I am writing this from the airport in Ho Chi Minh. I have had the most amazing holiday travelling with my family for the last month around Vietnam and Cambodia. Hence, the silence over here at the blog! There is a couple of thoughts and stories I have had in relation to education while travelling that I wish to share with you.
 
The first takes place in ‘The Temple of Literature’ in Hanoi in Vietnam. This is the site of Vietnam's first university (established 1076) and is dedicated to Confucius. The beautiful setting would make any teacher jealous of this learning space. Open buildings, incredible gardens…. if only our modern day schools could harness such peaceful and reflective learning environments. 

One school in Vietnam has the right idea. ​As my family were walking through the gardens a group of four young students around the age of twelve approached us. They inquired whether we had a tour guide or not. When we replied that we didn’t they asked if we would like them to show us around. It was actually their school assignment for the morning! The teachers stood at a distance watching their students explain the workings of the buildings and history of this special place to us.  We learnt so much more then the paragraph I had read on google before visiting and our experience here was enriched greatly. Meanwhile, the students were applying their understanding of the history of the temple, cultural nuances and English language skills. At the end of the tour they asked if we could provide them with written feedback to take to their teacher. We gave a glowing report. These students were engaged, actively thinking, processing, and developing their social skills and confidence. I am now trying to think how I can use the same teaching strategy at home. 

The other point worth noting about the ‘Temple of Literature’ is the stone turtle tablets. There are 86 of these tablets adorning the right hand side of the courtyard. Each tablet contains the stories of the graduating students from each year. The tablets are written by the teacher noting their achievements and qualities so that all who visit can read about those who once studied at this place (that is if you can read the ancient script!). Imagine if your students could read the many accomplishments of the students before them as they passed by each day. I guess we have year books, but they aren’t quite the same! I found this practice joy-fueled and affirming…. a reminder of the type of teacher I aspire to be. 

​In fact there were many reminders throughout this trip, particularly reminders of gratitude. Have you ever seen a Cambodian school bus?  

Visited a floating school?

​I can say I have and both experiences remind me what we have to be grateful for as teachers in a first-world country. At the end of 2016 we were discussing space and environment as a staff. The usual and quite valid comments about lack of space, resources and money was audible in our beautifully furnished, warm and colourful library. Don’t get me wrong, I am the first to ask for more resources when I am given the chance, but maybe when the answer is no we need to remind ourselves that we really have everything we need.

​My daughters brought presents with them to hand out to children we met along the way. At the Cambodian Landmine Museum and School for the Orphaned we had the privilege of meeting two young boys. My daughter Penny gave the youngest boy a Mr Men book and the eldest some textas and notepads. The eldest just held his, not wanting to unwrap it and hopefully got the biggest surprise when he finally did. The youngest opened his present, saw the book, squealed and kissed it and then walked around with it safely tucked under his t-shirt and a big smile on his face until we left. Books and pens are something we take for granted, but for these children it was like they had won the lottery. 

​Despite the poverty, particularly in Cambodia, the people seemed in a way happier. When we visited the floating school classes had just ended for the day. It was only midday. The children were laughing and playing as their parents picked them up to take them back home or further afield to keep fishing for the day. They seemed so very joyful. Just take a look at the smiles on the school bus too? Maybe I am jumping to conclusions but my guess is anxiety is not an issue at these schools and teachers aren’t anywhere near as exhausted. Should we take a leaf out of their book? Simplify? Cut back? Do we ask too much? Do too much? Try to be too much?

​Lastly, travel is the greatest teacher. Over the last month I have watched my own two children make new friends from all around the world, try new foods, practice three different languages, experience other religious practices, develop their independence, immerse themselves in cultures, play with sun bears, snorkel for the first time, practice chess and even more. What they have learnt from this trip is priceless. If you can travel with your own children, you should. If you can travel yourself, you should.

I hope all of you have had an amazing holiday and are refreshed and ready to tackle the new year. I know I am.... and will come at it with a renewed perspective. 

