Diana Laufenberg is a
teacher who shares a few things she’s learned about how most school’s teach and
how most children learn. In the 1930’s, when Diana’s grandmother was in
gradeschool, the purpose of going to class was to get information.
Students got all of their information from teachers and stored it all in
their brains. When Diana was in school, information became more readily
accessible in the form of encyclopedia’s and textbooks.
At the same time the
internet became popular, she started teaching in Kansas. After the first year
of teaching, she decided she needed to change her approach to teaching. Instead
of she posed a challenge to her students: put on an election for your own community.
They took ownership of the challenge, exceeded all expectations, and were able
to learn while they created something useful and impactful. As her career
progressed she was also witness to how meaningful and authentic students were
when they were given a chance to speak freely. The final point she makes is
about the culture of failure that exists in school. Students are taught that
there is one right answer, a way of thinking abetted by the multiple choice
tests at the front of academic assessment. Diana says it doesn’t make sense to
tell kids to never be wrong when so much can be learned from failure. Kids need
to be allowed to fail, process, and learn from their experiences in school.
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