Ulearn2020 - Keynote #3 - Distinguished Professor Pedro Noguera on - equity, empowerment and deeper learning.

 

This morning , the third keynote from Distinguished Professor Pedro Nogeura on equity, empowerment and deeper learning.

Proposed for education to leverage off the pandemic, as an opportunity to change. The pandemic is a form of ‘disturbance’ and we should use this, as a way to relook at what schooling is about and create an educational system for the future.

Questioned the current system – does it meet the needs of the children currently? Which children are not served and have unmet academic and social needs? Do these children belong at your schools? What barriers might be getting in the way of change?

How can our school, education and child-development systems, more individually responsive to the needs of our students? Why not construct a system that meets children where they are and gives them what they need inside and outside of school, to enable their success?

Rationalised the need to change. Schools NEED to change as they are a product of history and reflect the inequalities present in society. There are deep disparities in achievement based on socio-economic status and race. Challenged the audience to find out how deeply engaged children are at their school? How are children of colour treated?

To create the schools we need, we need to shift the paradigms. Not only changes in systems but a shift in beliefs about what is possible and needed. From measuring and sorting to developing talent. From pressure and competition to encouraging collaboration. From assessment OF to FOR learning. Content teaching to cultivation of the love of learning. Parents from consumers to stakeholders.

To pursue excellence through equity, need to understand, child development, neuroscience and context. Holistic approach to provide differentiated education. Understand the plasiticity inherent in the brain, encouraging learning when learners are engaged.

Explained the concept of the effect of race on the achievement gap as not useful. This encourages racialisation, reinforcing stereotypes and preventing the development of effective solutions.

To advance equity, educators need to find the balance between technical and adaptive work. Technical work focuses on managing operations and systems, ensuring procedures are working and employees and students comply with policy. Adaptive work indicates a focus on the dynamic and complex nature of work, work that is guided by a long-term vision and an awareness that ongoing work  required to achieve goals in a constantly changing environment.

Unfortunately, technical and logistical changes dominate the conversations, for example about how to keep schools open through the pandemic.

In the current pandemic context, key adaptive questions include how to better support student mental health? How can gaps in learning, unmotivated students, frightened adults? Are teachers prepared to address the heightened awareness about racial prejudice? How will the sense of community be build? How do we better support students as they learn from home?

Five essentials ingredients for school improvement include coherent instructional guidance system; ongoing professional development for teachers; strong parent-community-school ties; a student centred learning environment; and shared leadership to drive change (Bryke et al., 2010).

Provided guidelines to help make schools ‘race neutral’ as aligned to the above five essentials.

Encouraged the need to reflection on what occurred across pandemic on ‘school opening’. Evaluate and build school community first before moving forward.

Shared the visual definitions of equality, equity and how they are perceived. Eliminating barriers is a key. Barriers include complacency, racial bias, teaching and learning as disconnected, punitive mindset, unequal access to external support and ignoring the need to compensate for the effects of inequality outside of school.

Need to shift, post pandemic, to better ways of support all learners.