While this post is essentially theoretical, I think it is something that needs to be considered at the high school level. Learning requires inquiry, failure, autonomy, and a lack of reliance on a content-expert.
“Sage on the stage to guide on the side”. One of those cute phrases you hear in education is used to help teachers understand learning is a student-centered pursuit requiring students work and teachers facilitate. Thanks to my first-rate graduate experiences, I took this approach to classroom learning when I began teaching. Let’s take this student-centered phrase to the next level.
First: 100 years ago, content was only accessible from either a textbook or a content-specific teacher; this is no longer the case. The internet has infinitely more content than a human could provide and tools which can do infinitely more than a textbook. So only for the sake of content, what exactly does a teacher provide?
Second: the less students rely on a content-specific teacher, the more they are able to inquire and- hopefully- fail. The most annoying thing is for a student to ask if they did a problem correctly. I always respond with “I don’t know, how can you check it?” or “go with it and learn from your mistakes if you are wrong”. Ultimately, when students enter a class with me, a teacher with a BS in math, there is an immediate expectation that they are doing math to appease me, the content expert. Their goal is to jump through hoops of content expertise. So for the sake of true inquiry and failure, my mathematical knowledge (ironically) cripples students.
What if I taught a calculus class and I had never done calculus? While this first may seem like chaos, understand that in this environment, students are forced to learn on their own using their resources (each other and the limitless content on the internet). They are not looking to me… they are looking at each other, they are utilizing Google and Youtube, they are talking, they are working collaboratively, and they understand their success with calculus relies entirely on them. Does this mean I am obsolete?
My goal in this environment is to be “the guide on the side”. I am asking questions, pushing back on projects, contacting parents/counselors, and supporting students as needed. When students mess up something with the content, I won’t know to correct them, and they will work with that problem until they realize their error (which is… you know… learning). This approach would require a lot of training for teachers, but would ultimately allow them to “teach” any content. That is, any teacher could facilitate student learning.
A few items now: if the goal of your course is test-scores or abiding by rigid state standards… then you should definitely have a content-specific teacher. My proposed approach would only work if the course is truly student-centered and lets students be in charge of their own learning. Oh, and I am not sure how this would look in things like band or art. Band class with a conductor who doesn’t know about music would be detrimental.
Learning V. School 