Want Mastery? Let Students Find Their Own Way
Want Mastery? Let Students Find Their Own Way
Want Mastery? Let Students Find Their Own Way
By Emily Kaplan
December 11, 2019
Summary
In 1986, Duckworth published a pioneering paper titled "Inventing Density," which describes what happened when she presented a group of teachers with an assortment of materials-dishpans, snail shells, scrap metal, Styrofoam, driftwood, and the like-and a container of water.
As so many teachers know, what sometimes passes for true learning-say, the recitation of facts on a standardized test-is only a shallow impersonation of the real thing.
Contemporary educators are seldom afforded the time to teach in a way that allows the kind of open-ended, curiosity-driven exploration that leads to deep understanding.
"Most teachers know that education right now is nutty," Duckworth says ruefully.
In an era defined by cramming as much curriculum as possible into a school day and a fetishization of standardized testing-with its goal of teaching students to choose among predetermined answers as quickly as possible-the teacher doesn't have time to do the job: to provide the time and the raw material to encourage self-directed learning.
Despite the constraints placed on today's teachers Duckworth says, simply encouraging teachers to be aware of constructivist opportunities can help.
Teachers should have the attitude of encouraging students "To just keep going," she says.
Of course, teachers must work with the reality that there are curricula to follow and standards to address-often, many more of them than they feel they can handle-and that there are already too few hours in the day.
For teachers who feel that they can't fundamentally change the way they teach, there are ways to infuse constructivist practices into existing pedagogical structures.
Some teachers add in a short period-whether a few minutes a day or an hour a week-of student-driven instruction; others take stock of the way they talk with students, and attempt to make sure that students' curiosity dominates discussions.
Reference
Kaplan, E. (2019, December 11). Want Mastery? Let Students Find Their Own Way. Retrieved January 22, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/want-mastery-let-students-find-their-own-way