Prior to watching “most likely to succeed” I had some idea that the school system could benefit from some reimagining but I wouldn’t have assumed the curriculum at High Tech High was the solution. The dramatic change from how a traditional classroom VS inquiry based classrooms function seems a bit intense but it also seems to have a lot of valuable aspects. It was super cool to watch the growth many students made over the year and to see them so passionate about their projects. Educators face many difficulties when trying to change pedagogy since we haven’t made significant changes in a long time, according to the documentary. Since the current system is so familiar it is comfortable to use and stepping outside of it is uncomfortable and awkward. Moving away from current pedagogy creates more room for failure and no one wants to fail. I imagine it would be very challenging for educators to manage everyone’s learning and keep track of students’ progress. It may also be challenging to determine the amount of structure a class requires for success as I’m sure it would change often depending on desired outcomes, age of students, ect. I think there are many benefits to High Tech High’s pedagogy, mainly the focus of the “soft skills” such as collaboration, confidence, critical thinking, ect. since our current pedagogy doesn’t reflect how important these skills are once you start post-secondary or join the workforce. I thought it was amazing to see the students so passionate about their work, they had a level of pride and excitement most students don’t get out of completing a worksheet. I’d be really excited to observe this kind of pedagogy in practice, however, I’d be really nervous to teach this way. It seems really nerve racking to leave so much in the students hands, I think I would end up questioning if I was doing enough.
Image from Pixabay.com