For the past several weeks, in CEP 812, we have been working on collaborative group projects pertaining to wicked problems of practice. We learned in the first week of class that there are wicked problems in education that are unsolvable because “wicked problems, in contrast to tame problems (such as those in mathematics, chess etc.) have incomplete, changing and contradictory requirements. Solutions to wicked problems are often difficult to realize (or maybe even recognize) because of complex interdependencies among a large number of contextually bound variables (Koehler & Mishra, 2008, pp. 10-11). Therefore, using the thoughts and feelings from the 2013 NMC Horizon Project Summit Communique, on the future of education, each CEP 812 group had to choose one challenging wicked problem to tackle in hopes of presenting ways to solve that idea in education today.
My group was presented with the challenging problem of Rethink teaching thus “rethink what it means to teach, and reinvent everything about teaching” (New Media Consortium, 2013). So, we spent a good deal of time brainstorming and discussing via Google Hangouts and Google documents how to address this issue in education. After discussing and researching our topic, we developed the notion that in order to Rethink teaching, there must be 5 essential qualities inhibited by all teachers that make them capable of handling all of the wicked changes at the classroom, university, and policy levels.
The 5 Universal Qualities of Good Teaching
Teachers must be:
- Adaptable and flexible to all the changes and reforms presented to them on a daily basis.
- Student centered. Students should be our number one priority.
- Collaborative with those around them, having a willingness to work and share ideas with others.
- Lifelong learners. Teachers must be willing to grow and develop, with the changes around them, and implement new resources, technologies, and content into their teaching.
- Able to connect with their students academically and emotionally. They must be able to build significant relationships within and out of their classrooms.
“Without these 5 [universal] qualities, teaching itself becomes a wicked problem.” -Robin Seniura
Here is a culmination of my groups’ discussions, research, and work presented through a curating tool called Blendspace. In this curation you will find a multi-media mash-up, a white paper, an info-graphic, a link to our brainstorming space, and a reference list all addressing our topic.
What do you think about our attempt to solve (subjectively finding the best bad idea to) the wicked and ever changing problem of Rethink Teaching?
References
Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2008). Introducing TPCK. In AACTE Committee on Innovation and Technology (Ed.),Handbook of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPCK) (pp. 3–29). New York: Routledge.
New Media Consortium (2013). The Future of Education, The 2013 NMC Horizon Project Summit Communique. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-Horizon-Project-Summit-Communique.pdf
Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) at Michigan State University 
I really liked your group’s approach to “solving” the Rethink Teaching problem. With your five universal qualities of good teaching you made this wicked problem appear more manageable and realistic. Rethink teaching doesn’t require an entire overhaul of the profession, but renewed focus on qualities all teachers should be working to have anyway, with TPACK considered.
Comments about the specific parts of your project:
White Paper- Very well organized and researched. Your group described each of the 5 qualities separately, defining each one, and providing research to back them up. However, I felt like there could have been a little more detail on these five qualities and what they look like in the classroom. Maybe another sentence in some paragraphs giving a specific example or idea.
Video Mashup- Your video flowed very well and you did a greta job cutting between your Google Hangout discussion of the 5 qualities and pictures and words describing why these qualities are important. It had an inspirational feel and a positive outlook on how to rethink and improve teaching. Great music choice too! If possible, you might want to add some images of resources or notes you used to put together your solutions. The video focused more on the final ideas and less on the process it took to choose these ideas and learn about them, which was in the project requirements.
Infographic- I really liked how you gave examples of each part of TPACK for each of your five qualities. Specific examples like that really help me see how I can apply your ideas in my classroom. The organization of your image was very well done, show how the five qualities together with TPACK come together to combat the problems of the teaching profession, which you showed on the outside of the diagram. I liked the danger symbols and the intersecting circles. Very visually effective.
I hope my comments are helpful! Good luck!