The power of student-driven learning: Shelley Wright at TEDxWestVancouverED

Summary

A traditional educator recounts her transformative experience in teaching, moving from a lecture-based approach to student-centered learning. After a life-changing class, she embraced pedagogies like constructivism and inquiry. She empowered her students to design their learning, leading to a project where they aimed to raise $10,000 for schools in Uganda. Through various fundraising efforts, they exceeded expectations, raising over $200,000, demonstrating the power of student passion and community support.

Takeaways

• 📚 The teacher started her career as a traditional educator, with a structured, teacher-centered classroom setup.
• 👩‍🏫 She followed the teaching methods she had experienced, where the teacher directed everything, from lesson plans to assessments.
• 🎓 The turning point in her teaching approach came during her Master's in EdTech, where she learned about student-centered learning, constructivism, and inquiry-based methods.
• 💡 One day, she decided to abandon her usual lesson plan and asked her students how they would design their ideal school, leading to a powerful and transformative class discussion.
• ✍️ The students expressed a desire for less lecturing, more collaboration, and opportunities to contribute to their learning environment.
• 🌍 Her students became passionate about making a difference, particularly when they learned about the conflicts in Uganda and wanted to support the rebuilding of schools.
• 💸 The students set an ambitious goal of raising $10,000, which quickly grew to $20,000 after learning more about the cause.
• 💪 The class faced challenges but showed determination, including hosting events like a roast beef dinner, auctions, and a benefit concert to reach their fundraising goal.
• 🔥 Despite setbacks, the students ultimately raised an astounding $228,000 thanks to community support and their own relentless efforts.
• 💖 The teacher learned to trust in her students' capabilities, and her students gained confidence, realizing they could make a real impact on the world right now, not just in the future.

Q & A

What traditional teaching methods did the speaker initially follow in their classroom?

The speaker initially followed traditional teaching methods where students sat in straight rows facing the front. The teacher directed all aspects of learning, including what was taught, how it was taught, and the assignments and exams given.

What prompted the speaker to reconsider their teaching approach?

The speaker began to reconsider their teaching approach after taking a class with Dr. Alec Kos during their Master’s Degree in EdTech and Design. This class introduced them to concepts like student-centered learning, constructivism, inquiry, and PBL (Project-Based Learning).

What was the significant change the speaker made in their classroom after learning about new pedagogical approaches?

The significant change the speaker made was to shift from a teacher-centered approach to a student-centered one. They reconfigured the classroom, allowing students to sit in a circle and discuss, with students being more involved in constructing their own learning.

How did the students react when given the opportunity to design their learning environment?

The students reacted with enthusiasm and creativity. They wrote with passion, discussing ideas about making the classroom more interactive and less focused on lectures. They suggested changes like sitting on the floor and hearing from each other.

What project did the students take on after the classroom was restructured?

The students took on a project to raise money for schools in Uganda that had been destroyed in wars. They engaged in research, planned fundraisers, and participated in a Schools for Schools competition.

What challenges did the students face during their fundraising efforts?

The students faced several challenges, including planning events like a roast beef dinner and a benefit concert, competing with a major local event (the Grey Cup), and dealing with logistical issues like a propane tank freezing during a winter barbecue.

What was the outcome of the students' fundraising project?

The students initially set a goal of raising $10,000 but later increased it to $20,000. By the end of the 45-day period, they had raised $15,000. However, with additional support from the community and a live-stream event, they ultimately raised $228,000.

What lessons did the speaker learn from this experience with their students?

The speaker learned to believe in their students' abilities and passions, and to remove obstacles that might prevent students from achieving their goals. They also realized the importance of creating a learning environment that ignites students' passions and empowers them to make a difference.

How did the students' participation in the project affect their self-belief?

The students' participation in the project significantly boosted their self-belief. They learned that they could make a real difference and that their efforts could lead to meaningful change. Their slogan became, 'We are not the future; we are right now.'

What does the speaker suggest is essential for schools to foster in students?

The speaker suggests that schools need to be places that set students' hearts on fire, allowing them to figure out what they are passionate about, pursue it, and make a difference. Schools should provide opportunities for students to exceed expectations and contribute to the world around them.

