Self-Directed Learners

Deeper Learning is the process of preparing and empowering students to master essential academic content, think critically and solve complex problems, work collaboratively, and be self-directed learners.

—Martinez and McGrath

Spring break ended a mere three weeks ago, but seems longer ago somehow.  During that time, my alarm didn’t go off, but I tended to wake up early anyway.  That is fine with me because it allowed me the opportunity to brew some strong coffee and sit and read the paper cover-to-cover, something I almost never get to do.

Spring Break Breakfast with Amelie

While we were in Florida, my granddaughter, another early-riser, would sometimes join me for breakfast and provide commentary on a wide variety of topics—few of which were covered by the Miami Herald.  Once we had finished, she often pulled out her books (or iPad), and I would take the chance to dive into my reading as well.

I have lots of reasons to love spring break, but near the top of my list is having time read.  Earlier I wrote a bit about one of the books I read over spring break, Deeper Learning, by Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath.  The authors made extensive visits to eight public schools that are “transforming education in the 21^st Century” and drew some conclusions about best practice in our current era.

Certainly, most of the schools the authors studied are different than Hamilton Southeastern, but they are all public schools, and I think we can learn from these eight schools blazing the trail for us.  In fact, the authors state that the majority of today’s schools don’t reflect the tremendous changes and new demands that characterize the society in which we live.  Schools can no longer be what Sir Ken Robinson calls a “knowledge delivery system.”  Instead, the authors contend, we should look to innovative schools who are preparing students from a full range of backgrounds to reach their full potential and become prepared to handle the demands of the twenty-first century.

Self-Directed Learners

A critical objective for students to become more responsible for their own education, something that teachers and principals at the eight Deeper Learning schools make possible through embracing six core strategies:

• Establish cohesive, collaborative learning communities that sharply differ from the top-down national norm;
• Empower and encourage students to become more self-directed, creative, and cooperative by getting them out of their chairs and more directly involved in their own education;
• Make curricula more engaging, memorable, and meaningful by integrating subjects and establishing relevance to real-world concerns;
• Reach outside classroom walls to extend the idea and purpose of learning beyond school, forming partnerships with businesses, organizations, research institutions, and colleges and universities;
• Inspire students by endeavoring to understand their talents and interests, customizing learning whenever possible to discover the motivational “hook” for each young person; and
• Incorporate technology purposefully to enhance, rather than simply automate, learning.

 This is, of course, exactly where we are heading as a school and a district.  You will find references in this book to inquiry-based learning, Understanding by Design, authentic learning, performance tasks, and more.  In short, this is a book about HSE21.

Our school is different and our journey is different than any of the eight schools included in this study, but I think you will find that much of what they do and the ways they approach education can be thoughtfully adapted to us in Fishers, Indiana.

It takes me a while to digest a book, but I’m excited by this one and think it might be a touchstone experience in my learning process.  If you are looking for a good summer read, I invite you to dive into Deeper Learning.

Phil