’ of knowledge. This practice is different in my younger age VET learners and they acknowledge and appreciate this mode of delivery
“I came here to learn skills and not to think and problem solve is the attitude of many.
Definitely harder with high school and younger vet students. I find they struggle to hear any feedback that isn’t telling them they are perfect at doing something straight away.
Younger students – ‘can’t you just give us the answer Miss’
All of these shifts play an important role in education, I feel I am open to these suggestions and do act on many of them in the training room. I find giving feedback the most challenging as its often similar to the class as a whole rather than as individuals.
I find writing the feedback on the assessment documents 2-3 times per assessment, it becomes lifeless and a struggle. I do understand my job description and I do understand the need for feedback as its the only way to assist a student to grow, when done right.
Very good point, Karalyn
Agreed
I agree with your outlook all are important .
Personally trying to say less and getting the students to do more has been my biggest challenge.
As educators, we feel we have to be the fountain of source and knowledge, but the ship is slowly turning realizing that we need to direct them to experience learning
completely agree, they need to learn where and how to find the answers they seek, they need to learn how to stay inspired and motivated on the topic and above all continue to experience new technologies that are constantly becoming the new norm
The most challenging paradigm shift will be moving from self esteem to self efficacy
I absolutely agree with you Mark.
Giving the correct type of feedback to get the students to want to keep up their efforts is a big one for me but more importantly, I have to make sure I am setting good examples for them. As I watched this, I thought back to how often I have pointed out weaknesses in my own skills so I will have to stop doing that and explain the advantages of developing those skills.
That’s interesting Fiona, I find I do the same in amplifying and promoting my weaknesses, something I am trying to be aware that I am doing
Feedback can be a challenge. I also highlight my weaknesses – great idea on flipping the script to the advantages of developing the skills. Sometimes this can be difficult depending on the subject matter, especially if its not relevant to industry anymore.
In 2021, to be successful in my role as a Teacher/Educator/Facilitator/Assessor I need to ensure that I equip students for the future by assisting them to achieve self-efficacy and enable them to say “I can do this” and help them to master their learning and feel powerful with their own knowledge and learning. The type and tone of feedback that I provide plays a major part in how students feel towards their studies. I always involve students in their learning and make it “real” by taking an active interest in them by getting to know them, and their interests, and displaying confidence by portraying a positive role model, providing authenticity in my delivery and connections with students and who I am as a person. I am supportive, and provide a positive learning environment. I love teaching and getting the best results possible from my students.
Suzanne, I have found this year more interesting for me, and one thing I am aware of is that I try and get to know students names as well as about them as people.
I think the key point you made was ensuring that you equip students by assisting them to achieve self-efficacy –
great outlook ,I mirror your thoughts .
Feedback is the learners most desired thing a teacher can give them.
Yes, providing feedback that encourages the student to further explore options or discussion points helps develop critical thinking and analytical skills.
David I agree, taking the time to provide meaningful feedback outside of compliance requirements is very much sought by our students
Expounding learning to experiencing learning – as a theory teacher can sometimes be tricky, try as you may to get students to participate and try to get them to experience reality
all of these shifts will require us to think and act with deliberate purpose until our own learned tendencies are overwritten by these new paradigms
The biggest take away from this session for me is the types of feedback we give. I know I am guilty of giving ability feedback from time to time, but I also have given effort feedback. I know adult language learning students especially value the kind of honesty associated with effort feedback. this will be a challenge for me to keep this kind of feedback consistent.
Good pint Julie, really depends on the students and their age/ culture as well
I agree Julia
Working with adults who have a fixed mindset about their learning and abilities can mean that there is a barrier to building self efficacy. I am guilty of the type of feedback I give, trying to empathise with the student using those phrases like ‘maybe it is not your thing’ without realising it maybe cementing this mindset of themselves and their abilities. I will need to focus on using effort type phrases. Although, I think to some adults it may come across as a bit patronising. A minefield!
I agree. Adult learners often join a class already defeated with a mindset that they will never master this. In this case, the effort feedback would be so much more effective and empowering. I guess whether or not the feedback came across as patronising would depend on the words chosen for it. As you say – a minefield.
