I recently heard an interesting interview with Mitchel Resnick, the head of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. One of his comments in particular caught my attention. When asked about how he approaches the idea of working with so many different types of learners, Resnick went straight to the heart of the matter, "Rather than trying to think how we educate all these students, I think 'How can we create opportunities for learning, meaning the spaces and the technology that support everyone having rich learning experiences?' Of course, everyone is going to have different pathways to learning, so you have to be aware that one size doesn't fit all."
I recently heard an interesting interview with Mitchel Resnick, the head of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. One of his comments in particular caught my attention. When asked about how he approaches the idea of working with so many different types of learners, Resnick went straight to the heart of the matter, "Rather than trying to think how we educate all these students, I think 'How can we create opportunities for learning, meaning the spaces and the technology that support everyone having rich learning experiences?' Of course, everyone is going to have different pathways to learning, so you have to be aware that one size doesn't fit all."
The difference in approach that Resnick highlights is important, and parents should consider this when looking at schools. As Joi Ito points out, "Education is what people do to you. Learning is what you do for yourself." If the goal of a school is to deliver an education, the classroom scene will look familiar to those of us educated 20, 30, or 40 years ago. Students will all be doing the same activity at the same time with the same expected outcome. It's easy to plan that lesson and easy to evaluate the result.
When a school, instead, focuses on developing learners, the scene is often one that can seem chaotic or disorganized. Different students are engaged in different activities, some students work in groups while others work alone, and the product of one student (or group) may look very different from the product of another. Resnick emphasizes that he and his group have four guiding principles for supporting creative learning: Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play. Students can be intrinsically motivated to work on meaningful projects in groups. He uses the term "Play" to point out that students should be encouraged to experiment, test boundaries, and take chances with their learning. These four P's were at the heart of the development of Scratch by the MIT Media Lab.
I would argue that they are also evident in the classroom on a daily basis at Eton School. We don't take pride in a student's ability to regurgitate information or score well on a standardized test. We do, however, love those "ah-ha" moments when a student's curiosity and passion help them discover an answer or lead them to the next engaging question. Then, we know we are succeeding in creating lifelong learners.
- HOS Blog