2020 teachers

What kind of teachers will we see in 2020? Will they be any different (and will they be doing anything different) to what they are now? It's hard to say, because we can't predict the future. But can we help shape it? Take a look at what has already appeared on this blog in my 2020 Vision series, and there may be some clues. I have written about 2020 learners, 2020 classrooms and 2020 curriculum (focusing mainly on assessment of learning), and also touched on what we might see with 2020 learning technologies. Much of what I have written has been informed by crowdsourcing conversations with teachers on Twitter and other social media, as well as face to face. Those who are currently at the 'chalk face' will tell you that teaching at the moment is fraught with all sorts of difficulties. Many have already left the profession or are planning to, because they feel they don't have enough room to breathe - the restrictive practices and oppressive levels of performativity required by governments and funding bodies is driving many from teaching, often never to return. This is a tragedy. It's also unnecessary. All that talent lost to education, simply because education has become management heavy. We could easily do away with standardised testing, overcrammed curricula and league tables - we don't need them, and they do little to help learners - and concentrate instead on personalised forms of learning, open and relevant programmes of study, and a celebration of what each individual school does best and excels at. Most teachers would agree with this as a definite and positive future for schools. So what might teachers be doing in 2020?

I will predict this: there will still be a place for teachers, because teachers are irreplacable. It's still true that any teacher who can be replaced by a computer - should be. No amount of technology, self-study or user generated content can ever replace teachers. They will still be there to motivate and inspire, and they will still be there as pedagogy experts to facilitate and support learning. What they may do less of is - teach. There will probably be less 'front of the classroom' activities and more drawing alongside learners in project work, small group activities, problem based learning and technology enhanced processes. Most importantly, teachers will need to work more in partnership with their students. Finally, teachers may not actually be physically present in some classrooms, instead, taking on a virtual presence, particularly in places difficult to reach - a view endorsed by Spanish educator Jose Luis Garcia.

For the teachers who responded to my Twitter questions, there seemed an unanimous view that there will be a sea-change in the way teachers conduct themselves in education, and that teachers will drive these changes. Heidi Siwak, a Grade 6 teacher in Canada predicted: "I'll spend very little time designing lessons and more time assisting students in meeting their own learning goals." These sentiments are echoed by several others. Martin Homola in Slovakia, said teachers will pay "more attention to specific needs and interests of pupils. Less authority, more friendly older sibling approach. More discussion." Jack Beaman from the UK wanted to see small groups and a scenario where top experts would "use technology to reach masses allowing people to dictate own learning." He envisaged an education provision that would be "less top down and more social." Another UK teacher, Sonia Cooper, believes there will be a more dialogic kind of pedagogy, with teachers "hopefully talking less to the class, not imparting knowledge, but guiding learners by asking the right questions." She sees teacher tasks such as assessment (marking) being "very different with verbal feedback recorded and recognised as vital." She thinks that feedback to students will be given using other ICT tools too. A UK Headteacher, Andy Hampton, believes that teachers will teach and promote "Junior PLNs" (Professional Learning Networks) as university style teaching filters down to schools. Ben Jones sees the vital importance of learners taking centre stage, but warns that we should not confuse personalised learning with individualised learning.

From these views, it would appear that future changes in education will come from teachers adopting new practices, where social learning comes to the fore, and there is more negotiation through dialogue with learners. Teacher Linda Barron in Australia even goes as far as to suggest that collaboration should be so entrenched in future learning that it will be difficult to tell the teachers apart from the learners. Changes will need to come through flexibility and personalisation of learning, which will also bring new technologies into play. Changes are coming, and we will need to wait to see what they are, but we need the right changes. It is best that the future of learning will be shaped by teachers and their students in partnership, rather than by governments. Let's start now, shall we?

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2020 teachers by Steve Wheeler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.