EducationNews.org

CRUX OF THE PROBLEM

        A couple days ago, I chanced upon an offer to register for a webinar sponsored by edweek.org about the national dropout problem (Tuesday, July 7^th if you‘re interested). Included was a small box for pre-submitting questions. I boiled down a few thoughts to the limits of the box and sent them in. That didn’t quite do it for me, so I registered my wife, and submitted more.  That still didn’t do it, so I registered my stepson, which entailed a shift of perspective.  He‘s in his late twenties, returning to college, and a body-builder with a no-nonsense, concrete directness. He would say, “Cut to the chase.“ 

            When I looked at the problem as he would, the crux of it hit me.

            The problem is that teachers don’t know the difference between instructing for familiarized, soon-to-disappear learning, and instructing for permanent learning.  

            If you’re a teacher and that doesn’t instantly set off bells and whistles in your head, humor me for a minute. First ask yourself “If I were to change my instructional techniques to guarantee that students forget most of what I teach them, how would I do that?” 

            I know, I know. The question doesn’t make sense, but try it anyway.  Here’s a clue to  get you started. Imagine standing before your class and saying, “This next material really isn’t important.”  You complete it and say, “Okay, you can dismiss that.” Those words are influences  on students’ thinking. You literally instruct them whether or not to retain something.  That’s the key. Your actions, messages, and directions are influences guiding students’ minds to save or not save a piece of knowledge.  Now then, what else would you say to guarantee they forget everything?

             Drawing onthatprinciple, the contrasting question is, “What would I do if I were determined that students master and retain permanently what I teach them?”  If your first thought is “I’d give them more homework,” then you’re really saying “I don’t know.“  If it’s “I’d tighten the screws and fail the ones that couldn’t keep up,” you reveal the same. You don’t know how to use your own time with them to achieve mastered vs. familiarized learning for all.  Again, with you and for all.  This distinction helps me understand why I get so many blank stares from teachers.  Since they don’t notice a problem with their own actions, my offers of a solution have no place to land.

            You can help in a simple way. Weave into any conversation with a teacher or parent the question, “What’s the difference between how a teacher teaches for mastered learning, compared to teaching for learning that disappears quickly and is forgotten?” If you move the question along, it’s a force for change.