The idea of Partnering for learning, as put forth by Marc Prensky, in his book Digital Natives, is one whose time has come. I believe that partnering for learning is a very viable option and totally realistic. Although the role of the teacher would change dramatically; for some, the benefits outweigh the challenges. Partnering would allow the teacher to differentiate instruction, increase time for processing and reflection, and promote the idea of the students taking on more of the responsibility for learning. At its very best, partnering would improve student engaged time, create opportunities for in depth content exploration and allow students' to feed their passions. As a teacher leader, promoting partnering would first require me to be a role model and use technology as a collaborative tool and it would necessitate embedded staff development.
Even with high stakes testing taking over the country, I think there is a great need for teachers to provide information at the knowledge level and then move on to higher levels of blooms taxonomy. Only when this happens at all levels, will students come armed with the tools needed to attack state tests with a purpose. A focus on process and higher level thinking will serve them well in the testing process and may provide surprising results!
