I have been thinking a lot about the “traditional” model of school and how people actually learn. If done the wrong way, school can actually go against what is needed for learning. There are a lot of schools and classrooms that are doing amazing jobs at really promoting there students become learners as opposed to learning stuff.
Here are some of the ways where school and learning can become divergent.
School promotes starting by looking for answers. Learning promotes starting with questions.
School is about consuming. Learning is about creating.
School is about finding information on something prescribed for you. Learning is about exploring your passions and interests.
Schools teaches compliance. Learning is about challenging perceived norms.
School is scheduled at certain times. Learning can happen any time, all of the time.
School often isolates. Learning is often social.
School is standardized. Learning is personal.
School teaches us to obtain information from certain people. Learning promotes that everyone is a teacher, and everyone is a learner.
School is about giving you information. Learning is about making your own connections.
School is sequential. Learning is random and non-linear.
School promotes surface-level thinking. Learning is about deep exploration.
I know that the statements above are not 100% true on either side of the spectrum, but what if you combined the statements to make something new? Would schools become a place that is truly developing learners that are flexible and agile in a world that is constantly changing? For example, take the statement:
School promotes starting by looking for answers. Learning promotes starting with questions.
… and change it to this:
School promotes developing your own questions and finding answers.
What would school look like if we really focused on developing our own statements that focus on the power of developing learners? I would love your thoughts on this.
Update:
Here is an image that Sylvia Duckworth created to correspond with the post.
