Curriculum21 - Mapping the Global Classroom of the Future

3 Things I Wish Educators Knew About their Own Learning

by Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano

Cross posted to the Langwitches Blog

I meet many educators around the world, virtually and in person… Many times, I am still amazed at the resistance to new ideas, change and willingness to apply the learning they expect of students to their own learning.

Here are the 3 things, above all, that I wish educators knew about their own learning.

1. The understanding that we don’t know, what we don’t know!
   • How can we be resistant to pedagogy, tools and strategies that we have never experienced for learning ourselves?
   • How can we try out new forms of teaching and learning, if we are not even aware they exist and play a vital role in the lives around us?
   • How can we be dismissive of the potential outcomes in learning, if we don’t walk the walk?
2. The understanding that it is about life long learning.
   • Being an educator means being in the business of learning!
   • Having completed a formal degree or having received a certification, does not mean the world around us is at a stand still and our knowledge will continue to serve us in the present and future.
   • It is possible and even likely that an educator could be classified as “illiterate” for the 21st century, if they were to stop learning and feel satisfied with their 20the century education.
3. The understanding that there exists a moral imperative of sharing as an educator.
   • Learning is amplified when shared
   • Sharing of your reflections, thoughts, ideas, best practices, feedback and resources is part of the mechanism of social learning
   • If no one were to step up to share, social media, crowdsourcing or personal learning networks (PLNs) would not exist.