Reenvisioning The Teacher As A Maker: 9 Roles For The Teacher That Leads

by TeachThought Staff

Jackie Gerstein’s User Generated Education is a favorite of ours, with her ideas on self-directed learning, connectivity, experiential learning, and other strands of progressive teaching and learning very much in aligned with our own thoughts on what a modern learning experience should look like.

At the core of Gerstein’s thinking is the idea of making–hands on creation of compelling stuff that reflects what’s important to students. She even wrote a book on this idea, The Educator as a Maker Educator. Among the ideas offered up in the book is exactly what you might expect from the title–reenvisioning the role of the teacher, this time as a ‘maker educator.’

And this doesn’t necessarily mean actual ‘making’ and crafting of woodworking, design of robotics, creation of 3D printed widgets and the like, but rather making a learning experience–creating the conditions necessary for learning. This would be a teacher that, rather than distributing content and assessing, actually leads the learning experience from ground-zero.

Gerstein sees 9 roles in pursuit of this idea, which can be seen in the graphic, and are itemized below. Check out the book and let us know what you think.

9 Roles For The Teacher That Leads

1. Process Facilitator

for producing, assessing, developing, creating, revisiting, revising

2. Lead Learner

for modeling learning in terms of process, mindset, and thought

3. Safe Environment Manager

creating environments where learners feel free to take risks

4. Relationship Enabler & Builder

for face-to-face, online PLNs, and mentors

5. Technology Tutor

to help students navigate technology to accomplish learning goals

6. Tour Guide Of Learning Possibilities

to help students understand what’s possible in learning–in the classroom and beyond

7. Facilitator Feedback

to help students understand what they know and how well they do and don’t know it to know what and how to learn next

8. Normalizer

of an ambiguous problem finding and solving; framer of ‘failure as iterative’

9. Resource Suggester

and provider for learning and the transfer of what’s been learned

9 Roles For The Teacher That Leads