FSO: Believing in Change and Working Toward It In the Education System - Blogging

So FSO quilman, Ashley Belanger, asked me what I thought about TypePad offering free blog accounts to fired journalists, which had her thinking about the role of blogs keeping fired folks connected to their former field. Interesting idea. I had no personal experience but I had a good friend who had done something similar, maintaining an education-focused journal, even as he tried to land a teaching job over the course of several years. Belanger thanked me for the lead and cc:’d her idea to Thompson. Imagine my surprise when I saw the following Featured Story in FSO:

Believing in Change and Working Toward It In the Education System

Opinion: Educator/blogger Greg Thompson on Change in Education

At Full Sail University, innovation and technology are two of the strongest assets to the educational experience offered. The focus of the online degree program Education Media Design and Technology is to transform the classrooms of the world into “inspirational environments” that change the stereotype of how we expect students to develop.

Educator Greg Thompson and many educators like him continue to wrestle within the institution for the sort of changes needed to bring education up-to-date.

“What is missing?” Thompson asked. “Innovation, creativity, freedom to learn, freedom to challenge accepted thought and theory. Education in the United States is still about memorizing the right factual information (though the pile has grown significantly since the industrial age).”

Thompson describes the learning environment that students have been subjected to since the very first classroom: The learning was compartmentalized, and the environment was aseptic in nature – neutral colors, desks in rows, bells to define specified learning periods, content that was disassembled and represented in its pieces. That worked for the economic demand of the time.

“So where are we today?” Thompson asked. “Basically, running in place doing exactly what we have done for decades.”

Thompson struggled within this system and suffered the setback of relocation to an area where it was easy to lose potential jobs to competition fresh from the local college.

“The last position I was in I found a number of teachers longing to step out and try new ideas, but the philosophy of the school’s head and his assistants was that learning was only provable through a well-written essay.”

Thompson continued: “School didn’t work for me. It didn’t allow me to ask the questions, to challenge the ideas, explore innovation and express my learning creatively. I went into teaching to try and spark a change – talk about a tough task! As a teacher I found that the regimental nature that I didn’t like as a student controlled me as a teacher – or it tried to.”

Between jobs, Thompson discovered blogging, which allowed him to read the thoughts of like-minded educators and realized that his new passion was in Education Reform.

“I discovered a number of educators blogging about their ideas and experiences,” Thompson said. “My own understanding developed and grew, I would argue, much faster in this environment than if I were in a classroom.”

Of course, the trouble in executing these changes is presented by those who support the values of the old system that has operated for so long. On this, Thompson said, “The problem that exists is education is still full of educators that are in love with the status quo. Will they blog? I think optimistic expectations would be to see maybe 3 in 10 actually realize the power of blogging as a constant tool for professional development.”

Currently, Thompson hopes to change directions in his own life. He continues to blog at Constructive Meaning while entering a paralegal program in hopes of working with government officials who work on either the Education Committee or the Educational Reform Committee.

“I was supportive of the blogging idea, but didn’t really jump in both feet until I was out of a teaching position. Then, it was a lifesaver that developed into a networking tool that grew into a way to improve my craft.

“The experience kept me fresh, kept me moving forward, kept me thinking and learning on a personal/professional level. I began to see the niche aspect of education and the reality that systemic change won’t work. The blogging experience clarified for me what my ideas truly were and allowed me to begin to think them out to a fuller complexity.”

– by Greg Thompson and Ashley Belanger