In my University career, I have only a few
times come up against assignments and projects that were open ended. In these
open ended projects many a times we have been given very basic outlines (for
example use at least 3 drama conventions) to create a sort of assignment that
fits your own learning style and personal story. Every time I get these project
outlines, I automatically find myself in a panic. When given the freedom to
define my own learning and look for content that fits me in the context, I find
the possibility of finding something that is “good enough” to be incredibly
overwhelming. I am finding this right now in one of my English classes, where
we have been asked to create our own presentation about anything to do with a
specific genre. I think what I am having such a hard time with is the open
ended nature of the assignment, and the possibility of not fully being able to
find what really interests me in terms of this genre.
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How does this
relate to education? Well this past week our education class was asked to
access a variety of online educational resources that better showcased some of
the front-runners in educational development. In doing so, I was pleasantly
surprised to find so many great videos and blogs from educators and policy
makers surrounding new and inventive fashions to engage students. One major
aspect of a lot of these websites was “Project Based Learning”. In this kind of
learning students are asked to ask questions and investigate an authentic area
of discovery. An example of this approach can be found at the “Inquiry Hub”
website, where students are asked to frame their learning within 1 of 3 themes
or streams of study. These are Community and Global Issues, environmental
sustainability, and media arts and technology. Furthermore, instead of having a
“old story” lecture style set up, students are given the ability to inquire
through workshop and collaborative practice. It is in this new distinct style
of schooling that students are able to base their understanding in authentic
open ended questions, with complex and ever changing answers.
Looking
at all the incredible resources in terms of Project Based Learning in sighted a
questioning for me. Why at the University level do I so dramatically reject the
notion of authentic learning, and the ability to decide my own questioning? I
remember first coming to University and being very thrown off by the
possibility of making my own choices in regards to educational discipline and
assessment. Was I trained in the “old story” to only follow directions, and
engage in unauthentic educational possibilities? And if so, did my ability to
critically think and work through complex issues become dejected? Personally I
think that it takes practice, but eventually we as “old story” learners will be
able to develop into the “new story” and away from inauthentic education.
As a future
educator, I can really see the merit in authentic and inquiry based learning. When
looking at how students can engage so deeply in their inquiry based projects,
it is amazing that many of these models are not more fully integrated into the
curriculum. I really am excited to attempt to use some of these great ideas
with my own future classes. Check out these great resources!
Allyson, this was such an exciting blog post to read! I can completely relate to your example, because many times as a student’s we are assigned projects that we don’t even know how to begin. As you highlighted, using a project based learning approach in University has been quite the challenge, however it is such an integral part of the inquiry process and I too have questioned whether this is because we have been brought up in the “old – story” teaching approach. But after researching many of these online resources that demonstrate how to include inquiry and a 21st century style of teaching into our future classes, I can see its value. Last semester we were asked to complete a “genius hour” project that allowed us the time and freedom to research and work on whatever assignment we wanted. This is an example of a 21st century project based approach and at first I was frightened with the amount of freedom we were given, but after reassuring myself that I was on the right path I found the project to be very rewarding. It was the first time in my University career that I was able to explore my own interests. This relates to your comment when you mentioned that “students can engage so deeply in their inquiry based learning.” Genius hour was one of the projects the students at High Tech High (project – based learning school) must complete and upon reading their reflections I was shocked by the amount of inquiry and passion the students had put into their assignments. Although this was only one example of project based learning, after researching these websites there has been many useful tools I am sure we can both use in our future classrooms. Therefore, I believe if as future educators we become more familiar and practice 21st century inquiry based projects we can see its positive benefits and create an idea of how to implement them into our future classrooms, since I feel you and I can both see its worthiness in the classroom.
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