THEME #2 – ECOLOGY
Once upon a time, I started a blog posting series called “Scientifically-Based Blog Posts.” I do hope to pick up where I left off at some point, but the reason I bring that up now is because of how much the study referenced in my first post in that series resonates with my preliminary conclusions about the role of technology integration specialists in West Virginia. In the article reporting their study, the researchers use an ecological metaphor that considers technology as an invading species. Using the example of zebra mussels in the Great Lakes, they conclude that “an ecological perspective can provide a powerful analytic framework for understanding technology uses in schools.” Furthermore, with ecosystems as the lowest level in the ecological hierarchy, Zhao and Frank establish that: (1) schools are ecosystems, (2) computer uses are living species (the “biotic” or living component of an ecosystem), (3) teachers are members of a keystone species (the most important species in an ecosystem), and (4) external educational innovations are invasions of exotic species. I think that metaphor or framework works wonderfully and makes great sense, but positing that computer uses are living species is a bit of a stretch.
The technology integration specialists, on the other hand, might very easily be considered living exotic species that invade the ecosystem dominated by keystone species (teachers). Furthering the metaphor, then, Zhao and Frank assert that the survival of the invading species is determined by two sets of factors: (1) qualities of the invading species and (2) the compatibility of those qualities with the existing environment.
The technology integration specialists each brought different backgrounds to their new positions. Variables upon which backgrounds differ include, but are not limited to: teaching experience, and experience in the school served. Without question, those characteristics were determinative of how well accepted and, ultimately, successful the TIS was in a given school. They are discussed below.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Many of the principals interviewed during the study noted a negative relationships between age and technological proficiency among the teachers. Newer teachers tended to be more facile with technology and more veteran teachers were less proficient. There were no empirical data to support those conclusions, but multiple principals asserted such a negative correlation. The TISs often suggested a similar relationship. There were certainly exceptions on either end of the spectrum, but for the most part, there was a common assumption of this negative relationship.
The TISs also ranged considerably with respect to teaching experience or experience in education. Some of the TISs were young, relatively inexperienced teachers who demonstrated technological proficiency early in their careers who were tapped for the TIS position. Others were considerably more veteran educators who had caught the technology bug and sought out the TIS position as a way to move beyond the classroom.
The TISs who were more veteran teachers frequently cited their experience in education as a badge of credibility. Teachers more newly come to the profession could accept the TIS as not just a TIS, but a mentor more generally. Also, more veteran teachers almost had to respect their colleague as a model of possibility. When asked how she approaches the teachers who are more reluctant learners, one TIS responded quickly and simply with, “I taught for 25 years!”
Where the survival of the TIS as an invading species was potentially compromised was in the case of the younger TIS working with the veteran teacher reluctant to adopt new, technologically-aided forms of pedagogy. When asked about their approaches with these teachers, the TISs used terms such as “non-threatening,” “careful” and “non-judgmental.” A few TISs spoke of their belief that one factor (of many) in the reluctance of veteran teachers to adopt technology was a fear of being embarrassed in front of the students who knew more than they did. That attitude leaks over into the relationship between a veteran teacher and a younger, less experienced TIS.
EXPERIENCE IN THE SCHOOL SERVED
Thus, considering the age and experience relationship between the teachers and the TIS is important, but where the best candidate for the TIS position is a young, dynamic educator, there may not be much to do other than to remain conscious of the issues. However, in a few instances, a relatively young TIS worked in the same school where they had worked as a classroom teacher in the year or years prior to becoming a TIS. In other words, they were working in the same school but in a new position. Where this was the case, the TIS almost always cited it as a factor working in their favor. That is, they had the benefit of having already established relationships with their colleagues and gained credibility that way, even helping to overcome differences in experience. Additionally, the TIS did not have to spend the time and emotional effort necessary to get to know the teachers as both teachers and learners. In ecological terms, the TIS is not so much an invading species as a known biotic.
At least one TIS, though, cited working in the same school but in a different position as a problem. Whereas as colleagues in the same capacity, teachers were perfectly willing and even eager to share ideas and success stories, when the TIS moved into a staff development position, the interpersonal and professional dynamic changed. Suddenly, ideas and strategies were not being shared as colleagues but in a teacher-learner dynamic. Thus, there are advantages and disadvantages to taking on a staff development position in a school in which she or he worked prior as a classroom teacher. And, like the teaching experience issue, there may not be a “better” or “worse” situation, but experience in education generally and experience within a given school are important factors to consider when assessing the likelihood of “survival” or success of the TIS.
There are other abiotic factors that determine the success of survival of the TIS as an invading species. As Zhao and Frank point out, those abiotic components might include the “[t]echnology infrastructure (network, location of computers, and availability of computer hardware and software), scheduling, the physical layout of the building, and the subjects and grades that teachers teach…” One TIS, for example, worked in a high school with a 4×4 block schedule. He spoke about how difficult it is to teach in a 90-minute block and how teachers were, therefore, eager to learn new ways to engage students.
However, as with any ecosystem, the success or survival of the invading species is mostly determined by compatibility with existing species, especially the keystone species (the teachers in this case). As one TIS stated, the key to success in the position is building relationships.
Tags: technology integration