We teach kids for the now.
Sure, we must prepare them for what will be coming up in their lives. I know that knowledge builds upon knowledge and all that. But, I'm talking about the idea that students must learn for themselves in the now. Like right now.
John Spencer wrote a short, sobering post a few days ago that riled up an itch in me that I haven't been able to scratch yet. <buttkissing>If you're not familiar with John's writing, please go check him out. He's great. Really.</buttkissing>
His post made me think about how often we throw around the idea of the "real world" in learning. We want to write real world examples into our lesson plans and have our students solve real world problems. We want to prepare our students for the real world. The funny thing is, the classroom is the real world. We are in it right now, and so are our students.
We can't only teach them things to use in the real world future tense. We must teach them things to use in the real world present tense. We are the real world. This is the real world.
Like I said in my comment on his post, I hate when teachers say "We're doing this because you'll need it next year." If they need it next year, then shouldn't they learn it next year? I hope that learning can be for learning's sake here in the moment.
What do our students need to know now? Right now. What has their interest? What has hooks in them? Let's start with that.
School is not some insidious step ladder that kids climb one rung at a time, hoping to get to the top as quickly as possible for some vast landscape of knowledge and skills that they can finally use. The real world is not the top of the ladder. The real world is the ladder. Our classrooms get to be in every inch of every rung.
School is the real world. And school is now.
Photo: Dave Dugdale
Thanks for the kind words about my blog.
ReplyDeleteI really liked it when you said that if they need to know it for next year then shouldn't they learn it next year? I remember one year feeling pressured to "get my 3rd graders ready for 4th grade" when a parent told me to focus on the now and let my students get everything they could out of third. This has stuck with me.
ReplyDeleteOn step-up day (our last day od school) I asked my students what they learned from their 4th grade teacher. One of them said that they were told that they were going to get ready for fifth grade. This burned me up inside, hearing that they are technically still 3rd graders being told that already have to be ready for 5th grade!
When I think about getting kids ready for future grades it breaks my heart to know that we are missing the developmental boat. Telling a child this is really no different than telling a one year old they need to start wearing pull-ups because they need to be ready to potty train when they are 2 1/2. Or giving a newborn cereal because they need to be ready to eat it in a few months. Would we give a 17 year old liquor because they need to be ready to drink when they are 21?
This is my long-winded way of agreeing with you. We have to teach our kiddoes where they are now. Not where they will be. An aside for authentic experiences...I try my best to always incorporate authenticity in my classroom. When I do, I use what's relevant to them. Like going to the movies or playing ball. Not about whats relevant to me or their older siblings like driving or paying a mortgage. So maybe it's not really authenticity we are talking about, but relevance?
Tracy,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your long winded agreement! I love your analogies. So true. Here and now is vital.
I definitely think this issue is more about relevance, which I think is essential to being a fully engaged learner.
Thanks for an excellent comment!
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Patty and I work for TeachHUB.com, a K-12 educational resource website. I really enjoyed this post and was wondering if you would be open to discussing this topic further. We would love to hear you expand more on this subject.
If you are interested, please email pmurray@teachhub.com