Part III: The Total PACKage
Context
Teaching internationally has been a unique experience for me as an educator. This past year was my first as a teacher, and along with the new career, I also experienced cultural and lifestyle changes in Kuwait. I teach at the American Creativity Academy in Hawalli, Kuwait. While this is an American curriculum school, most of my students are Kuwaiti, and nearly all are Arab.
Last year, I taught 10th grade US History, World Issues, and Photography. Next year, my classes will change. Along with teaching IB World History and Theory of Knowledge, I will also teach an elective of Photography to 11th and 12th graders. This semester long lesson will be for my Photography elective. I have not been certified to teach Photography; however, my principal saw my photography and felt that I was a good fit for the class. Needless to say, I came into this new subject with no experience. However, I am very familiar with the subject material. |
What I didn’t have though, besides experience, was the necessary technology. The students resorted to learning photography on their phones. This is incredibly different than shooting on a DSLR. I was lucky enough to have Wifi in my room, unlike the other classrooms, but the internet was still not sufficient enough for my students to utilize it. I did my best with the class, and this upcoming year, I will make changes where I see fit, and hopefully make great improvements to the class.
There is so much growth that is possible with photography at my school. Small changes in the curriculum and the addition of necessary technology can go a very long way in providing my students with a unique learning experience.
There is so much growth that is possible with photography at my school. Small changes in the curriculum and the addition of necessary technology can go a very long way in providing my students with a unique learning experience.
Content
Going into my first year of teaching, at an international school in Kuwait, I had no idea of the cultural misunderstanding I would be facing in society and even in the classroom, on a daily basis. Having grown up in a way that taught me to be accepting and respectful to all other people, I have to say that I was more than put off by the misunderstandings and prejudices I saw in my students. As most of the students I teach are Kuwaiti and from affluent families, they have been raised to expect that others will do their work, including their maids, drivers, nannies, and cooks. These workers, as well as the workers around the country, come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are immigrants from India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Egypt, etc. They have internalized this social situation and have created many prejudices, based on it. As a teacher, I firmly believe that I have the ability to help students challenge their own perceptions on the world. I am developing this lesson to give exposure of other cultures to my students, and in turn, have them question and challenge their previous beliefs of these cultures that have supplied so many immigrants to Kuwait in the past 20 years.
As this is an elective, I have been given the reins and the ability to teach what I want, how I want, as long as it is photography related. My school has not provided me with a lot of technology; however, I am able to structure online activities and Skype discussions with my students and the collaborating class. This lesson will span the entire semester and will have students utilize their learned photographic skills to capture and share their culture with the cooperating class. The more exposure that my students receive of others, the more successful this transformation of understanding will be.
As this is an elective, I have been given the reins and the ability to teach what I want, how I want, as long as it is photography related. My school has not provided me with a lot of technology; however, I am able to structure online activities and Skype discussions with my students and the collaborating class. This lesson will span the entire semester and will have students utilize their learned photographic skills to capture and share their culture with the cooperating class. The more exposure that my students receive of others, the more successful this transformation of understanding will be.
Pedagogy
Before I could begin planning what technology would benefit me the most, I had to consider the pedagogy I would be using in the classroom. Plain and simple, this semester long lesson will be something completely different from what my students are used to on a daily basis at school. My students are used to lessons of direct instruction, and most of the teachers, in my building, practice behaviorist and cognitive theory, whether they consciously think of it or not. If I am going to solve this problem of practice, neither of these theories will do any good for my students. Every day, they read from textbooks, get lectured to, and then go home to read more and complete worksheets. There is value to reading and lectures; however, my problem of practice is something that cannot be fixed by merely reading or listening to a teacher. I firmly believe that students learn about culture and society best by experiencing it first hand. Vygotsky (1926) states, “the best educator is that environment which also happens to be the place of the student’s future activity” (p. 50) As the world becomes more connected everyday, my students’ environment is, and will be, the world. Students will take what they experience and learn and incorporate it into their previous knowledge. Students use past experiences, including their personal history and background, as well as prior beliefs and understandings. At the same time, my guidance of the students is necessary. This requires me to facilitate assignments and discussions that the students have. While they will uncover the knowledge themselves, I must lead them in that direction. Vygotsky (1926) explains, “Education is realized through the student’s own experience, which is wholly determined by the environment, and the role of the teacher then reduces to directing and guiding the environment.” (p. 50) This problem of practice comes from misunderstandings that have been developed through these factors. Therefore, this lesson will incorporate the social constructivist theory.
