While watching the documentary it was interesting to see the perspectives of the educators, the students, as well as the parents. High Tech High has transformed pedagogy to allow students to learn while also putting effort into “soft skills”. This new form of pedagogy also comes with disagreement. Parents of the children at High Tech High did not attend a similar education, thus when comparing the workload and the schedule to their own, they fail to see where the ability to get into college would be. Going further, when teachers from other schools tried to implement other forms of learning (ie. The math teacher in the documentary), they were taken aback when the students were the ones disagreeing- arguing that they want to ace the test to have a good college application. The approach to education that High Tech High uses has me weary and excited, all at the same time. The freedom given to students to display their learnings is amazing; however, it does not work for everyone- I, myself, would not be able to handle the lack of structure within the school year. Growing a passion for what the students were learning and how they were displaying it was a beautiful growth to watch, but I also wonder about the dynamics of how all the students are doing with their learning. When removing the educator from the front of the classroom, and moving them to the back, it creates an opening for someone else to step in- it is a role of power that is “up for grabs”. While this could be seen as a beneficial oppoutunity for students, there is also the chance that some students may become left behind in their contribution to the class- especially when the class is being assessed as a unit. With that all being said, I believe that education needs to be a blend of structure and freedom. Education needs to give oppourtunity for all students to succeed. The route of pedagogy that High Tech High uses does not serve all students, in a similar way to how traditional teachings do not assist all students either. To re-imagine education, one must learn from the present students, along with utilizing their past experiences.
Below is a student-based project from High Tech High combing math, science, and art!
Dalhousie University has a website dedicated to different forms of pedagogy and the combination of different forms of thinking.