In Teaching Digital Natives, Marc Prensky discusses the idea of partnering pedagogy. This is a shift in pedagogical practice from traditional “on the stage” teaching to the focus on student centered 21st century skills. At first, Prensky’s idea of partnering seems unrealistic. I believe Prensky’s idea of partnering is not only realistic in today’s culture, but it almost seems to be essential. For today’s students, taking control of their learning, using technology, collaborating and creating are important. Unfortunately, high-stakes testing requires students to be able to work independently, without technology, and with very little creativity (if any!). As long as we have the pressure to achieve AYP, it would not be realistic for a teacher to set up Pensky’s partnering approach daily. I feel students will still need the exposure to text on a paper, teacher (or test creator) providing the topic that you will read or write about, and have to respond by filling in a bubble, and writing in the answer booklet.
As a school leader, I would foster the partnering approach by first starting with educating the teachers about partnering pedagogy (first, reading Prensky’s book). I would encourage teachers to start out slow, at the basic or guided level. PLC would be important to set up for teachers to discuss experiences (positive and negative) so they will not get discouraged or over ambitious.
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