PODCAST, EPISODE 6: PREPARING CHILDREN FOR A TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD
Mrs Tracy Donnachie & Mrs Janet Barry
What is the age-appropriate approach to technology in a Waldorf school?
In a Waldorf school all content is introduced at the appropriate time in a child’s life. Preparing our students for responsible, healthy technology engagement is a critical curriculum component in preparation for navigating the world.
We start to engage directly with technology when the children are 14 years old – at the right moments, when technology will enhance their learning through engagement, for example with learning to touch type, a skill that is unbelievably useful. 14-year-olds in our school also work on scratch (an application of block-based programming) which teaches logical thinking. They learn what a computer is and how to connect it, how to edit a Word document and basic web design. In Class 9 at age 15 we expose them to things like RoboMinds and basic programming concepts. In Class 10 we introduce Information technology and CAT content. Class 9s are doing a main lesson in robotics. We wait to engage with technology until this age because this is when the students are capable of thinking in so many different ways, as they have had exposure to a variety of experiences and their brains have been nurtured and developed through our varied curriculum which includes work with their hands and movement and speech and art. We have nurtured their critical thinking, creativity, and adaptability before we introduce technology.
So how then does Waldorf education integrate technology into the curriculum?
It is a slow tech, not a no-tech approach. We make an important distinction between active and passive media consumption, and take the long view of tech education. We see our job as preparing students with a well-rounded foundation for lifelong learning, allowing them to finish school as socially responsible, free thinkers with strong creative and critical reasoning skills. Research shows that the more complex a person’s neural network, the better able he is to make creative associations, think in non-traditional ways, and to develop discernment and critical thinking.
How do we preserve children’s wellbeing during this day and age?
Those who use technology for entertainment and learning early on are limited in their imagination, and sensory and motor development. Their bodies have been bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulation and they can easily become hard-wired for high speed. The net result of this is that today’s young are entering school struggling with self-regulation and attention skills which are necessary for learning, and they are bringing behavioural management problems into the classrooms. The four critical factors necessary to achieve healthy child development are movement, touch, human connection, and exposure to nature. Further research on those children exposed early on to technology indicates that whilst the systems developed by these four things are under-stimulated, the visual and auditory systems are in overload. Children do not know that what they are watching is not real, and it often results in a state of stress.
What is Waldorf’s approach to introducing technology into the classroom?
We believe that technology must serve the classroom experience, not lead it. We know that engagement in learning comes from a relationship with a teacher and in finding meaning in what you are learning. The technology is not ‘the thing’, the education is ‘the thing’. Technological literacy can be mastered quickly when the students have the developmental maturity to know how, why, and when to use technology as a tool. It is not an either/or choice. It’s a matter of choosing the right thing at the right time. The passivity that can arise from meeting the world through a screen must be countered by a passion for real experiences and the courage to take action.
Our Alumni are capable of working on the cutting edge of innovation by applying their capacities for critical thinking and problem solving to the possibilities that tech affords us. They are just as likely to hold roles in leading tech companies as in any other field. Business leaders around the world are saying that young people of today are missing the empathy gene, that ability to look someone in the eye, to communicate face to face – that’s gold today!
The most important thing is that school and everything related to education must relate to life in the fullest sense. Today’s children will face modern challenges such as cyberbullying, internet addiction, violations of privacy, online fraud, and many others. An awareness of how personal interactions and experiences of the world are shifting to virtual forms can shape a teacher’s efforts to guide social situations and create community. The aim of Waldorf schools is to raise free human beings who can direct their own lives.
What is our responsibility as teachers, knowing what our children need?
As schools and teachers, our responsibility is to do what’s best for our students and we need to realise that using technology in a classroom is less of a choice and more of a responsibility.
We aim to teach students by using technology, not to use technology to teach students.