Over the course of the semester long class, the following process will happen on multiple occasions. My students will share their photography and view the photography of a collaborating class. These photographs will focus on certain aspects of culture, including, but not limited to, food, dress, music, lifestyle, and family. The two classes with then speak via Skype to discuss the photographs more in depth and discuss their cultures. This Mystery Skype session will be structured on a set of topics and questions that relate to the aspect of culture being photographed at that time. My students will then reflect on the photographs and discussions. During this reflection, students will take what they have learned and incorporate it into their prior beliefs and understandings. Therefore, they will challenge any misconceptions and will gain a greater understanding and acceptance for the culture of the collaborating class. (UCD Teaching and Learning, 2014)
Over the course of the semester long class, the following process will happen on multiple occasions. My students will share their photography and view the photography of a collaborating class. These photographs will focus on certain aspects of culture, including, but not limited to, food, dress, music, lifestyle, and family. The two classes with then speak via Skype to discuss the photographs more in depth and discuss their cultures. This Mystery Skype session will be structured on a set of topics and questions that relate to the aspect of culture being photographed at that time. My students will then reflect on the photographs and discussions. During this reflection, students will take what they have learned and incorporate it into their prior beliefs and understandings. Therefore, they will challenge any misconceptions and will gain a greater understanding and acceptance for the culture of the collaborating class. (UCD Teaching and Learning, 2014)
Technology
Choosing the technology that I will utilize was a bit of a challenge, in more ways than one. Not only did I need to find technology that could be used in my classroom, but I also needed to find technology that would connect my students with students of other cultures. I first reflected on what technologies I had used in the past. Being a photography teacher, one might expect that I have the technological resources to teach photography. I was only offered the chance to teach photography because of my knowledge and experience with it, not because the school had the resources available. In an ideal word, my principal would have asked me to do this, having acquired cameras and computers for digital photography or cameras and film and photo processing equipment for film photography. I was given nothing but a thank you and good luck. I can’t very well expect that all of my students will bring in a SLR or DSLR camera, so I was forced to think of alternatives. Luckily, there were a few students with DSLR cameras and a couple with point and shoots. However, the rest of the class had to resort to using their phones. Teaching all of the techniques of photography and having students learn and practice these techniques on their phones was not ideal. Nonetheless, it is my job to teach photography, and I did so to the best of my ability.
One benefit for the use of phones in a photography class was the ease of uploading, editing, and sharing of their photos. I used the photo-sharing site, Flickr. Students were able to join the class group, upload their photos, and then receive feedback, and a grade from me, on the site. The sharing of photos was kept within the class, so that only their fellow students and I could see their photos. When I began to consider how technology could be used for this semester long lesson, I began to think outside the classroom, and consider how students may be able to share their photos with other classes. Flickr makes this idea an easy reality. By joining two classes on Flickr, students from both classrooms can see and learn from the photos of the other.
Now, I had to think about how to best connect the two classrooms so it wasn’t just looking at photos. I could easily find photos that I wanted my class to examine, but then they would not obtain the same cultural understanding as they would with direct contact with the other students. I began to research and assess different ways this connection could be made.
I began by looking at social networking sites, such as Twitter. This site would work well because it offered direct contact between students and the ability to share ideas and questions quickly with one another. The same held true about various pen pal networks I found, like ePals. However, these sites only allowed for written communication, and that had already been obtained by Flickr. I wanted something greater for the assignment. I wanted my students to have direct dialogue, face to face. Things are much more personal, and students will gain a better understanding for one another’s culture, if they can speak to each other. Technology is the tool that enables them to do this. Castells explains (2013), “Technology is a mediating factor in a complex matrix of interaction between social structures, social actors, and their socially constructed tools, including technology” (p. 1). But, how was I able to arrange this for my students if they are thousands of miles apart? I had a stroke of luck during a class sharing period, and I was directed to Mystery Skype. Mystery Skype is a network of teachers, who develop lessons and connect their students via Skype, in order to collaborate with one another. I had finally found the technology that I will use for this lesson.
