Learning-Literacy

Over the years, I have followed many great thinkers in the realm of Education. One of those great thinkers is David Warlick. It is sad to me that he is "retiring" from the Education Consulting business. Don't worry, he mentions on his blog that it just means he won't be writing/speaking as often as he has in the past. I enjoyed reading his latest post on Learning-Literacy. Think about that a minute. There is a literacy to learning. I have always been a fan of teachers being "chief learners" in their classrooms. I will never forget one teacher who mentioned to me after a professional development experience that the biggest thing he gained from it was the fact he would have to be always learning. Wow! I took that as a huge success.

In Warlick's blog post, Schools that Practice Learning-Literacy, he mentions several indicators that characterize schools that practice learning-literacy. Some of the indicators like the lines between teacher and learner are blurred and reliance on learning taking precedence over reliance on textbooks might be indicators you would expect. One of the indicators Warlick mentions is "The library magnifies the world outside, but also reflects the culture inside, curating collections of learner-produced media products." I love the idea of libraries curating collections of learner-produced media products. One of the emphases during my K-12 education career has been to give students a sense of audience and purpose that goes beyond the classroom and the teacher. A good way to curate these student produced projects has been a challenge for a lot of teachers. What if part of the school media center transformation was to have a system for doing just that? Take a look at Warlick's indicators and let us know, how does your school measure up?