Project-Based Learning, #4
I am convinced that the very best schools ask the right question, “How Is Each Child Intelligent?” Moreover, the educators in these schools follow through by allowing students more control over what they are learning.
Very often, this means project-based learning, where teams of students work together to create–not spit back–knowledge. You can find the first three parts of this series here, here, and here.
In these schools, it is the students–not the teachers–who are the workers, and the work they are doing is meaningful. What they actually do–their ‘product’–depends upon their ages and stages, but the concept doesn’t change.
And what about the teachers? In these schools, they are conductors, directors, supervisors, guides or docents. This observation flies in the face of conventional wisdom, which holds that teachers are workers whose job is to produce capable students. That antiquated thinking is further bastardized when ‘capable’ is defined by test scores, until we end up believing, “The work of teachers is to raise student test scores.” No, no, and no!
Here are two examples of outstanding project-based teaching and learning that I came to know first-hand when I was reporting: A 12th grade science class in a public high school in Philadelphia, and a journalism class at Palo Alto (CA) High School.
The Philadelphia 12th graders were serious workers. Their 2-part assignment was CONTINUE READING: Project-Based Learning, #4 | The Merrow Report