In order to set up Mystery Skype, there are a few steps. First, I needed to create a profile on education.skype.com. Next came the hard part. I needed to find a teacher to collaborate with. Skype has helped with this by creating a directory of teachers. I began to scroll through the thousands upon thousands of teachers in the directory. I came across my first hurdle with the program. The subject area of each teacher was not listed in the directory. So that means, in order to find another photography teacher, I would have to click on each secondary teacher’s profile and keep my fingers crossed that he or she teaches photography. It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I knew this was going to take forever, so I took to Twitter to find an educator. By tweeting out who I was and what I was looking for, I quickly got responses from teachers. I have already begun conversing with multiple teachers that are interested in what I am doing. Finally making this connection, with fellow teachers, felt amazing.
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Little research has been done on the use of Skype to bring about greater understanding and acceptance of other cultures; however, it is not the technology that needs to be proven. It is the connection that technology can bring between human beings that needs proof. Tolerance and acceptance comes with exposure to other ways of life. According to Dr. Perry, “Once a child learns that differences make other people interesting, stimulating, and capable, she becomes more comfortable with the world. If a child is fearful of new things, including the diversity of people, she will be left behind. The more tolerant our children become, the easier it will be for them to enjoy all that the world has to offer.” Skype is only but a tool that provides this exposure to others from a distance. This lesson may just be a steppingstone to greater acceptance, but even a little exposure is better than none.
The Total PACKage
While carrying out this assignment, it is important to note that a change in one area of the TPACK model (content, pedagogy, and technology) means a change in the others. I have carefully constructed this unit so that all three areas of the model work together to solve the problem of practice. If the content of greater cultural awareness changed, I would no longer need to utilize social constructivism, and I would no long need to collaborate with another class via Skype. If my pedagogy changes, then it is very likely that I will not solve the problem of practice. It is vital that I have students take this new knowledge and assimilate it into their previous experiences and understandings. Only then can their cultural misconceptions be challenged. And finally, if I were to change the technology, it is likely that I would not obtain collaboration with another class, and would thus lose the aspect of students learning from one another in a valuable and thought provoking way.
Students take photography because of the style of class that it is. In my class, students have the ability to be creative and try new things. The class is focused on having the students get out to take pictures, to practice the skills of photography, and to capture life in unique ways. By connecting my students with a fellow class, from a distant location, I’m bringing in a new element to their learning. While before, they had taken the class simply to take pictures, now they were learning about culture and how to challenge their previous beliefs. Not all students are ready for this social construction style learning. Many students will enter the class with a closed mind, holding on to their misunderstandings and not letting go. With the aspect of technology, allowing my class to share photos, speak at a distance, and reflect, it is my hope that students will begin to learn and think about what is before them. This lesson uses Skype as a tool. While the tool may capture the interest of my students, it is not the most important aspect of the lesson. But rather, I will use the technology as a means to achieve the goal of greater acceptance of others in my students. Hällgren states (2006), “New technology may thus be seen mainly as a tool for enhancing interaction between theory and (virtual) experience, in which the role of the computer is less important than the process. (p. 30). In turn, students will take this new material and will incorporate it with their previous knowledge. This process includes active learning from my students, as they must actively think about the knowledge they are acquiring, in relation to their prior knowledge. As this is active learning, students must approach it as so. The technology will not only provide the avenue to this cross-cultural learning, but it will also motivate many of my students to learn.
Students take photography because of the style of class that it is. In my class, students have the ability to be creative and try new things. The class is focused on having the students get out to take pictures, to practice the skills of photography, and to capture life in unique ways. By connecting my students with a fellow class, from a distant location, I’m bringing in a new element to their learning. While before, they had taken the class simply to take pictures, now they were learning about culture and how to challenge their previous beliefs. Not all students are ready for this social construction style learning. Many students will enter the class with a closed mind, holding on to their misunderstandings and not letting go. With the aspect of technology, allowing my class to share photos, speak at a distance, and reflect, it is my hope that students will begin to learn and think about what is before them. This lesson uses Skype as a tool. While the tool may capture the interest of my students, it is not the most important aspect of the lesson. But rather, I will use the technology as a means to achieve the goal of greater acceptance of others in my students. Hällgren states (2006), “New technology may thus be seen mainly as a tool for enhancing interaction between theory and (virtual) experience, in which the role of the computer is less important than the process. (p. 30). In turn, students will take this new material and will incorporate it with their previous knowledge. This process includes active learning from my students, as they must actively think about the knowledge they are acquiring, in relation to their prior knowledge. As this is active learning, students must approach it as so. The technology will not only provide the avenue to this cross-cultural learning, but it will also motivate many of my students to learn.