Feedback needs to be positive then critical to be effective. Nothing is gained from too much negativity
Often we see adult learners, returning to studies after a very long time with the fixed mindset that they can’t learn something new so giving the right feedback to encourage them to try is difficult. I always try to make sure they switch off from comparing themselves to the younger/tech savvy students.
It is important that Teachers can evolve as they teach. Having a fixed mindset is a negative attitude that leads not only to teacher dissatisfaction but also to student apathy. With a growth mindset, teachers can establish student/teacher relationships that challenge both. Students are more able to embrace failure as a learning opportunity.
I imagine that this will reignite many teachers passion for teaching
Certainly.
Yes we as educators can have a very fixed mindset, we need to be constantly embracing ideas, change and a positive approach to our vocation
Authoritative teaching leads to confidence, certainty even if they deviate from the learning outcomes. Teachers must make learning empathetic toward the student. Make learning tangible (facilitate outdoor learning – give them parallels in the real world). Make learning outcomes practical – results could be based on videos for example.
Content Delivery to Capability Building is a challenging change to teaching. I need to re-think my role as a teacher – not just dishing out information and expecting students to understand. Rather I need to nurture their needs and measure more in depth their understanding of the subject by being mindful of my motivation. Practice responding to questions with a question and begin with What or How rather than What. Make the classroom more friendly by changing it to a more friendly environment. Time constraints often tend to dictate time spent on interesting discussion which is a negative approach to the subject. I should explain that the subject in discussions is one that could be continued in the next meeting.
I think the 3 ways to create a learning experience is essential to good teaching practices – keep it real, make learning tangible and make learning practical.
I think in the VET sector these things are quite embedded already
Yes agree the VET sector covers off on this but still need the opportunity to put in practice with higher end theory units, especially when students have no industry experience or relevant life experience.
100% agree Jane
I believe self-esteem to self-efficacy will be challenging in a system that is so focussed on results, in particular the relentless drive for every improving SACE results. It does not reward effort and is discouraging to see that often schools are increasingly businesses where high results are the sole focus for leadership to increase enrolments, putting a lot of pressure on teachers and students.
Self esteem to self efficacy will be challenging for teachers and students. Teachers have to use the assessment process which is basically pass and fail not recognising the effort or progression of skills and knowledge. Students predominantly are used to passing and failing also. Perhaps the older generation students will appreciate the effort feedback more readily than those that are conditioned for the talent feedback.
I agree – younger students are conditioned for talent feedback at an increasingly young age, which is very discouraging.
I work with adults and I am concerned that they already have a negative/fixed mindset about their abilities and feedback can sometimes come across as negative no matter what way you deliver it. They don’t want to ‘fail’ any more than younger students.
I agree, adult learners to work well with effort feedback.
Content Delivery to Capability – this is a mind set change that needs to start early on in the learning journey. Retraining of older teachers, ESOL and cultural expectations, funding may present a challenge.
Yes, we have a lot of older teachers who have spent a lot of time amassing teaching resources and it can be challenging to change that mind set for some, given the amount of effort and time taken to accumulate content.
Content delivery to capability building would be the most challenging in the context of teaching low level ESOL students. The students’ lack of tech skills, computers, and language curb their abilities to learn independently. It could be done with a lot of pre-teaching (language and technology), and tech support but the resources and time to do this would unlikely be available.
I agree with Denise. I have low level ESOL Learners 50% of them are mature ages/ seniors. They not only have their mindset but also are not tech savvy. When we are not restricted by time, I make an effort to build capability. Only some of them are able to do the tasks
The paradigm shift from content delivery to capability is quite a challenge as there are several units of competency with several assessments for each unit which must be completed within specific timeframes within the duration of the course.
The change will need to occur in the assessment processes to support this shift.
Content delivery to capability building will be the biggest challenge as I see it. Where does that leave teachers who must teach the learning content and assessed on it?
Expounding Learning to Experiencing Learning – requires the student to self-evaluate their progression in the learning process through constant reflection these are not innate skills and students will need to be taught these skills alongside core discipline knowledge.
If this is encouraged from an early age then this may be well advanced in later schooling and if very powerful.
