This post (and others in the future) consists of reflections on sections of the book How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School, which can be found here. This post deals with Chapter 6.
Everything seems to come back to networks, everywhere I look. In this case, I really like the metaphor--teaching students to navigate interconnected systems is the baseline for all good education. This is true when we're talking about helping library patrons use databases, and it's true when it comes to teaching them how to make social connections that lead to a job. I find education models that emphasize this sort of learning really appealing, especially when they break down the barriers between subjects. Our current system puts so much space between different topics that they can seem utterly unconnected--chemistry and literature may not have all that much directly in common, but when they're connected by biology, history, and cultural studies they're part of a whole. By splitting up subjects (admittedly pragmatically), we divide them in the minds of students, and students who excel in one may be encouraged to focus on it to the exclusion of others, or to consider the one in which they succeed to be more important than others (fixed learning model!) With the connection of different subjects within school can also come an advantaged discussed later in the chapter--linking a student's daily life to their classroom experience.
I also really liked the emphasis placed on making connections between the information you are learning. When I can relate classes to one another the information sticks so much better. I also liked the emphasis on relating subjects learned in school to students' communities. Connecting information to social situations and home environments makes the information much more practical.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that schools should bridge subjects together rather than force them into distinct, separate categories. It creates barriers, both in terms of what "good" students will wish to study and in terms of social acceptance. In my education, I know that certain subjects were viewed as intelligent subjects, ones that the so-called smarter students took. Those students dominated the classes, and other people, who may have done well or had some interest in these classes, were not encouraged to take them. They were "too hard." I think that using the holistic approach to teaching that you advocate would go a long way to towards breaking those stereotypes. Students might be more willing to take on another class if they know that it has some relation to their interests and skill sets. For example, critical reasoning skills may take on different cadences in different areas of study, but they are still tools that can be a applied across a broad spectrum.
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