fast & slow learning in the 21st century
TRANSCRIPT
Fast & Slow Learning in the 21st CenturyGustavo E. Fischman & Eric M. Haas
edXchange Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College
What drives you crazy about education reform?
We are the students of today
Attending the schools of yesterday
Being taught by the teachers of the past
With methods from the Middle Ages
To solve the problems of the future!
Many reforms are rightly wrong
Because they are based on models
—prototypes and metaphors—
that feel right
but are fundamentally wrong
DELIVERING KNOWLEDGE IS THE
SAME AS LEARNING AND
TEACHING
WRONG
Sometimes what feels right initially, when you think about it a bit more slowly isn’t really a good idea
The Conduit Model
Teachers are info depositor
s
Words are vessels for objective meaning
Minds are empty
A predominant logical fallacy
• Authority A in the name of society decides that Knowledge K is important
• A selects teacher B with lots of K to deliver to student X who doesn’t have any K
• B gives K to X
• If X doesn’t “get K”, then it is X ’s problem
How often have we actively or inadvertently thought, talked,
and acted as if teaching as direct transmission is true?
How can we avoid the rightly wrong
temptation of using the Conduit Metaphor?
Rethink Rationality
David.Plunkert.image_.via_.NYT_.11-27-11
Think of a Grandmother
Think of a Math Class
What do you see?
Can you read this?Can yuo raed tihs? Are yuo srpruesid?
You can aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht you are rdanieg. In fcat, if yuo are fulnet in Egnislh you cnnaot not raed tihs. Yuor bairn rdaes this atoullimatacy and yuo conant sotp ylsouerf. Amzanig, huh?
Yo ca re d t is jus fin , too. Eve with t e miss g l tt rs.
More Accurate MetaphorBUT not Perfect . . .
Learning is Growth
Minds or Brains are Soil
Ideas/Understandings/Students are Plants
Growth Metaphor Logic
• People construct their understandings
• People need supports to construct accurate or expert understandings/abilities
•High expectations•Sufficient supports•Strong relationships
Madness TestApply to any educational proposal
Misunderstand how people learn ?
Apply (rightly wrong) ideas as silver bullets ?
Disregard (contrary) evidence (consistently and stubbornly) ?
Does it . . .
Promote Smart Ideas
Ones with little of no credible evidence
of likely success
Ones supported by credible evidence of likely success
Avoid Dumb Ideas
Top 11 “Rightly Wrong” Ed Ideas Popular, but little evidence
Top 10 “Smart” Ed Ideas Less Popular, but with more evidence
Thanks!
join us again on November 8 at Brunson-Lee
Elementary School