"Mechanical Pencils": Finding Balance between Basics and Forward Thinking

Our school is launching an Ad Hoc Committee to plan our school's technology needs.   Jokingly or not, someone responded, "Mechanical pencils!" A few chortled at the response, and then we moved on. But the question remains.

When parents, community members, and business leaders express their woes about education, the back to basics concept is held up as a holy grail: Arithmetic, Reading, Writing, and perhaps Vocabulary, Spelling, Manners, Life Skills, and Penmanship.  I am not even sure I disagree with them,  Of course I want my children and students to be able to multiply in their heads and print legibly.  There must be room in 14 years of schooling (from JK to Grade 12) to ensure some degree of competence in such basic skills without compromising the rich, meaningful, personalized learning that has become the ideal in today's education.

I believe that we could find agreement among stakeholders about what basic skills are non-negotiable in the learning process.  In fact, many schools are developing exactly that: a "Non-negotiable" curriculum for each grade (Common Core in the US and Non-Negotiables in the UK). An infographic that captures such trends was compiled from a survey by Education Week. The danger of course is that a "back to basics" approach will fall into a "drill and kill" pattern, with some children falling short of mastery.  What about the value of student-centred exploration, project-based learning, interdisciplinary connections, differentiation, choice, and personalization?

Excerpt, "Teaching Well-being in Schools" from pioneer in Positive Psychology, Dr. Martin E. P. Seligman, full article can be read here.

First, a quiz: 

Question one: in one or two words, what do you most want for your children?If you are like the thousands of parents I’ve polled you responded, “Happiness,” “Confidence,” “Contentment,” “Fulfillment,” “Balance,” “Good stuff,” “Kindness,” “Health,” “Satisfaction,” “Love,” “Being civilized,” “Meaning,” and the like. In short, well-being is your topmost priority for your children. 

Question two: in one or two words, what do schools teach?If you are like other parents, you responded, “Achievement,” “Thinking skills,” “Success,” “Conformity,” “Literacy,” “Math,” “Work,” “Test taking,” “Discipline,” and the like. In short, what schools teach is how to succeed in the workplace.

Notice that there is almost no overlap between the two lists.

Yet parent would not want the so-called academic skills abandoned and often do not trust approaches to teaching that differ from the way they were taught.

The pendulum swings back and forth, and we need to find a balance.  Parents want their kids to come home excited about what they are learning.  Students who want to learn are more apt as pupils.  As long as we work from a belief that all kids can learn functional skills (barring neurological impairments) , the expertise of the teacher and school should be harnessed to recognize and facilitate students' personal learning readiness, providing an environment where all can thrive.

So, it is not a balance between back-to-basics (i.e. mechanical pencils) and innovative methodology (i.e. student blogs) that we need.   It is immersion in both, where each provides fuel for the other. 

Deeper Learning: Why are Students Hesitant to Use their Personal Passions in the Classroom Setting

Whether we are talking about personal devices, gamification, favourite books, or hobbies, why are students so hesitant to use their personal passions in the classroom setting?  It seems that there is a great divide between “school” and “personal” lives and students are often the ones patrolling the border.   More and more teachers understand the need for relevant, meaningful, authentic tasks to engage learners.  They are increasingly fluid in offering choice, differentiation, and personalization even in traditional learning environments.  Many are starting to incorporate “Passion-based Learning,” “Genius Hour,” or “20 Percent Learning” into their instructional time, where students get to pursue a personal passion and are given support, structure, and time to do so. Yet when offered such opportunities, only a minority truly run with it.  Some begrudgingly go through the motions (but without real buy-in), some resent the intrusion on their personal domain and resist, and others shrug it off and wait for the teacher to assign them something to do next. 

There is a perception that most students have personal passions that schools do not integrate.  Do these students dive into personal learning – LEGO, basketball, rocks, dance, skiing, camping, anime, trucks, hockey, horses, space, etc.?  If they are lucky, their families can foster their interests in the home environment.  Elementary and secondary classrooms give many free choices in reading selections, journal ideas, and project topics. Yet looking around at my elementary-aged children, their friends, and cousins, the majority of young people skim the surface of their varied interests. There is so much out there to learn.  There is great value in students having a broad base of knowledge and skills.  And there is constant temptation to emulate the passions of peers.  And it is so natural to become bored and lose interest. The learning for most does not go very deep.

The reality is that most students need to learn how to sustain and develop a passion.  They need to see depth modeled (by peers, by community members, by teachers, by public figures):

• I want to learn about/how to ______________.
• How do I learn best?
• Why do I want to learn it?
• What are my options?
• How much time will it take?
• What sacrifices am I willing to make?
• Who can I talk to ?
• Where can I turn?
• What is the history of _______________?
• Who else is learning _______________?
• How can I use _______________ to make a difference?
• … and so on. 

Ultimately, if we want young people to know how to learn, we need to place greater value on metacognitive skills.  We need to give students the language and a voice in the learning process (“this is hard, and I want to give up, but I will persist,” “this is a personal, and I am not ready to share it,” “I need more practice,” “I am ready to learn something new,”  “this is necessary even if tedious”). The most important lesson we can teach to all of our students is to recognize and name their learning and to guide students to become self-aware, honest, and deliberate as learners and as people.