Monday, March 23, 2009

David Warlick: Master Teacher - Master Learner

At Qatar Academy we don't just talk about 21st Century learning...we practice it (well, some of us do at least). What I mean is, the group that gathers once a month, in their own time, to discuss the future of education, so that we as educators can make sense of the changes we see around us and the changes we WANT to make happen.

Last Friday we had the privilege of
David Warlick as our special guest. David was in Qatar courtesy of Qatar Foundation who asked him to come into run a 3-day workshop for a selection of about 40 educators (some from Qatar Academy!). Spending time with David here in Qatar has been a real journey in more ways than one. David is an astute character, and has the ability to make everyone feel comfortable and values their opinion. At our 21st Century Learners session on Friday morning we decided to explore what it means to be learner, and how the concept of 'master learner' is something teachers need to take hold of in order to facilitate and exist in classrooms today.

Throughout the 3-hour session, as a group of 'Master Learners' from a range of educational backgrounds and positions (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary) we discussed the definition of a teacher, the move into being a master learner and letting go of that 'control' we all cling onto in the classroom. The concept of sharing every day, and making this sharing an essential part of how we are as educators was a core theme. The video below is the
uStream video from the first session. It goes for about 70 minutes and has some excellent gems from David and participants.
Online video chat by Ustream
Notes and resources from the session can be found on the
21C Learners wiki. Towards the end of the 3-hour session we recorded this memento in an attempt to encapsulate the main ideas: 'Master Learner - What does learning look like' where we share ideas and thoughts.


A trip to the Islamic Museum, dinner and a wander through Souq Waqif, good co
nversation and further reflection on learning finished up the day with David Warlick: adventurer, philosopher and master learner for life.


To finish this post....I encourage you to view David's photos from Doha, everyone has a story....can you guess this one?



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1 comment:

Mr Harrington said...

Well well Mr Warlick visits Qatar - excellent it looks like a great meeting - we must ask Mr W to get closer to the mic next time - I just love his voice :-)