Learning to Leapfrog: Innovative Pedagogies to Transform Education
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Learning to Leapfrog: Innovative Pedagogies to Transform Education David Istance and Alejandro Paniagua September 2019 LEARNING TO LEAPFROG: INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION Authors David Istance is a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former senior analyst at the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Alejandro Paniagua is a former elementary school teacher, teacher educator, and associate professor at the University of Barcelona and, until recently, a consultant to the OECD. Acknowledgments We are grateful to the many people who have provided valuable insights during the research process and writing of this report. First, we would like to thank the research and editorial team at the Center for Universal Education at Brookings, including Rebecca Winthrop, Lauren Ziegler, Katherine Portnoy, Nicolas Zerbino, Rachel Brisson, Rhea Handa, and Foluyinka Fakoya. We would also like to thank our colleagues and friends who provided feedback and comments on the report, including Elizabeth King, Jenny Perlman Robinson, Ju-Ho Lee, Francisco Benavides, Urvashi Sahni, John Bangs, and Emiliana Vegas. The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit organization devoted to independent research and policy solutions. Its mission is to conduct high quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations for policymakers and the public. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the institution, its management, or its other scholars. Brookings gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the BHP Foundation and the LEGO Foundation. Brookings recognizes that the value it provides is in its commitment to quality, independence, and impact. Activities supported by its donors reflect this commitment. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. The Leapfrog Imperative: There is an Urgent Need for Future-Ready Teaching and Learning 3 The Aims of This Report 5 A Global Spotlight on Learning 6 Leapfrogging to More Ambitious Heights 9 The Innovation Imperatives: Meet Global Goals, Cope with Change, Redress Inequalities 11 Leapfrogging Learning: Why Pedagogy is So Important 11 The Burden of Proof 13 2. Innovative Pedagogies Are Essential for Leapfrogging 14 Understanding Pedagogy to Improve Teaching 14 Mapping the Landscape with Clusters of Innovative Pedagogies 15 Using Pedagogical Clusters to Illuminate Leapfrogging Pathways 15 Blended Learning: Using Online Learning to Teach to the Right Level 16 Computational Thinking: Computing to Improve Problem-Solving Skills 18 Experiential Learning: Involving Students in Their Communities 22 Embodied Learning: Engaging with Crafts and Creativity 25 Multiliteracies: Fostering Bi/Multilingual Education 28 Gamification: Storytelling to Immerse Students in the Flow of Learning 31 Implementing Innovative Pedagogies: Moving Beyond Classroom Walls 33 3. Three Structural Changes Are Needed for Innovative Pedagogies to Flourish 36 Investing in the Foundations of Quality Teaching 36 Widening the Profile of Educators 42 Supporting Hybrid Learning Environments 45 4. Scaling Deep Change is Required to Transform Teaching and Learning 52 Scaling Innovative Pedagogies Requires a Focus on Deep Change 53 Education Networks Have the Power to Scale Deep Change 54 The Meso Level is Critical for Leapfrogging 57 5. Conclusion 60 6. Endnotes 61 7. Bibliography 69 1 LEARNING TO LEAPFROG: INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION List of Figures Figure 1.1 The Leapfrog Pathway 4 Figure 1.2 Enrollment Rates in Primary and Secondary Education, by Country Income Group 7 Figure 1.3 Primary School Students Above Minimum Proficiency in Mathematics and Reading, by Country Income Group 8 Figure 1.4 The Role of Pedagogy 10 Figure 2.1 The Six Clusters of Innovative Pedagogies 15 Figure 2.2 Blended Learning on the Pedagogical Continuum 17 Figure 2.3 Computational Thinking on the Pedagogical Continuum 20 Figure 2.4 Experiential Learning on the Pedagogical Continuum 22 Figure 2.5 Embodied Learning on the Pedagogical Continuum 25 Figure 2.6. Multiliteracies on the Pedagogical Continuum 28 Figure 2.7 The “Flow State” as a Fundamental Pedagogical Goal 31 Figure 2.8 Gamification on the Pedagogical Continuum 32 Figure 2.9 Teaching Innovation Requires Moving Beyond Classroom Walls 35 Figure 3.1 Foundations of Quality Teaching 37 Figure 3.2 Trained Teachers, by Level of Schooling and World Region 38 Figure 3.3 Widening the Profile of Educators 43 Figure 3.4 Hybrid Learning Environments 46 Figure 4.1 Scaling Deep Change 54 Figure 4.2 The Meso Layer of Education 55 Figure 4.3 Three Dimensions of Scaling Up Meso-Level Network Innovation 