Moving from expounding learning to experiencing learning can cause some problems in an adult language classroom, especially when there are students whose cultural background is from a system where the teacher is God and delivers knowledge to students to absorb. If you ask them to deviate from this model, they somehow see it as “not really teaching”, or that the teacher is being lazy in asking students to “do” something other than listen and take notes.
The shift from content delivery to capability building is the most challenging. In most courses, teachers are expected to complete the prescribed curriculum, and students are assessed according to what they have learned from the class. if the teacher deviates from the syllabus, the headteacher has to take action.
The change will need to occur in the assessment processes to support this shift.
I have low level ESOL Learners 50% of them are mature ages/ seniors. They not only have their mindset but also are not tech savvy. When we are not restricted by time, I make an effort to build capability. Only some of them are able to do the tasks. If we are given more time, we may start to see the change
Content delivery to capability delivery – we are teaching to the assessments so we need to get the content across we know the students will be directly assessed on their ability to remember the content.
the focus on more on learning using real, tangible and practical methods make learning so much more real and also fun , teaching hospitality and having stiff guidelines on the end product which has been done 20 years will definitely not attract students who would love to explore their creative mind, teaching has to be a 2 way street
I think students of all ages enjoy engaging with content that it relevant and has practical application. Creating engaging hands on learning content is actually great for the teacher too!
Yes, I agree Jan, practical, engaging activities helps put the theory into context in a working environment.
I belIeve self esteem to self efficacy. Difficult to change that mindset in terms of finding the right way to encourage students to persevere.
When students have been learning something for years (such as English) – and still have a long way to go – it is so important they are effectively encouraged to keep going. Mastering the language can seem like an impossible goal, particularly if age, past trauma and limited education are factors. Finding new ways to encourage perseverance and providing opportunities for success can be a challenge.
Expounding learning to Experience learning – challenging and interesting.
I think it will be challenging to use skye, empatico and virtual reality due to the practical steps to set these up between locations/groups and get funding for these technologies and teacher/peer support.
Getting students outside is difficult as there’s not much outdoor space and if another class or two are outside then it’s hard to be heard over the noise and can be difficult to maintain attention. I prefer to be outside on sunny days and want to do this with the students.
I want to make learning tangible and practical. It means having all the resources and enough resources. Too many times teachers use their own funds to ensure resources are available – it can be an expensive career choice. I think schools need to be smaller (3000 students in one school is too many) so group learning sizes can be agile. Project based learning makes it easier to plan learning outcomes and real activities across subject areas. Students are more involved and interested in monitoring their own progress and communicating results. This lets the teacher step back (give over control) and observe skill development, set clear expectations, raise the performance bar and encourage confident mastery of skills in students.
Just hoping that the this role shift will be able to be performed by educators to reflect on their practice and for some shift their pedagogical approach.
Shifting content delivery to capability delivery would be most challenging in my teaching context as the capabilities are mostly ‘soft skills’ that can mean different things in different contexts (for example adaptability and differentiating) and are perhaps difficult to identify in students and teach and measure (for example empathy and intuition).
Self esteem to self efficacy.
This mindset change i belive is going to be the most challenging. finding ways to encourage and praise our students in a way that will allow them to take pride in their achievements and strive to do better. Ensuring as teachers we are providing constructive feedback and praising our stduents for the right reasons and where it is worthy. However also ensuring that our students feel encouraged and supported to do better. it is important we find that right balance in order to build their self efficacy and ensure they don’t lose interest or motive or sense of wanting to achieve something for themselves.
Yes, finding that balance can be tricky, particularly if the students come from another culture. Some students can believe they are ‘in trouble’ when given constructive feedback. Knowing the student helps enormously.
Yes I agree – encouragement rather than praise with self reflection. The power of a choice of words.
For me the shift that I will need to work on is self-esteem to self advocacy. Using the language around effort praise is something that I need to practice to ensure a growth mindset – I particularly like the inclusion of the word ‘yet’ as it unlocks potential. It was great to be reminded of the importance of expectations and modelling the mindset you are trying to encourage – a lot to work on!
