No Takers: Do Teachers Really Collaborate?

As expected, my LiveBinder challenge went untouched.  Well, except for my good friend, Jean-Claude Bradley at Drexel.  He teaches orgo chem, though, so it isn't likely that we could find a connection between his work and Dante.

There is this idea that has been baking itself into the hollow points of my skull and, dare I say it, it is a little snarky.  Do educators really collaborate?  Is technology for the teacher or the student?

OK.  Those are two ideas, and they aren't inherently connected, but it strikes me that educators don't really collaborate that much and technology, like knowledge, is still stuck in the hands of the teachers while the students have the awesome opportunity to, um, watch.

My PLN is always a buzz with opportunities to collaborate.  Educators are often asking for us to comment on the blogs, VoiceThreads, Wikis, or whatevers of their students.  If I have time, I always try to drop in and read a bit and leave comments.  Students get sooooooo excited when other people read their stuff.

When I taught at the college level, I tried to find every opportunity possible to partner up with other teachers in other academic disciplines (especially science and technology).  Most community college students are not going to major in English; they are headed out to a working world where MLA means squat.  By the time I left to purse the whole Ghandi mission thing, my students had writing partnerships with Drexel & Dusquene,  work related partnerships with 3 area businesses, and service learning events with the local county home and hospital.  Students wrote a play using interviews they conducted and shaped into monologues; they put together Veteran's Day tributes; and they honored immigrants. They built Edgar Allan Poe's House of Usher and 14 other literature simulations in Second Life.  They were constantly challenged to work collaboratively.

Technology makes our classrooms limitless, and, yet, it seems we are more limited.  Teachers (obviously not all teachers...but too many) are so engaged in technology that students are left watching.  Nothing sucks more than having to watch someone else pay a video game.  Get me in there...pass the Wii controller...hook up the other joy stick.

So, why do teachers preach collaboration but side step actually doing it?

Well, for starters, collaboration takes a boat load of time.  There is no one on this planet that hates meetings more than I do; as a person of action, I would rather you just send me the memo with your expectations and let me get to work.  I am not all about caring and sharing and talking about feelings.  Eh.  It isn't that I don't care about them; it is just that I am a solutions driven person.  If your feelings are attached to a solution, yay!  If not, complain elsewhere; you are impeding progress.

Collaborators need to meet a lot, and they need to stay on track.  There can't be a parade of ego prancing around.  Set up a game plan, execute said game plan, assess said game plan, make adjustments to said game plan, make game plan better.  Win the game.  There is no room for ego.

The second problem is also ego driven.  Teachers are natural rock stars.  We love to talk, and show off, and be amazing with our gadgets and cool toys.  Well, that is all fine and dandy, but, um, the kids watching you are not as impressed as you think.  Community College students are great because they are often a little older and want to be there; they are in the midst of changing their lives to something better.  But, high school students are a captive audience, and you are not as cool as you think.  What impresses kids, in the few short years I have worked with them, is when THEY get to hold the controller. No one wants to watch me make a Prezi.  But, the students LOVE making Prezis.  No one wants to to watch me hand code a first person shooter game.  But, they LOVE programming their own games.  I don't need to be the star on the stage; they can be the stars.  This is their chance to learn something new, retain it, and carry on a love for literature, programming, or whatever I am teaching (Ecology?).

The final problem is one that we have had for years and years in education.  Teachers are competitive.  We need to feel better about ourselves by hoarding our good practices.  In some cases, we hide our stuff because we fear retribution from our peers.  I've been there.  Nothing is more daunting than being a trailblazer in a kingdom of dinosaurs...even if some of those dinosaurs are your age.  But, some people just hide their good stuff because they are afraid someone will copy it.

Education, and knowledge itself, should be free, open, and accessible to everyone.  We only want people to collaborative on OUR projects; we want to be the ones that get the glory.  Bah.  Who needs glory?  Teaching is an art form, and artists are inspired by other artists.  If there were no museums or galleries, those artists would be screwed.  The same is true of teachers.  We need to see good teaching to be better as a whole.

Am I surprised that no one from my PLN added to the Dante project?  Not really.  I picked a hard topic.  On purpose.  Will I add to someone's binder?  Sure; if I have time and resources that are helpful.  Will I continue to post comments on other teacher's student blogs and wikis?  Absolutely.

Teaching and learning is about students.  Education will improve when we can honestly check our egos at the door.  Technology will be meaningful when we allow students to take the reigns.  We need to give them opportunities to shine.

Change begins with shutting up and taking action; like the words of the band, Cracker, "Get off this; get on with it; if you want to change the world, shut your mouth and start to spin it."