58 List of Boxes Box 2.1 Blended Learning Literacy Instruction in Elementary Education in the United States 18 Box 2.2 African School for Excellence: Providing Quality Education at a Lower Cost 19 Box 2.3 Unplugged Activities: Computational Thinking Skills without Computers 21 Box 2.4 Education for Sustainability Service Learning in Nigeria 23 Box 2.5 Our Lady’s and St. Mochua’s Primary School: Providing a Pathway to the Future of Rural Communities 24 Box 2.6 Engaging 3D Experiences for Canadian First Nations Students 26 Box 2.7 Makerspaces That Integrate Art and Real-World Learning 27 Box 2.8 Perspectives for a Diverse America: Teaching for Tolerance 29 Box 2.9 Bilingual Education in Peru: “Translanguaging” Quechua 30 Box 2.10 Storytelling to Improve Mathematics Teaching in Greece 33 Box 2.11 Papilio: Storytelling, Puppets, and Play to Foster Social and Emotional skills in Preschool Children 34 2 Section 1 The Leapfrog Imperative: There Is an Urgent Need for Future-Ready Teaching and Learning This report follows up on the book “Leapfrogging factors such as political will and adequate funding, Inequality: Remaking Education to Help Young People nor demand-side factors such as student and parent Thrive,” published in 2018 by the Center for Universal support for innovative approaches. Education (CUE) at the Brookings Institution. The book argued the importance of education leapfrogging– We join an international clamor of concern summed creating transformative shifts rather than incremental up recently as “the learning crisis.”2 For a long time, evolution by harnessing the power of innovation to the main route to improving learning has been per- advance a breadth of skills.1 The book put forth a ceived to be in widening education access, giving all framework for leapfrogging (figure 1.1) that outlined countries the universal levels of participation enjoyed two core elements (teaching and learning, and recog- by the well-resourced systems of the developed world. nition of learning) and two support elements (people This remains to be fully achieved, especially for certain and places, and technology and data). sections of the populations that are systematically excluded. However, now that much progress has been This report focuses on the teaching and learning achieved globally in extending access, new funda- element of the leapfrog framework, especially on mental questions are being raised. Do children and pedagogical approaches and the role of teachers, but young people acquire sufficient levels of knowledge draws on the others as relevant. It does not attempt to and competencies during their years of education, be exhaustive and does not pretend to address neither and what do they learn? Are the foundations being laid all education policy variables, nor critical system in the early years, when young people normally attend 3 LEARNING TO LEAPFROG: INNOVATIVE PEDAGOGIES TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION Figure 1.1 The Leapfrog Pathway CORE ELEMENTS Teaching and Learning: Increasingly Student-Centered POTENTIAL TO TEACHING LEAPFROG LEARNING Evaluate and Create + Apply and Playful + Interactive + Lecture-based LEAP Analyze + Remember and Understand Apply and Analyze + Remember and Interactive + Lecture-based SKIP Understand Lecture-based Remember and Understand HOP Recognition of Learning: Increasingly Individualized POTENTIAL TO PROGRESSION LEAPFROG VERIFICATION Individual-based + Group-based + Industry-led + Predetermined LEAP Hybrid-led + Education-led Group-based + Predetermined Hybrid-led + Education-led SKIP Predetermined Education-led HOP SUPPORT ELEMENTS People and Places: Increasingly Diverse POTENTIAL TO PEOPLE LEAPFROG PLACES Everyone + Teachers team with others + In a diversity of contexts + Licensed teachers LEAP Connected to outside school + In-school Teachers team with others + Connected to outside school Licensed teachers SKIP + In-school Licensed teachers In-school HOP Technology and Data: Increasingly Results Oriented POTENTIAL TO TECHNOLOGY LEAPFROG DATA + Data for transforming learning experiences Modification and redefinition + Data for program improvement + Data for Augmentation + Substitution LEAP compliance Data for program improvement + Data Augmentation + Substitution SKIP for compliancel Substitution Data for compliance HOP 4 school, on which to base lifetimes of further learning? of transformation that this vision implies for education A leapfrogging through learning transformation is re- systems, and how to think about fruitful near-term ap- quired to address the gravity of the current crisis. proaches for scaling up innovative pedagogies. The Aims of This Report Naturally, this report drew on existing literature, es- pecially on pedagogies, teaching, and learning. We The overall goal of