Exam supervision today. Trial HSC Chemistry Test. Questions like:

In which layer of the atmosphere is ozone considered a pollutant?
(A) Mesosphere
(B) Stratosphere
(C) Thermosphere
(D) Troposphere                                                                                        (HSC Chemistry Paper 2015)

What is the pH of a 0.018 mol L−1 solution of hydrochloric acid?
(A) 0.74
(B) 0.96
(C) 1.04
(D) 1.74                                                                                                   (HSC Chemistry Paper 2015)

A solution contains carbonate, chloride and sulfate ions.
Describe a sequence of tests that could be used to confirm the presence of each of these ions. 
Include ONE relevant chemical equation.                                                    (HSC Chemistry Paper 2015)

In less then 5 minutes this evening I could answer Question 1 - Troposphere. Google gave me a formula which I used with my calculator to answer the second question leading me to the answer 1.74. (I don’t have the answers here, so chemistry teachers correct me if I am wrong.) And the last question? Well, I can tell you after 20 seconds on the internet that I can confirm carbonate ions by testing with limewater and I am sure if I bothered I could quickly find out how to test for chloride and sulphate… but let’s be honest, I can’t be bothered. 

This got me thinking. I googled which HSC Course was apparently the hardest - Extension Maths 2 and Extension Hebrew. Hmmm… Extension Maths 2 has me a little stumped. I actually have to apply stuff to other stuff. However, if I have the formula and a calculator how hard can it be? The Hebrew paper is not available online, which is a shame because I know how to use google translate. 

So I tried a History paper. Tricky. They wanted me to have an opinion. Formulate an argument. Can’t google my opinion can I? And then there is the Drama Exam. Did you know they have to perform their own piece…created from their own minds…using their own creativity…and they have to do it with other people???? Can’t google that. Real life experience right here people, but I guess it won’t scale well. 

And I could go on, but I think I will just get to my point. Why are we teaching and testing stuff we can google? Why aren’t we just teaching students how to google? Teaching students to source the information they need and apply it? Does rote learning have a place at all? What is the point of learning factual information that no one is going to retain after the exam? What sort of examination is it if I can just google the information and have the answer in less then 5 minutes?

I am not trying to be irritating and I am not down playing the importance of Chemistry or any other subject. However, I am advocating for a change to our teaching, a difference in the way we learn, an alternative way of assessing. 

Let me expand by drawing on the lives of two male adults I know. One has a number of university degrees including a Bachelor Degree in Electrical Engineering, Masters in Engineering, MBA’s coming out his ears. The other is an operational police detective… dropped out in year 10, underwent a trade, went back to TAFE to do his HSC and joined the police. Each of them are smart in their own rights. I often refer to the later as street smart. However, if I needed help in a critical situation, needed someone to think out of the box, needed someone who could solve an immediate problem, I would call the policeman… not the degreeman. Not someone who can google and reference an essay, but someone who can think on his feet, problem solve, relate to the people around him. 

I watch kids stress about memorising facts day in and day out and I wonder why.
“Miss, we HAVE to memorise this by next period.”
“Why?”
“We have a test.”
“Can you google it…”
“Um, I guess so.”
“So what is the point?”

Do you see my issue? Let’s teach them stuff they can’t google. Let’s test them on applying and creating rather then just knowing. Bloom was no idiot when he worked out his taxonomy. So, why are we still testing knowledge? Knowledge is at our figure tips. This generation does not need to know. This generation needs to be able to apply, analyse, synthesis, evaluate, create, and make connections. 

As Einstein said, “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.” Let’s not be stupid. Stop teaching the things we can google and start teaching the things that matter. 

My students gather around a piece of butcher’s paper. We have been studying a text and I want them to engage with it on a deeper level. 

“On this piece of paper, I would like you to all draw in silence a series of symbols that fully embody the themes and issues presented through the text.” 

