Recently I was reflecting on various methods of classroom instruction and I started to wonder what would happen if we really did allow students to “discover” whatever it is we want them to learn about. I ran into a big question with this because I think too often when we do try to do some sort of “discovery learning” we still have an intended outcome in mind and we still tend to lead students to the “one right answer” that will be on the test.
For example when studying history, even if we locate and provide access to primary documents for our students, how often do we guide students to the answer that historians have already determined for us? How often do we — the educators — question the answers from those historians?
When I was growing up in Southwest Louisiana, I distinctly recall learning about the Civil War and learning in great detail about the virtues of the Confederate States. We learned that slavery was only a minor issue and that the conflict involved other disagreements between the southern states and the U.S. government. When I went to college I became friends with other college students from other regions of the U.S. and eventually we found out that all of us had learned different things about the Civil War in our K-12 education. Students in the northern states received an education that stressed the slavery issue much more than mine did.
I have to wonder what all of us would have learned about the war if we had been allowed to examine primary documents ourselves rather than read the mass-produced (state approved) history textbooks and rather than receive instruction from teachers who were interpreting the written history themselves. There were/are multiple filters in place… what would happen if those filters were not in place?
If we truly embrace the concept of allowing students to learn history by thinking like historians, are we ready to accept that those students might come to conclusions that differ from the conclusions of “the experts” (the historians)? I know we do need to redirect students who have trouble understanding the primary documents, but where is the fine line between redirecting and interpreting for the student? Are we ready to allow students to “discover” without having strict intended outcomes in mind before the learning even begins?
(I am only using history education here as an example. This applies to all content areas and I could have just as easily used multiple examples from language arts, science, math, or fine arts.)
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Great points! I find myself struggling with this on a constant basis because my initial instinct is to jump in and help, even though I realize that students need to analyze, synthesize, and infer on their own (sometimes anyways). Scaffolding is especially important for internet research. How many times do we see students base their research on the first couple of hits retrieved via a google search. It’s so important to take the time to allow students to explore varying points of view and then engage in accountable talk under the “quiet guidance” of the teacher.
Stephanie,
I really like the essence of your post “learn history by thinking like historians.” As teachers we need to do so much more to model how artists, scientist, coaches, musicians, etc – think, problem solve and share their ideas.
To see what I’ve been doing to support “thinking like historians” visit my site: “Teaching With Documents” a guide to document-based instruction http://www.edteck.com/dbq
Keep up the great work,
Peter
I find this information fascinating – and sad. As students in the U.S. and all over the globe learn ‘approved versions’ of history and other topics, they are also not being taught that theirs is but one version. One of the biggest problems with education, as I see it, is what you’ve pointed out here, which is “pointing” students in a direction of learning, rather than allowing them to discover, think, discuss, and conclude on their own. More and more, businesses need people who have these exact skills…who can take in a variety of information, consider its value, and make decisions in the direction of the greatest good. As business moves forward into the 21st century, it does not need more folks with the ability to figure out predetermined outcomes and regurgitate in that direction.