Know Your Audience

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Not every artist would say she needs to know her audience. The purpose and form of the art probably makes a difference. I remember reading a recent interview in Rolling Stone with Bob Dylan.  He said something to the effect he never wrote for anyone other than himself. Some artists can get away with it.

But I remember how valuable the question of audience was when I was making games or helping other game designers. Any problem or uncertainty throughout the design process was immediately put in focus when we came back to who the game was for. On the other hand, confusion resulted when the vision of the target audience was poorly defined.

I see a similar problem in school. When teaching like artist, who is the audience? I'd think the obvious answer is the students. In a sense, we'd like to perform for them--to share and connect--in hopes of inspiring them. They are the ones coming in daily, seeing our work and walking away with something of value.

But all too often school loses focus because we are bringing the students along on a different show planned for someone else. It feels like we're putting on a performance for the state--a play practiced for months and months, shown to a faceless crowd in hopes of a good review. And then there's another big show next year.

We practice for a vaguely defined employer. Day after day we rehearse our lines. The best students, even in elementary school, know they're getting ready for this person they might meet more than a decade down the road. They answer questions about why with memorized responses--"Math is most important because you use it in any job." The heart wins out, though, and study time is easily overtaken by the endless stream of more interesting options.

I see students going through the motions for so long they forget what they're really doing it for. Learning turns into routine. Check off the list for the minimal requirements and get the credit.

What if the teacher modeled a passion for life and learning that inspired the students to do the same? Is it too idealistic to think students could care so much about their work, and that the teacher designed it so skillfully, that they learn what they need to along the way? Maybe those big tests, important as they are in the process, could be more like an art show where the public sees one presentation of all those individual works.

To be sure, school is multifaceted. It takes most of a year to get through. For the teacher acting as an artist, there is enough opportunity to have more than one performance or reason for performing. There will always be those days when it looks like a rehearsal, with everyone practicing for that faceless audience. But it gets boring for the students when school done that way wears on and on.

Standards matter and the tests have their place. Obviously we are there partly to prepare the students for the world of work. But those things are not enough. We know this because we know so many students sum up the second half of their time in school with something equivalent to the word "boring". Somewhere around fifth grade, little by little, we stop reaching the intended audience. Then eventually many of them stop coming to the show.

This happens whenever we let the standards and pacing guides become an excuse to we can dodge the real work of our art.

On the other hand, we know there are teachers getting the job done and infusing some life into the system at the same time. None of them say it's easy. I never hear a hard working teacher say the pay is worth it or that the principal gave them enough time to complete the project. They just follow their vision, develop their talents and and play off the energy of the crowd.

No Wonder the Students Are Bored

I heard a podcast one time that cited a survey of high school students.  The one word they used most to describe school was "boring".  I did a similar survey in my own district and the results were the same.  I wasn't surprised, of course, but I haven't been able to forget that over the past year and a half.  I'm always on the lookout for causes to the problem and things we can do to solve it.

For a contrasting picture, I was extremely impressed with the student engagement I saw during the animation project I did with the high school Mythology class.  I was thinking about this a lot, how creative projects can result in so much life and passion in the classroom.  The young minds are charged with possibilities and excitement.

I made the graphic below to put the two visions side by side.  It was kind of funny (in a sense) when I first thought of the goal when taking a standardized test--get all the dots in the same place as the one answer key.  And when completed it doesn't even have information on it that is meaningful to a human being.  Just dots!  Of course, we have writing portions on the tests, but we were informed recently that in Michigan that portion will also be scored by a computer, just like the dots.  A lot remains be seen on that and more could be said, but for now...

I'm not against standardized tests.  We need the data.  When they get too much of the focus in schools, though, it's no wonder to me the classrooms have the life sucked out of them.  On the other hand, a classroom full of excitement and possibilities also fosters learning.  Those students get an enjoyable experience and they still can figure out where to put the dots.

Standardized Tests and Teacher Accountability

I was talking with a friend recently and I learned that he's now writing programs and managing the data from our state's standardized tests.  He's not one of the people analyzing the data, but he is very knowledgeable about the entire process.  He probably hasn't been in a public school classroom in over 20 years, but he can speak volumes about the picture we get from the tests.  He's big on holding teachers accountable and I would not argue with that.

However, as we talked I realized that he is only thinking of education from the view of the tests.  That's understandable given his job, but I hoped he'd give it more consideration.  I reminded him that when testing, the students work alone.  They cannot talk and they have very limited access to technology.  That's great for looking at part of what they have gained from education.  However, how many of their future work environments will resemble that testing environment?

He obviously had not considered that.  If he hadn't, how many others see the published test scores and think no further of what they indicate?

I think it was Kevin Honeycutt who pointed out a good quarterback does not throw the ball where the catcher is (and certainly not where he was) but instead, he will throw it to where the catcher will be.

When we talk about how well teachers are doing their jobs, let's think about where the students will be five and ten years from now.  Certainly we need to consider the standardized tests as we make necessary decisions.  But let's remember they can only provide a limited view.  If that view gets all the attention in the decisions involving money then innovative educators will lose opportunities to fully prepare their students.