Roland Barth is an educator who was instrumental in the development of the Head Start  Program and has written many books on school practices. This is one of my favorite passages on lifelong learning from the book Learning by Heart.

“School cultures in which students commit to learning and the threats of punishment for not learning generate students who want to be finished with learning when they graduate from school. A challenge of immense proportion to our profession is to find ways to uncouple learning and punishment. We must change the message from “Learn or we will hurt you” to” Learn or you will hurt yourself.”

I believe the most important requirement for graduation …is evidence that the student is becoming or is a passionate independent, lifelong learner. What evidence is there of enduring intellectual passion? Is the student capable of posing questions, marshaling resources and pursuing learning with dedication, independence, imagination and courage?”

(Some people think) legitimate learning in schools occurs when a student sits at a desk, receives instruction by a teacher, fills out worksheets of problems devised by the teacher, writes papers required and graded by the teacher, and takes tests, usually constructed and graded by the teacher. If this is what learning is all about- it is spinach. Where is the rest of the menu?

For us to ever attain the goal of creating lifelong learners (we) must recognize the importance and power of learning that emanates from the rich daily experiences youngsters encounter and to recognize the intense personal meaning these experiences have for students. And only when we succeed in relating the curriculum to what is relevant in youngster’s experiences will we begin to teach them.”

This book is a comprehensive overview of the importance of progressive education in the lives of children. These passages and quotes highlight the problem of putting achievement ahead of learning.

“Our kids may hate school, but we accept it as a fact of life. Instead of demanding that our children get better than we got, it’s as though our position was:” Listen if it was bad enough for me, it’s bad enough for my kids.

What is the cost of putting ”How well am I doing?” ahead of “What am I learning?

For students, putting “Achievement” ahead of “Learning”:

1 Undermines their interest

2 Makes failure seem overwhelming

3 Leads students to avoid challenging themselves

4 Reduces the quality of learning and

5 Invites students to think about how smart they are instead of how hard they tried.

When students are required to constantly think about their performance(grades) the first casualty is their attitude toward learning. For students to become engaged they have to experience the broad contours of the lesson as relevant. The teacher starts where they are and invites them to move further. He presents new ideas, surprising facts, unfamiliar voices, in such a way that their interest swells beyond where it used to be and they want to know more. This takes real skill.

A common characteristic of the very best classroom-kids are taken seriously. Educators who do the most for children are those who honor, and work hard to find out, what children already know. They start where the student is and work from there. They try to figure out what the students need and where their interests lie. Superb teachers strive constantly to imagine how things look from the child’s point of view, what lies behind his questions and mistakes.”

“It takes a lot more skill to help children think for themselves that it does just to give them information.”

“If the point is to succeed rather than to stretch one’s thinking, it is logical for a student to want to do whatever is easiest. That will maximize the probability for success and minimize the probability of failure. Once students start thinking this way it’s hard to stop. Even when they are not being evaluated. They have gotten into the habit of picking easy things to do so they’ll appear smart. If they internalized the imperative to get good grades they’ll still be looking for the easy courses in college.”

Book: Brain Rules

Big Idea:

There is an abundance of scientific research detailing how the brain works. This information is extremely important for anyone interested in maximizing their performance in various  environments.

Notes:

Brain Rules was written by Dr. John Medina, a developmental molecular biologist, affiliate professor at the UW and director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University. These interests combine to make a compelling picture of how our brains work and the Brain Rules we need to follow so our brains work their best. Add to this his sense of humor and this book is a must read. If you don’t have time to read the book or are in a great hurry for the information, go to his website brainrules.net and see the 12 brain rules demonstrated by John on video.

Quotes:

John’s thoughts on schools based on Brain Rule #3- Every brain is wired differently.

“Every student’s brain, every employees brain, every customer’s brain is wired differently. That’s the Brain Rule. You can either accede to it or ignore it. The current system of education chooses  the latter, to our detriment.  It needs to be torn down and newly envisioned in a Manhattan Project-size commitment to individualizing instruction. We might, among other things, dismantle all together grade structures based on age.”

“1.)The current system is founded on a series of expectations that certain learning goals should be achieved by a certain age. Yet there is no reason to suspect that the brain pays attention to those expectations. Students of the same age show a great deal of intellectual variability.

2.) These differences can profoundly influence classroom performance. This has been tested. For example, about 10% of students have brains wired to read at the age at which we expect them to read. Lockstep models based simply on age are guaranteed to create a counterproductive mismatch to brain biology.” (Medina)

Also a must read for parents of babies and children of all ages is John’s latest book, Brain Rules for Baby.

Book: 

Your Child’s Strengths: A Guide for Parents and Teachers

Big Idea:

You make your greatest progress in an area of strength, not an area of weakness.

Notes:

One idea we can’t seem to get out of our heads is that school and education is about pointing out errors and spending time working on improving our weaknesses. There is extensive research supporting the concept that we will be happier and have a higher level of performance if we focus on developing our natural abilities and strengths. It doesn’t mean weaknesses aren’t addressed. It just means that weaknesses need to be put in the background and minimized. This book goes into great detail about how you can help your child discover their areas of strength as well as the activities and relationships that strengthen them. It details how you can help your child identify their strengths and achieve their greatest potential.

Quote:

“The setting most responsible for the proliferation of the term learning disability is the traditional school. If all public and private schools are working off the same model of teaching and learning the student will be disabled in every school that uses that model. Therefore, schools must be willing to depart from the traditional methods used to teach and assess performance. Better schools will create programs that meet students where they are and take them where they have faith they can go.” (Fox)

For more research on this topic and an adult survey to help you discover your strengths, see Marcus Buckingham’s book Now, Discover Your Strengths