Outlines

00:00

🎓 Reflecting on Traditional Teaching Methods

The speaker, a teacher with 14 years of experience, reflects on their traditional teaching style, where students sat in rows, and the teacher dictated the lessons, schedules, and assessments. This method mirrored the way they were taught during their own education, from elementary school to university. It wasn’t until pursuing a Master's degree in educational technology and design, under Dr. Alec Kos, that the speaker began to explore alternative pedagogical approaches like student-centered learning, constructivism, and inquiry-based learning.

05:01

📝 Shifting to Student-Centered Learning

The teacher recounts a pivotal moment when they decided to abandon their lesson plan and asked the students what they would like their school to look like. To their surprise, the students responded with excitement, writing down their ideas with passion. They wanted less lecturing, more collaborative learning, and a classroom environment where they could express themselves freely. This led to a classroom reconfiguration and a realization that students were eager to make a difference, even outside traditional academic frameworks.

10:01

💡 Empowering Students to Take Action

The students expressed a strong desire to make a difference after learning about the hardships faced by children in Uganda due to war. One student found a 'Schools for Schools' competition, and without hesitation, the teacher signed them up. The students were highly motivated and decided to set a fundraising goal of $10,000. Despite the teacher’s internal doubts, the students came up with plans like ‘Change for Change,’ a jar-based fundraiser around the city. This marked the beginning of a collective student effort to raise funds for Ugandan children.

15:05

🎯 Raising the Bar to $20,000

Following an emotional encounter with children from Uganda who had benefited from the very schools they were fundraising for, the students raised their goal to $20,000. Despite the teacher's doubts, they supported the students' ambition. The students continued to push boundaries, organizing events like a roast beef dinner and auction, and involving a typically quiet student who took charge of getting auction items. This newfound determination transformed students as they took ownership of their project and responsibilities.

🎤 Overcoming Setbacks with Teamwork

The journey had its ups and downs, with successful events like the roast beef dinner raising $7,000, and a disastrous barbecue in freezing conditions. The teacher encouraged students to learn from these failures, likening them to planning a wedding—full of challenges and learning opportunities. After 45 days, the students had raised $15,000, falling short of their $20,000 goal. While the teacher felt somewhat disappointed, the students’ dedication and teamwork were undeniable, with them creating specialized teams for fundraising, PR, and more.

📻 A Community Rallies Behind the Students

In a surprising turn of events, a local DJ who had followed the students’ efforts broadcasted their story on the radio, urging people to help them reach their goal. Donations poured in, pushing their total to $119,000. Even during a live-streamed event in San Diego, the story of these students reached a wider audience, and more donations came in. Ultimately, they raised $228,000, a monumental achievement. Through this experience, both the teacher and students learned valuable lessons about believing in themselves, the kindness of strangers, and the power of collective effort.

🔥 Igniting Passion in Students

The teacher concludes by emphasizing that schools should be places where students' passions are ignited. They reflect on how students often exceed expectations when given the opportunity and the right environment. By removing obstacles and creating spaces where students can explore their passions and make a difference, teachers can foster both personal growth and community engagement. The entire experience demonstrated that students are not just the future but can make a real impact in the present.

Keywords

💡Traditional Educator

A traditional educator is a teacher who follows a conventional, teacher-centered approach to instruction. In the video, the speaker describes herself as a traditional educator, one who structured her classroom with students sitting in rows, focused on the teacher as the primary source of knowledge. This concept is important as it contrasts with her later shift toward student-centered learning.

💡Student-Centered Learning

Student-centered learning is an educational approach where students actively participate in their learning process, often by collaborating with peers and making decisions about their education. The speaker embraces this method after realizing that students could take ownership of their learning. It signifies a major shift from her traditional methods, leading to more engaging and meaningful experiences for her students.

💡Constructivism

Constructivism is an educational theory that emphasizes learning as an active process where students construct new ideas based on their prior knowledge. In the video, the speaker mentions learning about constructivism during her Master's degree, which helped her understand that students can build their own understanding of subjects through interaction and inquiry.

