Of TXD: Teacher Experience Design

Education has changed.

A new trend in education has risen over the last few years: classrooms have become learner-centered; lessons are focused on the process of creating learning experiences, which should enable the learner to achieve the desired learning outcome in a human-centered and problem-solving environment. Learners are given a more empowering role in their own education: they have been given ownership of their learning.They have been fostered to unleash their creativity in a collaborative way; they have been given a space to think critically; they have been given a voice.

Empowered learners are motivated, confident, engaged, and ready to tackle whatever task they are given. We are preparing an entire generation of thinkers, makers, and go-getters. 

Have I forgotten anything...?
Oh, yes! 

The person responsible for all this to happen: the teacher.

While learners have become the center of the classroom universe, all attention has turned to them. But how about the teacher? Can we assuredly affirm that teachers have been trained for this change in education? Can we say for sure that all teachers understand and approach learning with the same perspective that learners do today?And if not, whose fault is this, really?

I have observed this change in education unfold over the past 7 years: I became a teacher at the exact time this change, of how students learn and how teachers teach, started. And as a disruptive and misbehaved student myself (no shame in assuming it), I have adopted this change as a much-needed, positive shift. As for the teacher-me, this change only represented less work, less responsibility, less pressure. I embraced this new philosophy right away. 

However, I had no teaching background to go against my newfound beliefs: I only knew how to teach in the "new" way. So, how about those experienced teachers, who have been teaching for over decades? Have they simply become "obsolete"? Can we just say that "they need to recycle their methods", and that's it?

Teachers need proper training in order to develop their own skills, before they can start teaching these very skills to students. I started observing how teachers learn: most of us struggle to remain relevant, and are constantly trying to innovate our teaching. And how do most teachers do it? They take courses, get international certifications, go back to school for masters, doctorates, post-grad courses, go to conferences, and build a large PLN, or Professional Learning Network: a group of professionals who help each other by sharing. So we can't just say that there is a lack of trying. 

Fact is: it isn't working. Why isn't it working?

Teachers go to conferences, where they all sit and listen to one speaker, usually someone with a enviable biography composed of many titles and internationally recognized certificates, talk about what they think/do/researched. The expectator-teachers take notes, sometimes they take pictures of the most relevant slides, they take a selfie at the conference, share on social media with a hashtag. 

Is this how students learn today? Is there any similarity to the "new trend in learning"? Nope, none whatsoever.

Ok, how about getting certified? This is how courses are offered in order to get these much sought out certifications: formal, traditional, "teacher-centered". Not at all appealing to a rebel such as myself.

Ok, one thing should work: PLN. Teachers create a new content for a class; it is beautiful, so this teacher decides to share with their PLN. The teacher writes a beautiful blog post/ create a nice video/ take pictures, and share. The PLN, composed of other teachers, immediate "like" it, share it, comment on it things like "Loved the idea!". But what does the teacher who thought of the idea in first place, get from sharing? A couple of likes and some comments? Is there learning in it? Reminder: PLN stands for "professional LEARNING network".

After much observing, I realized what was missing: while the whole world was looking at the learners, who was looking at the teachers? We are, after all, the ones responsible for designing the experience of learning; we are the "facilitators". Why isn't our learning and training facilitated, then?

So I came up with a response to LXD, or Learner Experience Design: the TXD, Teacher Experience Design. What does it mean? It means that we need to be as careful and meticulous about the teachers' experiences as we are with the learners'. Teachers trainers should design the teachers learning experiences in a creative and collaborative environment, where teachers can experience exactly what they are going to foster with their students. A hands-on experience with access to digital tools, problem-solving cases, and skills-oriented learning. 

As for those of us who are already on the road for a while? It is up to ourselves to make this happen: my first step will be to change the way we interact within our PLN: instead of a linear, one-sided sharing and liking, we can circulate our ideas by requesting feedback or any other evidence of how our work affected others. Then, with this fedback, it is possible for us, originators of ideas, to reflect upon them and improve.

We, teachers, should create for ourselves the ideal learning opportunities, the same way our students do: a problem-solving, skills-oriented environment,  focused on developing abilities to empower our role in "learning teaching". We should be able to learn with the use of digital tools in a creative, collaborative, innovative environment. We should be given a space to think critically; we should be given a voice.

This way, teachers can again feel motivated, confident, engaged, and ready to tackle whatever task we shall face, including the scary fact that we are training professionals to jobs that don't even exist yet. 

This is what TXD is all about.I count on you, teacher, to help me make this happen 😉