A NEW CULTURE
OF LEARNING
It is time to shift our thinking from the old model of teaching to a new model of learning. (Thomas & Brown, 2011)
A New Culture of Learning
We live in a world where Innovation and changes keep impacting education constantly. For years we have been seeing how education has experienced changes incorporating new methods of instruction and learning as things continue to adapt in the new digital world. The education field needs new ideas of teaching to create a good learning environment. Creating a significant learning environment is fundamental to the success of our students.
Learning Environments
First of all, to create an effective learning environment in schools is necessary to understand the concept of the new culture of learning, as Douglas Thomas states: “there are three different fundamental elements about a new culture of learning, those are passion, imagination and constraint”. As part of an organization, I firmly believe that teachers need to facilitate a space in the classrooms where our students can find passion in their daily activities to connect it with a purpose, where theory meets practice and imagination ties up with the real world experiences.
We have to let our students have a voice in their learning process, by giving them choices that are enjoyable but at the same time educational. In addition, I have been observing in my students that when I implement new strategies like new technology resources to embrace and reach their academic goals, I have seen progress in their reading fluency adding more challenges but doing this in a fun way through digital resources that breaks a little bit the old model of teaching to a new model of learning(Thomas et al,2011). I am not saying that the traditional teaching does not work but combining them to do blended learning, whatever stage we are in our organization, classroom, career, there is always something you can learn or pass on to others.
Second, another of the elements needed to create a great learning environment is the idea of constraint. I found a good example of constraint where Thomas Douglas, 2012, said: imagine players on a field with a goal on each end and a round ball. The goal was to get the ball into the opponent's net, but that was too easy. Now try to do it without using your hands. Sounds familiar? Football or soccer, depending on where you come from, is the game but it would not be the beautiful game that we know today if it were not for a basic level of constraint built in. I will do it focusing on continuing creating a significant learning environment based on imagination, passion and creativity, adding COVA models. I can ignite some passion in my students to get better results related to their reading fluency levels.
Challenges
Challenges are part of life and they are to be expected. Tasks that look hard most of the time are the motor to do and reach our goals and it builds resilience capacity. In my opinion, challenges need to be welcomed as a good guest because through it we are going to learn and grow. While continuing working with my innovation plan, it is so important to recognize those obstacles that I am going to face on the way to obtain the goals. As a teacher, one of my personal challenges that I am seeing in my class is when some of my students are not on reading grade level and they keep saying that they can not read or it is too difficult. I strongly believe that I will address those challenges implementing the learning environment elements as passion, imagination and creativity. Also, remind my students that instead of saying I do not know how to do it they can say I do not know yet (the power of yet). Also, I hope to use the COVA models like choice, ownership,voice and authentic learning will help to motivate them to achieve their reading goal. This is a great opportunity for them to build their growth mindset.
​
In addition, I would like to incorporate in my classroom the concept of "play" which is the key to making activities or lessons more engaging while they are learning. Creating a significant learning environment through blended learning, boosts student engagement, collaboration and creativity. This method of teaching integrates new technology with traditional instructor-led classroom activities, giving students more flexibility (doing this more enjoyable) to customize their learning experiences.
Organizational Impact
I am convinced that creating a significant learning environment will contribute to the students' success by facilitating them the tools to embrace changes. In other words, in the traditional view of teaching, information is transferred from one person (the teacher) to another (the student). At this point, the impact that I hope to make is not only for teachers, school staff or students even in the communities where my voice can be heard. I always will be willing to take risks to make a difference in a good way to help those kids that can not help themselves.Teachers have the power to influence and inspire our youth, you can create and innovate.
Influence and Perspective
I can influence others by modeling what I am doing in my classroom and show them how it is giving me results. I believe teachers have the power to do wonders by practicing the learning environment elements. Being consistent is very important for the students to be able to create routines. From the beginning of this process it has to be successful to be able to influence more students and teachers. Share in my organization and explain to them the importance of the New Culture of Learning.
If I can show that something not only works but is worth trying based on research, more people around me will adopt my ideas. I think that my perspective has broadly been about introducing and effecting change within my organization, it has influenced my philosophy on learning and the actions I feel are necessary to be successful in my goals.
References
Thomas, D., & Brown, J. S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the imagination for a world of constant change. Createspace.
​
Thomas, D. (2012). A New Culture of Learning, Douglas Thomas at TEDxUFM. (2012, September 13). YouTube. Retrieved January 23, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM80GXlyX0U
​
Dwayne Harapnuik. (2015). Creating Significant Learning Environments (CLSE). YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ-c7rz7eT4