They begin drawing. One girl jumps right in and draws a love heart - (The title of the play has ‘love’ in it). One girl writes some numbers - (The title of the play has the word ‘information’ in it.) Slowly another draws a puzzle with pieces missing; one draws a persons head with the tongue rolled out like a sheet of paper and numbers, symbols dripping out of the mouth; one draws a human being using binary code. More images flow and then they stop. We discuss.

“What images attract your attention? Engage you? Evoke emotion or cause you to question?”

Immediately students speak of the paper-tongued lady, the missing puzzle pieces and the human made up solely of information. When they were done, I asked,

“And who drew the heart?”

The kid that drew the heart (a bright and intelligent young lady I might add) begins to apologise, make excuses, explaining she can’t draw. She realises the superficiality of her work from our discussion. I interrupt her apology with the following,

“Thank you for failing.”

“MISSSSS!!!”, she declares. 

“Thank you for drawing what everyone else was first thinking. If you didn’t draw it someone else would have and now we can have a rich discussion because you pushed them to think further. We can also discuss why the play isn’t just this (pointed to heart) or this (pointed to the symbols). Thank you for failing, because if you didn’t then I have no purpose in this room.” 

She looked at me confused as my thanks was both heart-felt and genuine. It was not sarcastic or trite. It was warm and comforting. We then began to dissect why it wasn’t just about love or just about information and by the end of the lesson all the students in my class could see the rich layers within the text. 

This is one example of my new strategy - ‘Thank you for failing.’ I have been using it a lot over the last few weeks. At first there is the initial declaration of my name in horror, “MISSSSSS!!!” but when my students realise I am truly grateful for their error they begin to own their mistakes. This is the culture I want in my classroom.

My year 11’s already know my mantra - “If we aren’t failing, we aren’t learning.” They will heartedly joke that it is ok to ‘Fail in Drama’. They twist my words, but they do truly understand my intention. By creating a space where failing is valued, students become more open to taking risks, more likely to have a go answering a question and lastly become more resilient.

We need to change the language around failure to reverse the negative. When a student gives an incorrect answer to a question or makes an error in a practical task, harness it as a valuable learning experience rather than sighing and moving onto the next student. 

“Why did you think this was the answer?”
“This isn’t the answer so what do you think you may have missed?”
“Why didn’t this work out for you today?”
“What could we do better next time?”

And thank them. Thank them explicitly and whole-heartedly for their mistakes because if they were perfect all the time, there would be no need for teachers.

 I want to share with your 5 separate stories. Each apparently unrelated, yet deeply interrelated. 

Story Number 1 - Three weeks ago, I handed my student a mark for an assessment she had completed. The mark was 24/30 . Twenty - four. Not twenty. Not four….. 24. She burst into tears.

Story Number 2 - When I was choosing a primary school for my own children I went to two open days for two similar demographic primary schools of which I live smack bam in the middle. The first principal addressed the parents and began to tell us of the history of the buildings listing the wonderful resources the school had to offer. The principal of the second school stood up, introduced the students, sat back down and let them speak instead. I chose to send my daughters to the second school.

Story Number 3 - I was sitting in parent-teacher interviews last night when one student and her mother came and sat across from me. The student looked deflated. 
“I am sorry. We don’t have an interview but I really want to speak with you.” 
“No worries”, I replied. 
I began to tell the mother that the student sitting across from me was one of the most creative, imaginative students in my class; that her left of centre ideas were something to be nurtured; and that she had made so much progress over the last two terms as she began to find herself through Drama. The mother turned to her child, “See!”, she said. “Hear what she is saying? You aren’t stupid.” I began explaining the theory of multiple intelligence and how although schooling has been difficult for her over the past few years, she had just found her home in Drama. She left with a beaming smile.

Story Number 4 - I am currently interviewing past and current principals, teachers, students and parents about my school. It is the school’s 125th Anniversary and we are trying to capture a piece of this history through Verbatim Theatre. Interestingly, in the conversations I have had with past students and parents no one has spoken about the mark they received on their Year 8 History exam or Pythagoras Theorem. Not one of them have even referred to their HSC exam results. In fact, all they speak about is 
people…
their teachers…
their friends…
their students…
relationships….
moments of joy….
moments of sorrow. 