💡Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning is an instructional method where students learn by asking questions, investigating, and exploring topics deeply. The speaker introduced this method in her classroom by allowing students to research and design their learning activities, leading to a more engaging and exploratory environment.

💡PBL (Project-Based Learning)

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a teaching method in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. In the video, the speaker’s students took ownership of a fundraising project for Ugandan schools, which exemplifies PBL, as they learned through the process of planning and executing the project.

💡Pedagogy

Pedagogy refers to the art and science of teaching and how educational approaches are implemented. The speaker talks about how her pedagogy shifted from a traditional, teacher-centered approach to a more progressive, student-centered one after learning new concepts in her education master's program. This change in pedagogy helped her students become more active participants in their learning.

💡Empowerment

Empowerment in the educational context means giving students the tools, responsibility, and authority to take charge of their own learning. The speaker’s story illustrates student empowerment when her class set ambitious goals to raise money for a cause they cared about, leading to their surprising success in raising over $20,000.

💡Community

Community in education refers to a sense of collaboration and shared purpose among students, teachers, and others involved in the learning process. The speaker emphasizes that learning happens in community, where students support each other and work together, as seen when her students collectively decided on their goals and worked in teams to raise money.

💡Inquiry

Inquiry is a learning process driven by curiosity, where students ask questions, explore, and seek answers. The speaker used inquiry-based approaches when she allowed students to research how they could help children in Uganda, leading them to discover a meaningful way to make a difference in the world.

💡Reflection

Reflection in education refers to the process of students and educators thinking critically about their learning experiences. The speaker reflects on her journey from a traditional teacher to one who empowers students, illustrating the importance of reflection in personal and professional growth. Her reflection also leads to transformative changes in her classroom approach.

Highlights

The speaker reflects on their 14-year teaching career, initially considering themselves a traditional educator who led a structured classroom.

The speaker explains how their classroom was arranged in straight rows, with students facing the front as the teacher was always the primary source of knowledge.

They describe a turning point during their Master’s degree, where they learned about student-centered learning, constructivism, inquiry-based learning, and project-based learning (PBL).

The speaker recalls an important moment when they decided to ditch their lesson plan and asked their students how they would design their ideal school.

In response, the students shared their desire to have a more collaborative and less lecture-based classroom, where they could interact with each other and contribute to discussions.

The speaker reorganized the classroom into a circle and created learning pods, which encouraged open discussions and student participation.

The students wanted to make a difference after learning about the conflicts in Uganda and the impact on children's education. This led them to take initiative on a project to raise funds for rebuilding schools in Uganda.

One student found a competition called 'Schools for Schools,' and with the speaker’s encouragement, the class signed up to raise funds.

The class initially set a goal to raise $10,000 through various fundraising methods, including collecting change jars around the city.

Over the weekend, students met Ugandan children who had been helped by the school rebuilding efforts, inspiring them to increase their fundraising goal to $20,000.

The speaker describes how the students took on significant roles, including organizing a roast beef dinner and auction, where a normally quiet student took the lead in acquiring auction items.

Despite challenges like freezing temperatures during a barbecue event, the students remained motivated and continued their efforts.

At the end of the fundraising period, the students had raised $15,000—short of their $20,000 goal—but the speaker was proud of their achievement.

A local radio DJ learned about the students’ efforts and used his platform to rally community support, leading to a surge in donations.

In total, the students raised $228,000, far exceeding their original goal, which taught both the speaker and the students the power of community and student-driven initiatives.

The experience showed the speaker the importance of believing in students, empowering them to take control of their learning, and allowing them to make a difference in the world.

