Creative Spirit of Teachers

After our last class, our latest design principal was the teacher principal that read: “Good learning designs are anchored in the creative spirit of design by teachers who recognize their before action role as designers.”  During our class, we did a lot of different activities to lead up to this principal. The latest design principal was one that made me think about what I do as an educator. I think that we as teachers are often more used to the PLAN rather than the design of the lesson. As one of my professors in undergrad said, “why recreate the wheel when you can use someone else’s idea and make it your own?” This idea to me, exemplifies the fact that we, as teachers see ourselves as planners not designers. Teachers are usually people that use someone else’s plan and make it our own- this is not designing. This is planning. This is not best practice. We are often so wrapped up in doing what we have to do, with SOLs and other constraints that we are not interested or do not have the drive to be an innovator of design. Teachers as designers SHOULD be commonplace, but it is not. This is why we need to change the way we think about plans and stop thinking in terms of a plan and start thinking of design as the best way to be an effective educator. To say that I have this concept totally understood would also be a huge over-statement of my own skills. But, I think that after this week, I am definitely closer than I have ever been.

I think one of the most helpful things this week to get me to this point of tentative understanding was reading The Creative Spirit of Design by McDonald. Basically, it says in the most simple of terms that using imagination, creation-oriented, and inter-disciplinary designs are the characteristics of the creative spirit. Designers then will also become more flexible and perceptive of WHAT the students needs actually are. For some reason, having it laid out in that way really spoke to me. As I said, I really am starting to GET the idea.

When reading the Carlgren, the more interesting thoughts was that “teachers are expected to do and know something other than they do and know.” I literally loved this quote because of the truth in it. We are literally taught to be planners in school but you get into the real world of teaching and have to do lots of other duties as assigned during your lessons. It’s frankly exhausting even though we love our jobs. The other striking thought was that no one questions when a doctor says something is inoperable and when teachers say that a student is not teachable, everyone thinks teachers are not professional or are in need of more schooling to learn how. It could not possibly be the student needing to change. It MUST be the teacher.

To sum up, I am going to try my hardest to be a teacher designer, not just a teacher-planner. It is not easy and is going against a lot of what I thought was good practice- and need to reverse that thinking into good design. But, at least I do have the design principals to go on to make the transition easier! Now, on to the ZPD in my own life, where hopefully I come out on the other side with deeper meaning. FINGERS CROSSED!