Story Number 5 - This is not a personal story. It is not even my story. It is a story from The Sydney Morning Herald - “ICSEA is a scale allowing for fair comparisons among schools with similar students. It provides an indication of the socio-educational backgrounds of students but has nothing to do with the staff, school facilities or programs at the school. ICSEA is set at an average of 1000. The lower the value, the lower the level of educational advantage of students who go to the school. The higher the value, the higher the level of educational advantage.”

Let me say that again. ICSEA provides an indication of the socio-educational backgrounds of students but has nothing to do with the staff, school facilities or programs at the school. Oh, and don’t forget the last line, The higher the value, the higher the level of educational advantage. 

I can’t begin to tell you how much this saddens me. So, instead I am going to turn the tables and evaluate the system. 

Our current educational system is using ONE form of testing to measure a student, focussing on the final product or regurgitation of knowledge rather then the personal growth or personal bests of each individual. Students, like the one in story one, feel a mark is an indication of their success. It is far from it.

Our current educational system is placing more value on funding, buildings, resources then the students that reside in these spaces. Like the principal in story two who sells their community as a collection of empty spaces, our educational system is becoming empty of heart. We have forgotten why we are here.

Our current educational system favours one mode of teaching and learning and fails to differentiate for those left of centre. This leaves students to feel disheartened, isolated, incompetent and deflated... like my student in story three.

Our current educational system fails to acknowledge the most important learning taking place each in everyday. Students and teachers learning about themselves, their relationships, connections, joy and sorrow, which are expressed through the stories they have to share (like those in story four). Our system limits learning through narrowmlndness. 

And so dear education system, (for the sake of creativity let’s call you Christopher), here is your report card:

Although Christopher is a valuable member of our community, he is performing well below average. He shows sophistication in his writing and policy making, but fails to apply the key values of education to his practical work. In fact, in this area Christopher is not reaching his full potential. This has been measured by the stories he tells and the stories he chooses to ignore. Christopher could benefit from being more empathetic, more considerate of others, more collaborative. He is encouraged to think more critically and creatively over the next Semester.

I believe dear Christopher, what we need to be doing is measuring schools by the fullness of hearts not the fullness of pockets. We need to be listening to the stories of those that reside in the community rather then wasting time gazing at navels. We need to stop measuring students by numbers and start measuring them by their joy. Then and only then will I take you seriously. 

I have been at a three day conference with a wonderful group of Drama Educators from across the globe. I am a shy person (no, not all Drama Educators are extroverted!) and this has given me the opportunity to sit quietly and observe my peers. I share this list with you today as I feel Drama Educators are often undervalued when in reality they are a unique commodity with much to offer the educational system.

1. We are incredible collaborators. This is the core of our teaching practice. We teach kids to be collaborative and in doing so deeply etch these skills into our own lives and actions. We know how to yield to the ideas of others and extend on the possibilities together. We teach this practice daily. 

2. We also know how to work independently. Many of us are the only Drama specialists in our schools meaning we often have to work on our own which leads to resourcefulness and an ability to network beyond the walls of our school.

3. We are risk takers. Yesterday we were in a workshop and we were told there was only room for some of us to participate in the practical component and the rest of had to observe the process. This process involved improvising and performing in front of your peers. It was interesting to watch the Drama Educators move straight into the space ready to take a risk, while the researchers sat as observers. And to be honest, as a shy person this is not easy for me to do (particularly in front of my peers), but I am a Drama Educator and therefore never play it safe.

4. We are disobedient. Now you are probably wondering why I am listing this as one of our beautiful qualities. Andrew Upton (Artistic Director of Sydney Theatre Company) in a keynote speech yesterday stated that “Disobedience is vital to all art.” It is essential to the creative process. If we never break the rules, never step outside the margins, how can we discover new ideas, new worlds, new ways of doing things? 

