PREPARING TEACHERS
FUTURE EDUCATOR ROLES DEMAND NEW APPROACHES TO PREPARATION Katherine Prince
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here’s no question that education is changing. Students have increased opportunities to learn any time, in school, throughout the community and on the web. There is growing interest in learning through virtual reality, digital games and social media platforms. Stakeholders are placing more importance on immediate student-level data to help adjust learning in real-time. Students are able to earn credit by volunteering throughout their communities. And competency-based and project-based learning are on the rise throughout more and more classrooms. As learning continues to change and adapt to the times, educator roles will need to adapt to expanded learning environments in which students learn in new ways. The sector will need to create and fill jobs that focus on tracking competencies and verifying credentials to ensure students are succeeding in rigorous learning environments. More jobs will need to focus on data
privacy and analysis. Other roles will need to help students and parents develop learning goals while navigating educational experiences in and out of the school building. With this potential, we need to take a close look at what kinds of roles we need and want for the future. Having more differentiated roles promises to expand possibilities for individual learners and provide unique professional opportunities for educators and leaders. IMAGINE THAT THE YEAR IS 2032. Imagine that you want to develop your career or help a friend enter the education field. You may or may not have a background working in a traditional K-12 school. Even if you do, you may crave new career development pathways… Besides, learning looks pretty different than it did back in 2016. A larger variety of organizations are contributing. Students might learn primarily from one brick-and-mortar school, but they could also learn in other place-based settings such as museums,
libraries, science centers, and sports venues. They might engage in multimedia experiences that draw upon not just the web, but also augmented reality, virtual reality and social platforms. Even if they are affiliated with a school, its structure is likely more fluid than was the norm in 2016. Curriculum has also changed. Learners commonly pursue customized learning pathways that meet their needs, interests, and goals. As they do so, they work with a wide range of educators and other learning partners. You might think of it as each learner having a “learning pit crew” of caring adults, peers, and digital assistants that respond to immediate needs while also optimizing for long-term success. AN EXPANDING LEARNING ECOSYSTEM This scenario might feel exciting, destabilizing, or daunting. We can’t know whether it will come to pass, but, trends shaping the future of learning suggest that it is plausible.
Throughout these few years, we have considered what kinds of educator roles might contribute to more flexible and rigorous learning environments in 10 years. Education stakeholders need to consider what they want the future of learning to look like and how to staff it. FUTURE EDUCATOR ROLES Here are eight potential roles to help guide that exploration: • Learning Journey Mentor – Guides
learners in working through their learning experiences and helping them execute their learning pathways. This role is closest to that of today’s typical classroom teacher.
• Learning Pathway Designer– Works
with students, parents, and Learning Journey Mentors to set learning goals, track students’ progress and pacing, and model potential sequences of activities that support learning experiences aligned with competencies.
WINTER 2022 | SOUTHEAST EDUCATION NETWORK | 23
