I don't know this Munro but what he says here ties in with what I saw of teaching in Japan when I was there.
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Australian (and indeed some other Western) students' slip in the international benchmarks for reading and numeracy may not be the fault of the students, the teachers, or even the school system, says Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg.
He argues there is a vital factor being disregarded, a shift so intense and complete we've almost forgotten life without it: the rise of the smartphone and technology use. He bases much of his thinking on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests which are run every three years by the OECD, comparing a sample of 15-year-olds in different countries on reading, maths, and science. Countries are ranked, students stressed and politicians fearful of these tests. He goes on to say: "Reading performance has been drastically declining in Finland because of this (screen time). Our pedagogy and teaching have not changed; the curriculum has not changed. So how else can you explain this dramatic change?" Actually relatively easily I think.
The first reason is very obvious and is pointed out by Amanda Ripley in her book, “The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way.” East Asian countries, which are rising strongly in the PISA rankings, drill their student populations and teach to the test. They have practice halls for the PISA. They practice using the PISA test items so the students are familiar with what to expect. ‘Schools’ are often open until 10pm at night where ‘cramming’ takes place and under increasing pressure authorities are being encouraged to close them at a reasonable hour. Ripley meets battle-scarred reformers, sleep-deprived zombie students (nothing to do with tech use), and a teacher who earns $4 million a year. We could very easily have this approach but we don’t and for good reason. I leave it to you the reader to decide if this is a system that promotes the love of learning, deeper understanding, creative thought or student wellbeing. Is there any real learning or true academic excellence going on here or a well-manipulated hoop jumping exercise? It doesn’t float my boat and such a structure has a limited effect on my thinking. It doesn’t tell us one bit how good the overall system is because that is something entirely different.
The second reason I think he manages to explain adequately himself. The answers are in the very questions he poses. He says that the pedagogy and teaching have not changed. So we have had a quantum leap in a paradigm shift across the board and the approach to meet this is – well nothing! Consider this for a Primary school student. ‘It’ gets sent home on Monday for a piece of writing due on Friday. ‘It’ is a scrap (by the time it gets out of the school bag) of paper with a topic and an indistinct black and white smudge of a photograph by way of stimulation. All the student has to do (in relative isolation because parents are busy and tired) is as an 8-year-old to apply a good degree of reflection followed by a healthy dose of metacognition and they will ace it! I think not. Consider this for the same student, a class website available anywhere 24/7 with the same topic, numerous colour photographs, video clips from YouTube, embedded ideas, links for further reading, strategies and support from the teacher and an opportunity to blog their thoughts with their classmates before the Friday. I know which route to the Friday I would prefer! Google Classroom is a great tool for a Secondary student to build competency in their learning, to be able to submit ideas to a teacher, for them to provide feedback and for the student to improve their thinking through a cycle of resubmission and improvement and it is for this very reason we use it.
So, how are we going to live in this digitally saturated era because technology is not going away and harking back to the good old days, doing things the way we did before and inaction isn’t going to produce results either? Covey talks about being proactive, taking initiative, choosing to take action and never blaming others. So change the approach, the pedagogy, the style of teaching, the curriculum if necessary in order to engage the students of today. Leave the comfort zones and head into the unknown with a plan.
As for the reading aspect of the debate. It is the very material from 200 books (digital) that I have that provides the stimulus to think and write. Gone are the days when I leave valuable reading material lying on a garage floor in a distant land because it was too weighty and expensive to move. The reading comes with me know where ever I may be. I can’t hold the paper but I can sit and think.
Munro, K. (2016). What's really behind Australia's declining international education results.
