Bit of a cheat, this one. Here is an article I wrote that was recently published in the IWA's Click magazine. I promise my next blog will be freshly written...
This is a time of great change for ICT and Computer Science teaching, in terms of both provision and framework changes. However, this transition period presents an opportunity to redefine the role ICT and Computer Science plays in the curriculum and learning culture of students. The Digital Competency Framework (DCF) paves the way for digital literacy skills to be developed and integrated across the curriculum in a seamless and natural manner. Well, that’s the official line, anyway.
ICT is a demanding subject to teach; it’s constantly evolving, and covers a wide range of disciplines. Unlike other subjects, teachers can often find their skills lacking and behind the curve on what’s being used by pupils; sentenced to being terminally un-hip. Pupils’ skills often outstrip our own; they are the keepers of the flame, which is exactly how they like it. By the time we, as teachers or parents, get wind of what the new thing is, it’s usually far too late and the horde will have moved onto the next new thing. Our window of opportunity to appear ‘with it’ has closed. ICT teachers often feel like we are chasing our own tails, and whilst that might make for a fun Vine video (some new video sharing app I just found out about, I predict a bright future for it), it is a thankless and frustrating task. Who’d be an ICT teacher, eh? But then, every teacher would make a strong and impassioned case that their subject has it even harder. Nobody knows how tough it is to teach X.
What we all have in common though is that we all must work incredibly hard to keep afloat. Hitting our targets (ours, not the pupils’ of course - education is something that pupils are passively subjected to), the massive workload, the paperwork, the marking, the planning and strategising all lead to a screwed-up work/life imbalance, high stress levels and with the profession being at an all-time low. So, what better time for the DCF to come along?
I’ve recently been appointed as the Head of ICT, Computer Science and DCF at Crickhowell High School, one of the Welsh Government’s 120 Pioneer Schools charged with overhauling the country’s curriculum and professional development provision in the wake of the Donaldson Report. To implement the DCF is a daunting task; even more so at new school. Ensuring the success of an initiative of this magnitude means leaning on, and taking advantage of, a huge amount of patience, indulgence and support from colleagues. This is a big ask of mature professional and personal relationships, but to expect it from fledgling relationships is positively rude of me. ‘You know how you put blood, sweat and tears into what you do? Well, I'm here to ask for more from you.’
The DCF is going to have a huge impact on teachers’ workload, and make them change how they practice. For some, it will mean them having to abandon their rut. We all like our ruts; they’re comfy, safe, hard-earned and we don’t give them up without a fight. We’ve all been at INSET sessions where the poor trainer is treated like a supply teacher on a rainy day. But surely, the one thing worse than having to actualise change is to be the one that’s telling you (however nicely) to change. Don’t hate the player, hate the game, son. Change is seldom easy, and even more rarely welcome. My grandmother always used to say to me, ‘If you want to make enemies, try to change something’. And whilst I never understood the relevance of it as a child, it seems apt now.
What is giving me cause for optimism is that I left a job where I had professionally stagnated, to take up a post that allows me to express myself, get my mojo back and make a difference. You know how when you’re on an interview, and you just know you want this job more than anything else? As soon as I set foot in the school, I had that feeling. The feeling only grew stronger during the interview, as it was so clear that the Headteacher and her leadership team completely get the role ICT plays in the development of pupils’ learning skills. On the first whole-school ICT policy I wrote, my vision statement included the sentence: ‘Competence in ICT is... as important as numeracy and literacy’. Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure I believed it and I took it off later drafts. When, during my interview, with utter conviction the Headteacher said to me that she saw ICT as being every bit as important as literacy and numeracy, I knew I was home.
So, how will I deliver on the promise I once wrote, which even I didn’t believe at the time? Firstly, I need to get other people to share that vision. The battle for hearts and minds begins. In every department there will be people who get it. I need like-minded people to evangelise, take risks, enthuse and inspire. Then, as a team, we’ll need to start creating moments and hooks; to manufacture those holy crap, that is so cool instances where the technology comes to life and people see ICT like I do. That’s my in. Once they’ve experienced that eureka moment, the rest will take care of itself. Then, like ripples across a pond, more and more people will be drawn in… staff, pupils and the community, and living in an educational DCF-fuelled utopia.
Well, that’s how I want to see this playing out, but Mrs Lewis didn’t raise any fools. I know not everyone will get onboard; some people, perhaps wilfully, won’t get it; not everyone will be open to the plethora of ways in which ICT is revolutionising teaching and learning. And if they don’t, well that says more about them than it does me. But, if we only do what we’ve always done, we’ll only get what we’ve always had. If you’re content with your lot in such a way, why are you still teaching?
