My philosophical approach to teaching has undergone major paradigm shifts since I started teaching three decades ago. The development of a teaching philosophy encapsulating the attributes of an Allen Key, unlike Ingvar Kamprad, was a monumental accident. However, this doesn't degrade the value (maybe not IKEA billions) of this philosophy. So how does this philosophy correlate to an Allen Key?
The first aspect of the Allen Key that reflects this toolhardy philosophy is the shape. A regular shaped hexagon has six lines equal in length and six equal angles. This predilection for six inspired me to develop the Six Degrees of Contemplation™, the nucleus of the A.K.T.P™. My contemplations are -
communication learning styles integrated project based learning materials ownership motivation equitable relationship between teacher and learner. (I'll cover each of these contemplations in upcoming articles.)Secondly, besides being a regular shape, the Allen Key comes in different sizes. I've coined the phrase "...one tool suits all..." (as opposed to one size fits all), to explain the premise behind using the same topic and activities for a multi-levelled class (post secondary). For example, Level 1 literacy and numeracy students would write a receipt - record the items, costs and calculate overall cost, while Level 3 would record items etc, but they would also calculate discounts and GST (General Services Tax).
The interconnectedness of this shape is my third reason for using the Allen Key as the basis of my philosophy. This interconnectedness directly relates to my perspective of integrating subjects within one learning context. No one subject area stands alone outside in the real world, so why cocoon them in the educational setting.
My fourth rationale for developing this philosophy being, the Allen Key is a multifunctional tool. It's not just for erecting an IKEA kitchen, stool, chair etc, it is widely used in many other industries and areas e.g. cycling to construct and maintain bikes, or in building. This tool lends itself to a coalesce of learning and teaching elements within a given educational / schooling / training framework. Let me give you an example from my teaching - developing literacy and numeracy skills by embedding them in a vocationally related topic e.g. horticulture.
To sum up my A.K.T.P™ -
the six angles of the Allen Key represent my Six Degrees of Contemplation™ the lines, both external and internal, represent the interconnectedness of my philosophy the one tool suits all aspect, considers the use of one activity with different elements for students with varying skill levels the multiple sizes of the Allen Key, relates to the same tool being able to be used for different applications the multifunctional aspect corresponds with the integration of different subject areas into one contextualised project based learning resource and, using one tool simplifies the development and delivery of teaching materials.
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