Moving forward with our eyes wide open: a Teacherly Story with Dominic Tester
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Dominic Tester is a Deputy Principal at St. John’s College in Hamilton, New Zealand. He’s passionate about using technology to enhance students’ experiences in the classroom. Dominic started out as a geography teacher in the UK and has been an educator for the last 25 years. He worked on the UK initiative CCforG (Computer Club for Girls) to address the under-representation of women in tech-based jobs and introduced and developed the programme in his school. He envisions a future where teaching and learning is enhanced by technology and takes advantage of the opportunity technology creates for creativity, inclusion and innovation.
‘We can’t be looking back on our past to shape how we teach today; we need to move forward with our eyes wide open. Research says long-term careers are becoming a thing of the past. Students will most likely do lots of short term work with high levels of collaboration and mobility. By 2040 there will be a huge proportion of jobs that don’t exist yet. How can technology, innovation, and creativity support learning for the future? How can we make sure our students are prepared for their careers? What kind of soft skills and key competencies will the workforce need? We have to make sure our students are prepared, and technology is a strong way forward.”
Starting out as a teacher
I decided that I wanted to be a teacher during my second year of university. I was teaching lifeguarding to other students and I realized I was passionate about helping and supporting others to grow and develop. From there I developed a passion for teaching. I qualified as a geography teacher and was very fortunate to land in a position with a supportive faculty and a great school environment. They encouraged me to flourish and become myself in the classroom, which is so important. During that first year I learned that as a teacher you’re never a finished product; you have to be a lifelong learner. There’s an awful lot to grasp about teaching in terms of classroom management, pedagogy and practice. You have to constantly evolve, and you realize that so much of your job is fundamentally about developing good relationships with students.
There are so many teachers who don’t make it past four or five years and decide to go on to something else; that parallel exists in educational systems across the world. There’s an awful lot of pressure on teachers to be looking at outcomes and measuring student performance, which inherently measures their own performance. On top of that, every teacher goes into the profession to make the world a better place. As a result, they work exceptionally hard to prepare materials and develop their lessons; it’s not the nine-to-three job that it’s perceived to be. Many don’t feel they’re compensated fairly for their work, or treated fairly by the system. Trends and initiatives come around and are pushed on teachers so there’s always something new to take on. It’s intensive, and many people experience career burnout. There is a sink or swim mentality when it comes to teaching, but we need new teachers to come in and bring fresh perspectives to the classroom. Many seasoned teachers embrace change but others are entrenched in their own ideas about what pedagogy and practice looks like, which can be a barrier to their progress.
The role of technology in education
I’ve been involved with technology in education since I first started teaching. I look back on the mid 90s with a lot of fondness. There was so much excitement, and at the time we were focused on what would become digital literacy: people being competent with their use of software applications. It wasn’t until the early 2000s, as the internet opened up, that we realized how technology could shape learning opportunities for students. Technology itself was becoming a tool that was intrinsic both inside and outside of the classroom. I started by looking at the links between geography and how early technologies could support the teaching of my subject. I was early in integrating GIS (geographical information systems) in my classroom and developing opportunities for students around that. I wanted to give students authentic, industrial-strength experiences through technology, which is how I ended up becoming the head of ICT.
What I’m most interested in is how technology can enhance the student’s learning experience. Students are often the consumers of technology, but there’s huge potential for them to become creators and collaborators. Technology has also opened up a plethora of alternative assessments; we don’t need to rely solely on written word. It can empower students to develop the way they think and it has enabled them to participate in collaborative projects that will be relevant to them in their futures. Technology has given us an arsenal of tools for how we teach, plan, scaffold, and deliver teaching and learning. We don’t need to be in the same physical location for high quality learning to take place anymore. I’m exceptionally proud of my school because within a few days of lockdown we went from a traditional classroom to delivering all of the same content online; it was like flipping a switch. Learning in a digital space can be empowering for students because they can take greater control. Many of them tend to be most productive between nine to eleven in the evening and they do other things during the day.
Technology is fundamental in our industry, and if we leave it out then I believe we’re doing our students a disservice. They need certain industry skills for their futures and without adequate preparation they’re going to struggle. We need to teach them how to learn something new at the drop of a hat: how to be collaborative and flexible in their approach. They shouldn’t be scared to try something new. Fully integrating technology into the classroom means developing every student as an innovator. At the same time, curriculum needs to be leading learning. Many teachers can become blindsided by technology, putting it at the forefront rather than the underlying learning, and then it will detract from learning outcomes. Today’s students live in a world of instant gratification, so we also need to teach them patience and resilience. We need to make sure they retain sustained attitudes towards learning through a shifting landscape.
Technology and community
As educators, we are in this together. When I first started teaching, I noticed that teachers could be protective of the resources they’d created. “I put blood, sweat and tears into that worksheet — why would I give you three hours of my work?” That’s starting to change. I’ve always thought: whatever I make is for students, so if you think it will enhance your students’ learning experience, then they deserve to access it too.
Technology is fundamental to creating a sense of community among teachers so they can collaborate and share good practices. It’s so easy for teachers to become siloed. Engaging with online communities can bring a multidimensional element to the way they deliver and design content. The internet weaves a complex fabric of people who can network and collaborate, while engaging with different cultures and social stratas, which is very powerful. Teachers can fast-track themselves towards high-quality pedagogy no matter who is with them in school. They can also avoid making crucial mistakes and refine their practice as reflective practitioners, all of which is facilitated through online connections.
The wider school community is also incredibly important in the development of each student. We need to make sure there isn’t a divide between home and school, and develop a triad of relationships between the school, the parents and the students. Technology helps to fill the gaps. Long gone are the days of waiting until the end of the year to give a report. Student feedback can be gathered at the end of each topic to be incorporated into the curriculum plan for the next year. The flow of information and data from teachers to parents is more dynamic now, so parents know how the school and their individual child is performing at every stage.
Modern and successful school communities often realize the potential of technology. Celebrating student success doesn’t need to stay within the school building. We can build online art galleries for student work or livestream school performances to include the community members who might not be able to come into the building to see them. Schools can run web-conference style clinics with students, or interview parents online when it’s most convenient for everyone. They can record parent conferences and parents nights so that everyone can access them. We want our students to be lifelong learners, but technology can help make sure parents are as well.
