Primary Purpose

An essential question for Hamilton Southeastern High School: What is the primary goal of our school?

In our professional discussions, we ask this question in a variety of ways.  Recently, one discussion has been around Understanding by Design, which makes the distinction between knowing and understanding.  In this framework, understanding has a specific meaning that goes well beyond merely knowing. 

Over the next few months, this weekly memo will return to this topic occasionally and take a closer look at parts of the Understanding by Design framework.  Feel free to read them now if they are helpful, or save them for future reference. 

Background Information

As a way to provide background and a solid foundation, a good place to start is with “Seven Key Tenets of the UbD Framework,” stolen and/or paraphrased directly from Wiggins and McTighe.  Note the words in bold because these are key concepts in UbD.

1. Learning is enhanced when teachers think purposefully about curricular planning.  UbD provides a framework for this process, but it is neither rigid nor prescriptive.  Use the framework but do what works for you and your students.
2. The focus of UbD is transfer.  Teaching must help students to deepen their understanding so they can effectively use the knowledge and skills in new situations.  Our purpose is more than simply helping students do well in school; our purpose is to prepare them to do well in life.
3. Understanding is revealed when teachers plan authentic performance tasks for students.  These tasks allow students to make sense of their learning and practice the transfer their learning in a supportive environment.
4. Effective curriculum uses backward planning through a three-stage process (Desired Results, Evidence, and Learning Planning).  This process avoids common problems of treating the textbook as the curriculum and/or providing activity-oriented teaching with no clear priorities.
5. Teachers are coaches of understanding, not mere purveyors of content knowledge, skill, or activity.  Learning, not just teaching, is the focus of a teacher’s work.
6. Regularly reviewing units and curriculum against UbD design qualities enhances learning and provides engaging professional discussions.
7. UbD involves a continual improvement approach to student achievement and teacher craft.  Reflection and revisions are part of the framework.

If our goals are only to have students do well in our classes and to get good grades, knowing is probably enough.  If, however, our goal is for students to take the learning beyond our classes, outside the halls of HSHS, and into new situations, making sure students understand is essential. 

The bottom line is that students who understand can and do apply learning to new situations.  With UbD, we know this to be true because we have designed learning opportunities that provide practice in doing so as part of the classroom experience.  Simply put, students can transfer learning because we have provided opportunities for them to understand by design.

I hope your week is designed to be a good one.

Phil

Kudos to our technology people.  During the past few weeks they were hit with the Perfect Storm of technological issues.  It was incredibly frustrating for everyone, but the techies put in long hours trying to identify the problems and come up with solutions.  Persistence in the face of frustration may not be fun, but it is an admirable trait and worthy of note.