I believe there is a difference between learning and understanding. I can “teach” my parrot to speak but I would challenge anyone to have a conversation with him. This is the problem with approaching education from a “teaching” perspective, from a perspective of “coverage”.

Research has shown time and again, that knowledge is not “handed out” like a stack of papers in class. Students must struggle with a subject within what Vygotsky calls the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) working to construct knowledge and understanding. They must connect pillars of knowledge within their own experience as well as the collective experience of the class where the teacher models master learning not master teaching.

For years, the model has been to take the spectrum of students and remove the extremes on each end. The gifted students enter programs where they can excel in what they do. The students that are identified as learning different are then grouped together and taught with different methodologies. So what about the group in the middle? They fit nicely in the factory model that has existed since the 1800’s. Fill up the room, hand out the knowledge, test them for learning then send them on their way.

Students should be encouraged to foster their own learning and curiosity, draw on the collective expertise of the community of learning and construct their own knowledge and understanding with the guidance of the more expert learner- the teacher. Students will develop a collective understanding while all learning something different.

My role as an educator is to get students to think. Stimulate them to wonder about the world around them and encourage them to look deeper than the first thing they see. I can best do this by modeling master learning. The more students understand about how they learn, the more likely they will become life long learners. I do this by becoming a learner in the class with them. We are on a journey through the unknown and we construct the knowledge as we go. I do not believe in disconnected facts but rather connections. Islands of knowledge have little purpose. Understanding and powerful ideas come from the construction of knowledge and the associated connections. Students must experience authentic learning that is relevant and engaging- learning with a purpose.

If you want to be a master carpenter, you work with a master carpenter. If you want to be a master jeweler, you work with a master jeweler. Who should you work with if you want to be a master learner? I believe that the most effective way to teach is to model master learning- a life time of joy and wonder, a lifetime of learning.