Transcripts

I've been teaching for about 14

years and for the majority of my career

I would consider myself probably a very

traditional

educator this is what my classroom

looked like for the majority of that

time my students tended to to sit in

straight rows facing the front because I

was the one who was usually

talking um I directed the show I decided

what we were learning when we were

learning it how we were going to learn

it what the assignments would be what

books we would be reading when the exam

would be and of course there would be an

exam essentially I was the master of the

universe in a very

small

domain and to be honest I taught like

that

because that's what I

knew that's the way I was taught when I

think about my elementary and my high

school career that's how I learned my

University even though I was training to

be a teacher it was largely that as

well and to be

honest it didn't occur to me that there

could be another way to do

it and so I replicated what I saw in the

classrooms of the teachers that I worked

with when I was learning to be a

teacher and it wasn't until my Master's

Degree when I was I was working on a

masters in edtech and design and I took

a class with Dr Alec Kos and that class

changed my life to be honest when I was

taking it with it it almost killed me

but it changed my life it wasn't about

technology although at the same time it

was it was about pedagogy and I started

learning about things like student

centered learning and

constructivism and inquiry and pbl and

for the first time I began to realize

that maybe my

students could

construct their learning that learning

is constructed in community and that

maybe they could be the center of it

maybe they would have something to say

about

it and so one day as I'm walking to

class I decided that I was going to

ditch my lesson plan and that was not

something I

did I am not a fly by the seat of my

parents teacher I always knew exactly

where we were going and I'm thinking as

I'm walking up to you know I have this

this kind of little Podium because I was

a science teacher so you know I was a

master of the universe with a Podium how

much better just get so I'm walking up

I'm

thinking I don't have to do this I have

a lesson I could just teach that I don't

have to do this nobody will know any

better and so as I stood at the front of

the room looking at my students I

said if you could design school to be

anything you wanted it to be what would

it look like what would it sound like

what would I hear what would it what

would I see what would it feel like what

would you be

doing and when they realized I was

serious they began to write and they

wrote and they wrote and they wrote and

they giggled and they laughed and they

chattered and they wrote with such

passion and then we began to

talk and

really although they did not say that

that was the bottom line

you know they said things quite kindly

like we don't mind that you lecture but

maybe not quite so

much and you

know can we sit on the

floor and hear what each other has to

say and so we actually reconfigured our

classroom so that we had this huge space

probably this size in the middle and

they all had these learning pause that

we created on the outside and we always

sat in a circle in our classroom so that

we could

discuss and I found out during this

process that my

students wanted to make a

difference and it turns out at the time

that they had been learning about the

Wars that had been happening in Uganda

and how children had been been enslaved

as soldiers and the schools had been

destroyed and my kids really wanted to

do

something and so I said okay well you

know what we need to we need to do some

research we need to know what we're

dealing with we need to know what would

really make an impact and so the next

day we went down to the computer lab and

we were

researching and about halfway through

the class one of my students comes

bounding down the stairs and says to

me okay I know this research thing is

like really

important but can we actually do

something and I said sure what do you

want to

do and so she starts telling me about

this thing that she had found this

schools for

schools competition and she's rattling

off all this information and now she's

telling me I bring up the web page and I

plug in our information and then

basically at the same time that she

finished his telling me all about this I

hid submit and I said okay we're signed

up and she looked looks at me and she

says

really

absolutely and so she turns around and

she starts showed to the class that

we're part of this competition and yeah

and awesome and they're all excited and

they're texting and telling people and

I'm thinking this is going to be awesome

you know we'll raise a couple thousand

dollars my kids will feel like they're

important this will be

great and so the next day we come back

to school and it was a

Friday and my students come back to

class and they say to me Mrs Wright

we have decided on a goal I said awesome

what is it we have decided that we want

to raise

$10,000 and inside my my head I'm

thinking oh my gosh do you have any idea

how much money

$10,000 is and my outside voice said

that's

awesome how do you propose we do that

and they're like oh there's this thing

called change for Change and basically

you make all these you know change jars

and you put them around the city and

people can put change in them and you

can raise money and you have to realize

I'm from moose jce gatchan that has a

grand total with you know probably if

you included all of our cats 35,000

people so you're going to need a lot of

change jars to raise

$10,000 but I'm like okay that sounds

like a terrific start so they start

planning and it was great and then we

