Teacher are designers
As a Career and Technical Education (CTE) educator in Cosmetology, I have always believed that I was a designer, because that's what hairstylists' do: We bring the thought into action.As an educator, I am learning that teaching the theory and practical portion of Cosmetology is a whole new experience, and that it's not about the steps to create a look but the process or designing the lesson through my learners eyes, and to help them solve the guests needs.
When I first started teaching in 1988, I used an overhead projector for my lectures and I thought I was using the latest and greatest, because I could use the notes over and over and not have to erase when the board was full: Have times and technology changed!!!
- The purpose of educators for the 21st century is to help all learners reach their full potential, including ELL and special need learners.
- As educators we need to help our leaners reach their full potential.
- Todays job market requires the four Cs:
- Critical thinking & Problem solving
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creativity & Innovation
- Learners for the 21st century need to be able to interact with people from many linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
- We as educators need to prepare our learners for college, career and life, by mastering the content.
For CTE, this is not new. This is how we teach our learners because we are teaching them the "real world" depending on our subject matter. We've been teaching the 4 Cs for as long as I can remember. It's nice to see that education is evolving, and noticing that when you put practical application to use the learners are more involved.
"We bring the thought into action."--I am reminded of our program's tagline, "Thinking Differently Made Visible." As a PHD and designer, you make thinking visible by considering guests/students' needs to involve them in the creation/learning process.
ReplyDelete"It's not about the steps...but the process"--if steps involve planning, does process involve design? I thought of that contrast when I read this quote.
I agree the 4 C's have always been a huge part of cosmetology. Those to me are some of the biggest parts of the job. I'd love to hear some of ways you are incorporating technology into your classroom!
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on when you said we are teaching students the real world. It is an enormous task but we as educators has to devise a plan to prepare our students for life.
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