Section 5 Trends and Issues in Various Settings

I teach kindergarten so I would definitely fall in the P-12 category.  While reading the section on P-12 educational change, I found the explanations of the different types of change very helpful.  I now understand the difference between piecemeal and systemic change and how it applies to education.  I also understand that it the process of change and not the product that needs attention.  I think we must do what we can to stress the importance of ecological systemic change to our administration in order to get the school system where it needs to be.

While reading about instructional design opportunities in military education and training environments, I felt like I could really identify with the delivery environment section.  It mentioned that training is always center stage for members of the military.  I certainly think that teaching is that way as well! I feel like I am always being trained for something new! The difference is that members of the military must be trained where they are, whether they are in a classroom or deployed somewhere.  I think that if administration gave teachers more options on the delivery environment of trainings we might get more out of it.  I am often uncomfortable sitting all day in a workshop but I took several online trainings this summer sitting on my couch and learned as much, if not more, than I would have if I had to sit in a training room somewhere. 

 

 

In health care education, whether learning from a problem based program or evidence based, certain things pertaining to dealing with patients must be learned.  I found that I could really relate to the section on altruism and professionalism.  Medical practitioners are much like teachers in the way that they deal with people.  Medical practitioners and teachers both require open lines of communication to help build trust and great interpersonal skills.  Medical students are sometimes required to diagnose hired actors that are trained to mimic varied diseases and conditions.  It would be interesting to see how something similar for teachers would work. 

 

During my reading about instructional design in business and industry, I found the success factors of a project very interesting. Klimczak and Wedman found that the two most important factors for a successful program were training strategies and tangible resources. While trainers felt that implementation support was relatively important, instructional designers felt it was least important. Their roles were the sole reason for the difference in opinion. As an educator, I fill both of the roles in a lot of ways. Just as an instructional designer should, this section reminded me that when planning (for myself or my team), I should also make sure to consider how it will be implemented. That directly affects the success of the project.

I found many things that I could identify with in the higher learning chapter.  It seems that, much like me and my colleagues, these people who work in higher education feel the pressure to get things done! As I was reading the section by Byron Howard, I felt the pressure that he was under and his comment about often taking on too much really hit home! I think that we all stretch ourselves thin at times trying to better ourselves and our students.  We have to remember that what we push ourselves to do and what we accomplish offers us the greatest reward, being appreciated and valued by our students and colleagues.