I鈥檝e begun an occasional series where I share five of my strongly held education-related opinions and invite readers to tell me what they think of them.
I鈥檒l publish some of your reactions here. Send them to me at lferlazzo@epe.org.
1. Education researchers need to spend less time studying 鈥渓ow-hanging fruit鈥� and more time researching practical ideas on how we can become better teachers.
I鈥檓 getting pretty tired of criticizing the Marshmallow Experiment, learning styles, and 鈥淒ale鈥檚 Cone of Excellence.鈥�
Yeah, fine, there are issues with the Marshmallow Experiment, learning styles per se don鈥檛 exist, and Dale鈥檚 Cone was invented out of thin air. However, their three conclusions鈥攖he ability to delay self-gratification can lead to success, teachers often need to adapt their teaching to their students鈥� needs, and we tend to learn more from 鈥渄oing鈥� rather than 鈥渓istening"鈥�are all backed by tons of other peer-reviewed research and decades of teachers鈥� lived experiences.
Researchers, how about helping us teachers figure out better strategies to apply those solid conclusions in the classroom instead of having fun ridiculing the single-out-of-many studies (and, in the 鈥淐one of Experience鈥� case, nonstudy) that may have problems?
2. Every educator should create opportunities for students to learn about the (and we should be sure to learn it ourselves).
During my 19-year community-organizing career (prior to my 23 year-and-more continuing teacher career), we spent a lot of time helping people understand this difference:
Opinion is what you think before asking questions about the topic at hand and talking with others.
Judgment is what you have, and what you show, after asking questions and talking with others.
I have emphasized this difference with student-teachers before they begin their first day (many of whom are certain they know better than their collaborating teacher), with students (I use versions of Write-Pair-Share and always encourage them to modify their original written responses afterward), and in my own inner voice when鈥攑robably more than many鈥擨 come to snap conclusions about people and their actions.
In this era of polarization, I鈥檓 not sure that there are many more important topics for us to teach.
3. More student learning would take place if we teachers implemented a key missing final step in the Gradual Release of Responsibility process.
It鈥檚 probably a safe bet that all teachers know the typical steps in the Gradual Release of Responsibility process: I do, we do, you do.
However, I鈥檝e always thought there should be a final step beyond 鈥測ou do.鈥�
It should end with 鈥測ou teach.鈥�
finds that we tend to learn鈥攁nd remember鈥攎ore by teaching a topic! And, at least in my experience, student engagement can also be quite high.
4. Artificial intelligence will not 鈥渞evolutionize鈥� education, but there are some ways it can relieve teachers of some drudgery and specifically help English-language learners, and that鈥檚 not nothing.
Nothing seems to stop True Believers in AI of certainty that its impact on education will be earth-shattering.
Sigh.
That just ain鈥檛 going to happen.
But, AI can free up teachers to have more 鈥渕ental bandwidth鈥� to engage with students byto create materials and reducing the time required to do certain tasks (like letters of recommendation), along with being particularly helpful to English-language learners (having students use AI chatbots outside of school is a godsend to those who have no one else in their household with whom they can practice their English).
Why can鈥檛 ed-tech enthusiasts (and many school reformers) be satisfied with incremental improvement? You put enough of them together, and we can be talking about something big!
5. Differentiated instruction isn鈥檛 really that difficult.
with Ed Week about this very point several years ago, and it鈥檚 one of their most popular ever.
Come on, folks, it鈥檚 not hard to tell a student having a hard day that they only have to answer five instead of 10 questions; or giving them a different prompt if they are having difficulty writing an argument essay about the assigned topic; or giving English-language learners a 鈥渨ord bank鈥� to help them answer the questions.
Grace and understanding aren鈥檛 that 鈥渆xpensive,鈥� even if you have a big class.
Let me know what you think!
By the way, a few of these opinions have previously appeared in my teacher
