Agriculture and Curriculum-Context

Currently, I am reading Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. As I read chapter 8, "Rice Paddies and Math Tests," I am struck by the metaphor created in my mind by what Gladwell writes in section #3. On pages 232-233, he states:

• "The most striking fact about a rice paddy - which can never quite be grasped until you actually stand in the middle of one - is its size. It's tiny. The typical rice paddy is about as big as a hotel room. A typical Asian rice farm might be composed of two or three paddies. A village in China of fifteen hundred people might support itself entirely with 450 acres of land, which in the American Midwest would be the size of a typical family farm. At that scale, with families of five and six people living off a farm the size of two hotel rooms, agriculture changes dramatically.
• "Historically, Western agriculture is "mechanically" oriented. In the West, if a farmer wanted to become more efficient or increase his yield, he introduced more and more sophisticated equipment, which allowed him to replace human labor with mechanical labor: a threshing machine, a hay baler, a combine harvester, a tractor. He cleared another field and increased his acreage, because now his machinery allowed him to work more land with the same amount of effort. But in Japan or China, farmers didn't have the money to buy equipment - and, in any case, there certainly wasn't any extra land that could easily be converted into new fields. So rice farmers improved their yields by becoming smarter, by being better managers of their own time, and by making better choices."

In many U.S. schools, in the Western fashion, have we, over time, simply added more acreage to the curriculum - more and more rows and plots of content to cover? Are we reaching any sort of diminishing returns? What if, instead of adding content and linear coverage, we thought smarter about working a "tiny-er" plot of content by being more skill oriented? Could we release ourselves from some of the pressure to cover (a teacher-centric method), and replace our focus with greater intention on genuine learning (a student-centric method)?

In my own classroom, what could my "rice paddy" be? How could I create the conditions necessary for my students to learn that skill-oriented, smart-farming, rather than creating the conditions for my students to rush through content? If and when I can answer these questions, I may well be on my way to a more 21st C. manner of thinking.

Blog Motivation

Since I began this blog, I have struggled with it. I started by thinking that I would try to write what others would want to read. Now, I realize that I will be much more successful if I write what I want to write...and trust that those who are interested will read the blog.

So what do I want to write? I want to write about Professional Learning Communities, teacher development, and education for the 21st Century. So if these topics interest you, we might have a connection.

During my typical school week, I so look forward to fourth period. Why? In fourth period, I participate in a professional learning community (PLC) with five amazing teachers who are committed to learning and rethinking the ways we approach and support the classroom. For the past three weeks, we have been exploring the modeling method of instruction. We investigate, discover, record data, collaborate on interpreting the data, and formulate better understandings of the world. An example of such an investigation is illustrated below with some spring oscillation data we have been collecting. What's more, we work together to devise how we might better create such exciting learning environments and experiences for our students.

As a result of our work in the last three weeks, I have spent the morning studying labor statistics in an effort to create a learning experience for Economics 8. The investigation has been captivating and invigorating, and I do not even currently teach a section of Economics 8. My PLC peers have inspired me to explore, to ask questions, and to seek for answers. Isn't this exactly what we want for our students? What better way to build such opportunities than to participate in such opportunities ourselves.

A Wiki for 21st Century Thinking and Schooling

http://21st-cent-school.wikispaces.com/

A Quick Journal on Scope

Lately, I am thinking quite a lot about the questions of curricular scope, or content-driven curriculum. Why do so many educators feel such pressure to cover such an ambitious scope of material, say from "A to Z?" For the 21st Century, should we be looking for a different model of "coverage" that balances better deep learning with certain content knowledge acquisition? I think we should. Of course, a degree of content knowledge is arguably necessary. However, filling the head with knowledge, like filling a cup with water, is an outdated model for education. In 2009, I believe we know from the most recent brain research that our grey matter does NOT function like a vessel to be filled.

For the past two weeks, the Math-Science PLC (Professional Learning Community), of which I am a member, has been engaged in two modeling activities that involve exploring the phases of the moon and the illumination of the Earth. While the pace of learning has been slower than a delivery relying on "sage on the stage," efficient lecture, the quality and authenticity of the learning have been rich and extraordinarily high level. By acting as a "guide on the side," the PLC facilitator has provided a learning experience that will stick with me forever. Finally I genuinely understand the qualities of shadow and illumination for the Earth and the moon, finally I can understand the sinusoidal function that describes the data, finally I appreciate that exploration and discovery should be the driving, motivating forces in a classroom. Here's to learning more by doing less.