Nattering at Navcon

Dale Spender didn't disappoint; dressed in purple, she continued to question the organisation of schools, a theme started by Tom Sergiovanni.

She reminded us, as teachers, of the futility of continuing to rely on an authority model when we can no longer rightly claim to be authorities. Instead we must accept the democratisation of information-making and reinvent ourselves as members of a learning community. By learning from each other we will break down this industrial hierarchy.

As the printed word makes way for digital text the education system, based as it is on the printed word, will need to transition or become an anachronism. Learning no longer equates to reading and writing, rather it is better thought of as a process of knowledge production. Spender is convinced that digital texts, which oppose one size fits all education by focussing on the learner's needs, are better tools for this new learning.

Dale transported us virtually to Woodcrest College where staff have made this transition. A school where staff and students are partners in producing, not reproducing, knowledge (the physical manifestation of this philosophy is the absence of photocopiers at Woodcrest, only printers). Dale shared the insightful comment of one Woodcrest student:

Now we've got computers, our heads aren't the best places for keeping information.

She used this evidence of the changing nature of knowledge to issue a challenge to teachers:

How do we know students are learning if the information is not in their heads?