left for the

weekend and the thing about

learning when it's

something that your students have

decided to do is it doesn't stay in the

walls of your classroom it takes on a

life of its own and you don't

necessarily control it

anymore and it just so happened that

that weekend at a dropin center in

mustra that there were kids

from

Uganda who had gone to the

schools that had been rebuilt by this

organization and my kids heard

them and heard how their lives had been

changed and they met them and they

talked to them and my kids were deeply

impacted and so unbeknownst to me all of

this happened on the weekend and they

came back Monday and they said to Mrs W

and they told me the whole story and

they said we've decided to change our

goal I'm thinking we ain't going lower

are

we and they said we have decided we are

going to raise

20,000 and in my head I'm thinking oh my

gosh where I come from that's a down

payment on a house like you have no idea

how much money that is and I think that

was the Brilliance behind it to be

honest I think if it was adult we would

have struck a committee and we'd still

be there figuring out how to make this

happen and we wouldn't have raised a

scent but kids aren't like

that and I said okay well

$20,000 how do you propose we do

that and that began the roller coaster

of the next 45 days because that's how

long we had to raise this money

so we had the change for chain of JS and

then you know we decided Well you know

how about we have a roast beef dinner in

an

auction and so they began planning all

that we called a caterer they started

you know doing all the details for that

it turns out that the kid who went

around the city to get every auction

item was a kid who never spoke in

class and to me that was shocking this

was so far out of his comfort zone but

it was something he deeply believed in

that he decided to do it and so there

were these high moments like you know

the roast beef dinner where we raised

$7,000 in one evening and there were

times where it's like okay we can do

this we can do this we can do this and

then we planned a benefit concert and we

were going to you know we had all these

musicians lined up and it was on a

Sunday at the end of

November on the same same day and year

that the Riders made it into the gray

cup no benefit

concert scatch when that's a really big

deal and so it's like okay well how do

we compensate for that okay well how

about we hold a barbecue and we did at

the beginning of beginning of December

on a day when it was 40

below and it turns out that the barbecue

are stored outside and that if you do

that the propane tanks will

freeze and so we had half a barbecue to

barbecue 300 hamburgers and hot dogs and

it was a nightmare from beginning to end

and partway through one of my students

looked at me and she's like oh this

great this is so terrible everything's

falling apart you know we have to figure

out how to fix this and I looked at her

and I said have you ever planned a

wedding I said trust me you're going to

need these

skills and

so at the end of 45

days was a

Friday our

total was $15,000 in

change and I thought it's not bad I mean

we had about 25 kids it was more than

their first goal we didn't create reach

a second goal and to be honest I was

somewhat dis

disappointed but I left class thinking

we did a good

thing but the truth is the story wasn't

over because during that time my kids

had actually split up into teams they

just created them themselves we had a

finance team we had a PR team we had you

know fundraising teams and I would

literally walk into class and say so

what are we doing today and they would

tell

me

some of the kids who had done the pr had

been interviewed by the radio station

numerous times and the DJ there knew

what my kids were trying to do in their

goal and so he went on to their web page

that day that showed our total and he

knew their goal was

$20,000 and so that afternoon he got on

the radio and began asking people to

donate to help my kids reach their

goal and the crazy thing is is people

did by 6:00 we were sitting at

$119,000 and there was a live stream

wrap-up party that was being held in San

Diego by the organization that was doing

this and you know they saw this little

city of Moosejaw shoot out of nowhere to

have

$199,000 and through social media they

were actually able to get a hold of two

of my

students and my kids told them what our

goal is

$20,000 and so the people at the live

stream party got on the live stream and

asked people to donate to help my kids

reach their

goal and the crazy thing is people

did and so by the end of it my students

had raised

$228 American

at a time when we were not on par we

lost almost 10 cents for every dollar we

raised that day I learned to believe in

my

students to believe in what really

deeply matters to them and to remove

whatever obstacles I can to try to make

that

happen

more importantly my students learned to

believe into themselves they learned

that they can make a difference they had

a saying the entire 45 days we are not

the future we are right

now and my students learned that there's

a world out there so much bigger than

them that cares about the things that

they care about and the kindness of

strangers to help them

meet a goal that they deeply deeply

wanted our schools need to be places

that set our kids' Hearts on Fire that

they can figure out what they are

passionate about where we give them

opportunities to pursue it and that we

can give them a place to make a

difference

now one of the things that I've learned

over and over from doing this kind of

stuff with my students is that our

students will often exceed our

expectations of them if we only give

them the

opportunity thank

you