“Just imagine the learners they could become if we made these skills the focus of our work; if, instead of passing the test, we made those ever-more important skills of networking, inquiry, creation, sharing, unlearning, and relearning the answer to the “why school” question”
At the beginning of this semester, I was asked to read an essay by Will Richardson entitled "Why School?" It opens with an anecdote in which Richardson recounts an experience he had with his son in which he allowed his son to begin playing Minecraft. Richardson came back later the same night he gave his son access to the game to find out that he had built amazing pieces of architecture and connected to a large online network of Minecraft players in order to learn ideas and strategy.
The question then becomes, "What is one willing to learn when no one is telling you what you have to learn?"
Richardson shares through his essay a belief that the way we educate students does not connect to the way students are expected to interact with the world when they leave school. I found the entire essay to be rather affirming as a future educator. I remember when I finally decided that I really did want to become a teacher. It was because I had begun to see how learning could actually be about the learning and the relearning and the skills, not just the memorization of content that nobody cared about but the teacher. This was a really important moment in my career path, and Richardson’s frustration with an education system that looks nothing like the world outside of the classroom spoke directly to my own misgivings about teaching that I have had to fight with at every turn.
One thing has always kept me moving forward, though: the students. If I can do anything to strengthen their ability to learn and grow as people, I will count that day as a success. I want to create a classroom in which my students are participating in their learning in ways that will contribute to their lives outside of school, and I appreciated that Richardson said, “in the near term, schools need to do both: to prepare kids for old-school expectations and new-world realities alike. And, I would argue, if we truly have our kids’ best interest at heart, we have to do that second part even though no one is asking us to.” It puts my teaching into a new perspective; I have to be willing to challenge and push my students learning for their future, even amongst the current standards.
I think Richardson’s push for learning how to learn is essential for people today. I sometimes feel like I don’t even know how to learn, and that I’m still trying to figure it out. This can make learning difficult when I want so badly to succeed but sometimes get overwhelmed by the process I have to go through to do it. There is so much information out there; the sheer abundance of it sometimes drives me to ignore it entirely-- choosing is hard. But I’m slowly figuring out how to sift. And skim. And use my abilities to pull what’s important from each resource.
That’s the kind of skill that I feel like my students need. They need to be able to do things that will be essential for them in the future. They need the skills that I should have, and don’t always need, but will be absolutely essential when they are adults.
There are a few statements I have pulled from the reading that I think illustrate this idea beautifully:
We need the “kind of schooling that prepares students for the world they will live in, not the one in which most of us grew up.”
“A popular quote paraphrased from psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy predicts that “the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write. The illiterate will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
“An observation by the philosopher Eric Hoffer sums up where our emphasis should be in schools right now: “In times of great change, learners will inherit the earth, while the learned will be beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.”
“The adults in the room need to be learners first and teachers second.”
As I read the essay, I consistently stopped to read particular sections to my roommate, a group worker in Juvenile Halls around San Diego. We found that very little of what we talked about contradicted our own hopes for the education system of the future. We want a world where the students feel purpose and engage with content outside of one room where everything they do is graded.
Frankly I think this starts with getting rid of district filters and getting all students a device to work with. We need to stop being afraid of change and a little bit of chaos because the amount of positive that could come from sincerely teaching students how to navigate what is truly present on the internet is valuable. You cannot learn where everything is blocked. It restricts bad stuff, but it restricts self-regulation as well.
Last, but not least, I was reminded of this video as I read this piece. If change doesn’t happen like Richardson asks, this is how I imagine students will be restricted as they leave school and enter the workforce. Though the video is meant to express "Why we need Common Core," I think there is a larger message to be heard.
The question then becomes, "What is one willing to learn when no one is telling you what you have to learn?"
Richardson shares through his essay a belief that the way we educate students does not connect to the way students are expected to interact with the world when they leave school. I found the entire essay to be rather affirming as a future educator. I remember when I finally decided that I really did want to become a teacher. It was because I had begun to see how learning could actually be about the learning and the relearning and the skills, not just the memorization of content that nobody cared about but the teacher. This was a really important moment in my career path, and Richardson’s frustration with an education system that looks nothing like the world outside of the classroom spoke directly to my own misgivings about teaching that I have had to fight with at every turn.
One thing has always kept me moving forward, though: the students. If I can do anything to strengthen their ability to learn and grow as people, I will count that day as a success. I want to create a classroom in which my students are participating in their learning in ways that will contribute to their lives outside of school, and I appreciated that Richardson said, “in the near term, schools need to do both: to prepare kids for old-school expectations and new-world realities alike. And, I would argue, if we truly have our kids’ best interest at heart, we have to do that second part even though no one is asking us to.” It puts my teaching into a new perspective; I have to be willing to challenge and push my students learning for their future, even amongst the current standards.
I think Richardson’s push for learning how to learn is essential for people today. I sometimes feel like I don’t even know how to learn, and that I’m still trying to figure it out. This can make learning difficult when I want so badly to succeed but sometimes get overwhelmed by the process I have to go through to do it. There is so much information out there; the sheer abundance of it sometimes drives me to ignore it entirely-- choosing is hard. But I’m slowly figuring out how to sift. And skim. And use my abilities to pull what’s important from each resource.
That’s the kind of skill that I feel like my students need. They need to be able to do things that will be essential for them in the future. They need the skills that I should have, and don’t always need, but will be absolutely essential when they are adults.
There are a few statements I have pulled from the reading that I think illustrate this idea beautifully:
We need the “kind of schooling that prepares students for the world they will live in, not the one in which most of us grew up.”
“A popular quote paraphrased from psychologist Herbert Gerjuoy predicts that “the illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write. The illiterate will be those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
“An observation by the philosopher Eric Hoffer sums up where our emphasis should be in schools right now: “In times of great change, learners will inherit the earth, while the learned will be beautifully equipped for a world that no longer exists.”
“The adults in the room need to be learners first and teachers second.”
As I read the essay, I consistently stopped to read particular sections to my roommate, a group worker in Juvenile Halls around San Diego. We found that very little of what we talked about contradicted our own hopes for the education system of the future. We want a world where the students feel purpose and engage with content outside of one room where everything they do is graded.
Frankly I think this starts with getting rid of district filters and getting all students a device to work with. We need to stop being afraid of change and a little bit of chaos because the amount of positive that could come from sincerely teaching students how to navigate what is truly present on the internet is valuable. You cannot learn where everything is blocked. It restricts bad stuff, but it restricts self-regulation as well.
Last, but not least, I was reminded of this video as I read this piece. If change doesn’t happen like Richardson asks, this is how I imagine students will be restricted as they leave school and enter the workforce. Though the video is meant to express "Why we need Common Core," I think there is a larger message to be heard.