5. We are open to working with others (other teachers, researchers, other fields) because we value relationship. In fact, we value relationship so much that we explicitly teach it. 

6. We are creative and critical thinkers. We imagine. We play. We explore. We question. It is at the heart of our nature. 

7. We love our students and place them at the forefront of what we do. Yes, of course other teachers do this too, but our love stems from the emotional and social connections we make with our students as they share elements of themselves and the world in which they live in our classrooms every day.

8. We are empathetic. Empathetic to those around us - students, parents, other teachers, administrators. When we play a character we embody them. We walk in their shoes. This is enlightening and liberating for both us and those we are empathising with.

9. We are passionate. Passionate about our subject. Passionate about Education. Passionate about making a difference in our classroom, our system, our world. Nothing can suppress this.

10. We are joyful. Oh boy are we joyful! We know how to dance like no-one is watching. We know how to teach through play. We know the importance of taking time out to have fun with our students. And this joy is catching. 

So please, do not underestimate us. 

Imagine if all Educators were incredible collaborators but at the same time able to work independently. 
Risk takers, rule breakers, creative and critical thinkers yet open to working with others.
Loved their students deeply, were empathetic, passionate and oh so joyful. 
Our schools would look a little different don't you think?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
- Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2.

I love quoting Shakespeare. I am a drama teacher. Actually, let’s go further and say I am ‘just’ a Drama teacher. And as ‘just’ a Drama teacher who else would I quote?

Maybe Julie Dunn. Never heard of her? That’s because she is ‘just’ a Professor in Drama Education and Applied Theatre. In her Keynote Speech at Game Changer 2015 today, Julie said that when she is asked what she does for a living and states that she is Professor in Drama Education and Applied Theatre, the response is underwhelming. “Oh you ‘just’ teach drama...” 

Maybe I can refer to Robin Pascoe… no wait… he too is really ‘just’ a Drama teacher. In a panel discussion on ‘What is the New Black in Drama Education?’ Robin mentioned research regarding the term ‘Arts Education’ and highlighted the need to drop the arts and call it all Education. You see by using the term ‘Arts Education’ we are collectively marginalising ourselves. I mean it is ‘just’ the Arts isn’t it?

In an opinion piece, Ellen Leanse (Apple and Google Alumni - You have heard of them right?) argues that the use of the word 'just' needs to change. She says, “I began to notice that “just” wasn’t about being polite: it was a subtle message of subordination, of deference. Sometimes it was self-effacing.” She is right.

And this is where I get to my point. You see last week in a meeting a colleague of mine turned to me and said, “You are ‘just’ the Drama teacher.” Yes, I was angry. However, looking back I am not actually upset at her, I am upset at myself for not saying the following:

I am not ‘just’ a drama teacher.

I am a mother, a daughter, a wife, a friend, a lover of Drama, a director, a theatre goer, a creator, a learner and wait for it…an educator. An educator that helps shape, form, support and challenge the individuals that I meet in my classroom and the playground everyday. I don’t teach drama. I teach humans through drama. I teach life.

And this is where we turn things around - not ‘just’ for Drama teachers, but for all teachers. Maths teachers, Kindergarten teachers, English teachers, Science teachers, Primary teachers, Music teachers, Geography teachers, History teachers, Language teachers, Early-childhood teachers and teachers of teachers. 

Imagine an educational system where we were all called 'Educators'. Educators of humans. Educators of life. A system where we all treated each other with the same value regardless of where our specialisation lies. A system where we didn’t feel we needed to apologise for what we were passionate about because it wasn’t valued by administrators or policy makers. A system where we stopped segregating each other, stopped segregating ourselves and worked collaboratively to awaken joy, life and energy in the learners we are responsible for. 

So, herein lies the question,
“To be, or not to be..." 
Will you be 'just' a teacher?

(Note: After writing this blog I feel like I need to rebrand myself as The Joy-Fueled Educator.... but hey, what's in name?)