Kerry, I think I will find “modelling” a challenge also. I find I need to work on my own Growth Mindset eg: I put off doing gardening jobs that use big power tools. I could watch some videos on how to use the rotary hoe at home and then do it in the garden by myself/alone. If I do this – I could use it authentically as a story of growth mindset to the students at an appropriate time.
yes using language and works like YET definitely gives a student some sort of a target that they would aim for the next time pushing these boundaries further improving their growth in learning
I agree the word “yet” was also a reminder for me that it unlocks potential
My cohort is largely migrant and refugee (mostly the latter), so for my students and my teaching I believe that instilling capabilities into my students and having them take charge of their own learning can sometimes (and surprisingly) be the most difficult. Also, bolstering their self-worth and self-efficacy is often quite difficult as many of them have continued traumas having fled from war-torn countries, and they sometimes struggle with consistent need for praise and reassurance. Of course, this is not all of them, but for many of them this is true.
Amber I’m guessing you find teaching very interesting. Your cohort (migrants/refugees) must need to be able to trust you first and foremost. They must have a need to see you care since they have lost so much. Showing interest in them and their stories (not so much the trauma but their good memories) must be a fascinating place to start.
Self Esteem to Self Efficacy. The idea of showering rewards even for students who are not performing well has created a generation who far too often give up. Not all fall into this category, but increasingly more can’t handle being told that the quality of their work is not up to par. It will be difficult to change this way of thinking but well worth the effort to make this switch.
yes definitely. It is hard to make this shift in thinking but i also believe it will be worth while as in the process students will become more confident and capable within themselves.
very true , the concept of ability praise rather than effort praise makes students give up very quickly
Expounfing learning to experiencing learning will be interesting to follow.
Experiential learning opportunities shift the role of the educator to a facilitator, hoping that educators have the skills or have the resources available to develop them in order to develop students’ skills in reflective practices.
Self-Esteem to Self-Efficacy will be the most challenging in my context. as a teacher I find some students don’t really care much when they are told that their outcome is not as good as they expected, by making an effort to give feedback that fosters a growth mindset it is still not good enough which makes it very hard to change this mindset from fixed mindset to Growth mindset because the students know that they will be rewarded either way. the challenge is to find the difference between Ability praise vs Effort praise and what is the student expectations to be able to model the students mindset .
definitely, i too find this to be a challenging shift to make. its about trying to find a way to make our students want to achieve something to the best of their ability for themselves. this shift is so important but definitely going to be a challenge .
I agree with Michael that some students are very passive and teachers have to encourage them to participate actively in class. Switching from self-esteem to self -efficacy is really challenging for most teachers. However, we still have to find the teachable moment and facilitate students’ learning as much as possible.
self esteem to self efficacy – we need to persevere with something not give up. develop and have the confidence to something.
For me it is the last one, Self Esteem to Self Efficacy. The reason being, the movement of false affirmation, showering rewards even for the ones who are not performing well. has created a generation who are easily giving up. Not all fall into this category, but increasingly more do not want to be told that their outcome needs to be better or not up to the standard. It will be challenging to change this mindset but well the effort to make this switch from ability praise to effort praise to create a more resilient generation
I agree, with the notion of false affirmation, brings more damage than rewards.
I too agree with your statement, false affirmation creates more damage with students giving up too easily.
The first paradigm content delivery to building capability will be challenging for teacher and student as it is new for both.
yes, this will be the challenge
content delivery to capability- not enough time to deliver content in the course time frame
Yes we are driven by the curriculum.
Yes, teachers have not much choice but to follow the curriculum.
As teachers we are responsible to deliver the learning content as prescribed.
Unfortunately we are all in the same boat. Insufficient time to deliver content to produce a good outcome.
Self-efficacy is generally something I see lacking in this generation. There are many people who don’t seem to be able to handle “life”. They don’t seem to know how to manage their time, or put their games or social media on hold long enough to complete a course.
I see students lacking so much confidence and wanting to be hand held through tasks. Helping a student to find motivation will be challenging and rewarding.
I agree, a lot of them don’t know how to learn
Student / teacher relationships are very important. Students what to be known, valued and heard. Developing self efficacy to meet a challenge and being able to persevere when problem solving are life skills, even if they do not achieve their goal.
Kim,
I agree that the student/teacher relationship is very important. I also agree that being able to persevere and problem using self-efficacy is something I see lacking in this generation. The people I teach seem to want the answers handed to them instead of researching or finding their own answers.
