(R/D 6)
One of the big reasons I chose the field of education for my professional work is because in general, the rallying cry for education is to help students succeed in life. It has nothing to do with money. While my friends chose career paths that are in money driven fields, I was completely turned off by those types of motivations. It seems somewhat arrogant to think of educators as working for a greater cause than those who work in industries who are designed to make money, but in many ways it seems to ring true for me. So it is a little disheartening to read about Human Performance Improvement (HPI) and it's very strong ties to the business world.
With that being said, I can see how HPI can enter into the field of education. Because education is a people-driven "business", stakeholders are very much wanting to see the people (teachers, administration, support staff) perform to the best of their ability. The end result of course is that students receive the best possible education. And the stakeholders in this case are really the public which the given school district serves- who look to the administration and school board to 'run the show'.
At this point in time my understanding of the relationship between HPI and Instructional Design (ID) are somewhat foggy. -Is HPI a sub-field in ID? Or are HPI and ID separate fields? Can an instructional designer also serve as a facilitator for HPI- or are they really already doing so when going through the ID process? I guess the answers to those questions could impact my interpretation for how HPI would be integrated into my field as an elementary educator. I will take a stab at this scenario, however:
Often time classroom teachers have trouble covering their given curriculum in the time of a school year. Nearing the end of the year they are rushing to cram in as much content as possible, just for the sake of "covering it". The result is a decrease in student learning of that subject matter due to the truncated nature of the instruction. A HPI professional would be asked to come on to analyze this situation and look for solutions so that teachers can effectively organize and teach their curriculum using a pace that allows for it all to be covered in a school year and all with the same attention to student learning given.
With my knowledge of the field of HPI increasing, I would be able to do some problem solving on my own in my lesson plans, and then begin to share strategies with my colleagues. As far as this field being useful to my 4th grade students- I do know that time management and materials organization are big issues for our classroom, and there are some theories that may be adapted from work in HPI regarding those topics that can be shared with students.
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3 comments:
Brad W,
IMO (catching some of your lingo ☺) your scenario of a HPI professional is exactly what was done with our math curriculum. I question the theory put into practice in a classroom setting, however. I’m assuming it was educators who actually put the schedule together, but there was no room for deviation so I question how long it had been since they actually taught. I, and many other teachers, still fell short of the time frame based on the fact that the core group of students did not grasp the concept and we hesitated to continue. Although my district was not as stringent as others (who actually removed the books from the teacher’s possession) we were still pushed to stay on track. I understand the necessity to “cover the material”, but if it’s not being learned are we really accomplishing the task? My understandings of HPI are in the basic stages and although you were able to look at it objectively from both sides, I admit that I currently agree more with your initial paragraph.
I think it would be a great idea to have a pacing chart designed so all your objectives get covered that year.
I also am having trouble with HPI and ID, and I am one of those teachers who feel like they are craming at the end of the year.
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