Reflections on a School Tour

I recently had the opportunity to escort an executive director of secondary education through multiple high school and middle school programs. This executive director, comparable to what most districts call assistant superintendent, set aside hours for the tour. I learned a lot and would like to reflect on the school tour by focusing on three specific things.

First, it appeared as if not a whole lot has changed between classrooms of today and classrooms of twenty-five years ago when I taught or even fifty years ago. I saw the teacher sitting behind her desk speaking to a full class of students. In another classroom, my host pointed out that the teacher only called on students who had raised their hands. My host explained that teaching in this way left too many students who were not compelled to participate in the class. Unlike decades ago, most students were engaged. This was helped by the use of personal technology.

They were not learning about math and science in this classroom.
They were learning to use it.

Second, using math and science is a lot more fun than learning about it, and in order to use it effectively, one still has to learn it. We walked into one classroom in which I misheard the student greeter say it was STEMification, a very cool name, I thought. It turns out the class is called STEM Applications. Regardless of the title, the class was overflowing with passion. I was excited just watching the excitement in the class. A couple of students wanted to show me devices that they had built in which small marbles moved along cardboard tracks that defied gravity. They had used mathematical and physics principles to build these contraptions. Even the teacher was clearly excited by the project. Other students in the class showed me drawings of layouts for rooms that they drew with a bird’s-eye perspective. They were able to tell me how they used math in their work. The smiles on the students’ faces were fantastic. They were not just learning about math and science in this classroom—they were learning to use it.

Third, senior district leadership has visions for effective schooling. My host explained to me that he and other members of the district’s senior leadership team were participating in a long discussion on the ideal nature of teaching and learning within the district. My host thought aloud that the teaching principles from this STEM Applications course (having students use content information for practical purposes) should not be isolated to an electives course. Of course, for this to occur, teachers will need resources that assist them in transferring their work from teaching about a subject area to enabling students to use the content from a subject area to do real things—a very complicated and significant difference.

Reflecting on the tour, I recognized the important role my company, A Pass Educational Group, plays in education. We partner with school districts to support their vision for teaching and learning. This vision, often spearheaded by district administrators, requires effective implementation, which is facilitated by excellent curriculum and high-quality instructional resources. While teachers are ultimately responsible for implementation, A Pass provides the tools and support to make this transition successful. This collaborative partnership is essential for achieving meaningful educational outcomes.