Yes Kim I agree! relationships are important to any teacher student relationship
certainly students do thrive when a good rapport is built between the student and teacher. Students feel connected and follow them as role models. The students seem to flourish in this environment
I love this and also agree. I work really hard to foster a good rapport with my students and be approachable, friendly, good-humoured and patient. I think it makes a huge difference as I have several students who have insisted on being in my classes only, refusing other teachers….! Which is not a situation I really want to be in, if I’m honest, but flattering nonetheless.
I agree, student teacher relationship is the most important, trust and respect are the foundations in the classroom.
I agree with your statement that relationships are important.
I would like to improve on self-esteem to self-efficacy so that I can help students to develop a growth mindset. This is a skill that will help them in all areas of life.
Yes, and not an easy one to teach! resilience is important!
Building self-efficacy will help to build a love of learning, “I can do it” attitude and a skill for life.
this is key for our next generation to believe in themselves and say “I can do this”
We can change the way we sometimes unconsciously peg students int categories and be fixed in the way we treat them. Loved the quote Intelligence is Learnable.
I agree Mario however the next generation need a change in the system. they need us to adapt to changes by making learning real, tangible and practical. i know we are trying our best but we as teachers need to adapt and change to be able to foster learning to the fullest
I think content delivery to capability would be the most challenging as when it comes to theory units, the content needs to be gone over for the learners to complete the assessments, in the alloted time frame to course complete
I agree Aimee, content delivery capability is challenging too especially the theory units, the time allowed for delivery is not enough to allow the students to learn something by doing something its just read and answer the question i hope this will change in the future
I think that there needs to also be a shift in curriculum to allow this to happen
I think we can all agree that the TAFE loading and probably the school loading, too, does not lend itself to *understanding* of new concepts but rather pushes students to memorise as quickly as possible to pass assessments and push them up the ladder of courses. It is very frustrating.
I agree Amber – the structures and organisational motivations are very restrictive.
It is interesting that TAFE is trying to put as much learning as possible on to Moodle (knowledge based learning assessed mostly through multiple choice quizzes). Almost all of the capabilities needed for the future are skills which need to be taught, practiced and observed by a teacher skilled in providing effective, instant feedback and on the spot guidance.
I feel the most challenging paradigm shift will be number 3, Expounding learning to experiencing learning. It would require the most resources and the most time, two things that are always a battle. The statistics are clear as only 1 to 2% of school utilise problem or project-based learning.
It is a fundamental shift that is required and I can see the huge overall benefits such as high engagement, a tangible product at the end of the learning cycle, and space for creativity and original thinking. I feel it is where the most natural learning would take place including communicating, planning, developing, and ongoing feedback.
I pride myself on relationship building as a teacher as the foundation of my teaching, I always strive to enhance the capability of my class, and with our focus on growth mindset build self-efficacy.
I would enjoy researching effective approaches to experience learning.
I agree, a lot of school are only just starting to make this shift in view of 21 century teaching and learning.
Hi Josh,
As a TAFE teacher, project-based learning is a large part of our training pedagogy. It does work well, and it gives the students a sense of completion to have taken a project through from start to finish.
For me the most challenging paradigm shift will be moving from self esteem to self efficacy, as its those little differences in giving the praise to shift them to the growth mindset
I think that self esteem to self-efficacy is the most challenging in my context. Students need the opportunities to develop a growth mindset and respond to feedback effectively.
I agree
I believe the shift from self-esteem to self-efficacy will be the most challenging. As we know feedback is essential for learning. Students are motivated by different things and respond differently to different forms of feedback and praise.This may require a shift in not only the way we give feedback for learning but also for behaviour? I found it interesting to learn about the comparison between the effects of ability praise versus effort praise.
Agree with your comments – feedback is essential for learning and also the learning around the comparison between the effects of ability praise v effort praise!
Self-Esteem to Self-Efficacy is most challenging. So many concepts here are transferred into real world contexts, outside the classroom environment. They’re life long skills!
We had a speaker come to our school on growth mindset who stated that you should never praise effort and made many teachers doubt themselves, yet now it is shown to be effective. It appears that a growth mindset is a correct approach but the delivery of this still needs to be agreed upon. The joys of research and stating your opinion I suppose.