Using a randomizer mechanism is such a great idea! For me, that takes the pressure off, and makes it more about the connection itself than the (probably imagined) judgment. Delighted to see more of your thinking on learning in community, and how the communal aspect of learning influences the experience.
Thanks Rania! Yes, I love little tools like a randomizer. Helps to remove the bad friction (e.g., lost time forming groups) while keeping the good kind (e.g., productive discussions over course material). Glad you enjoyed it.
Nicely put, Josh, as always. You have written before about the way that grading works against the work of recognizing "the relational richness" of classroom learning. In my experience, most of the "grammar of schooling" to use David Tyack and Larry Cuban's phrase, works against creating a genuine community of inquiry and learning in a class.
Just this week, a student published an editorial in my campus newspaper arguing against structured, active in-class learning. Some of the critique was about the execution of the idea in the writer's experience, but behind the critique as the common refrain that students are more comfortable with individualized structures of evaluation and participation, which is of course, mostly what they have experienced in 6-12 grade classrooms.
As you well know, the challenge of realizing this wonderful vision start with our own students.
You bring up an interesting point that I neglected to address: do students actually want this?
I see similar comments on course evals for classes running on flipped models or with lots of active learning. Sometime students prefer a model where they don’t have to engage, even if there is lots of evidence to show that they learn less. It’s going to be important not only to explain how we design the course and why, but to get student buy in and explain why the effort and active engagement required is worth it.
A beautiful image of a connected learning community. I think you'll find you have a lot in common with Dr. Maria Montessori's pedagogy. Hard to believe she promoted these same revolutionary ideas back in 1907.
Thanks Bart. Your comment is a good reminder for me to learn a bit more about Dr. Montessori’s work and to explore how it might give me some new language for thinking through these ideas.
A+ Josh! This is congruous with the learnings in my career in Design + Engineering + Science, our theses of developing field-scale productivity at Homeworld and my conviction of making empowerment (not “equity”) the North Star.
Thanks Daniel! I like this and would love to hear you say more about field-level productivity through empowerment. Do you have a piece on that somewhere to share?
Adding the recommended reading section to these posts is a brilliant touch. Your ideas grow from your infosphere, and being able to explore this space is interesting.
Using a randomizer mechanism is such a great idea! For me, that takes the pressure off, and makes it more about the connection itself than the (probably imagined) judgment. Delighted to see more of your thinking on learning in community, and how the communal aspect of learning influences the experience.
Thanks Rania! Yes, I love little tools like a randomizer. Helps to remove the bad friction (e.g., lost time forming groups) while keeping the good kind (e.g., productive discussions over course material). Glad you enjoyed it.
Nicely put, Josh, as always. You have written before about the way that grading works against the work of recognizing "the relational richness" of classroom learning. In my experience, most of the "grammar of schooling" to use David Tyack and Larry Cuban's phrase, works against creating a genuine community of inquiry and learning in a class.
Just this week, a student published an editorial in my campus newspaper arguing against structured, active in-class learning. Some of the critique was about the execution of the idea in the writer's experience, but behind the critique as the common refrain that students are more comfortable with individualized structures of evaluation and participation, which is of course, mostly what they have experienced in 6-12 grade classrooms.
As you well know, the challenge of realizing this wonderful vision start with our own students.
Thanks Rob, appreciate it.
You bring up an interesting point that I neglected to address: do students actually want this?
I see similar comments on course evals for classes running on flipped models or with lots of active learning. Sometime students prefer a model where they don’t have to engage, even if there is lots of evidence to show that they learn less. It’s going to be important not only to explain how we design the course and why, but to get student buy in and explain why the effort and active engagement required is worth it.
A beautiful image of a connected learning community. I think you'll find you have a lot in common with Dr. Maria Montessori's pedagogy. Hard to believe she promoted these same revolutionary ideas back in 1907.
Thanks Bart. Your comment is a good reminder for me to learn a bit more about Dr. Montessori’s work and to explore how it might give me some new language for thinking through these ideas.
A+ Josh! This is congruous with the learnings in my career in Design + Engineering + Science, our theses of developing field-scale productivity at Homeworld and my conviction of making empowerment (not “equity”) the North Star.
Thanks Daniel! I like this and would love to hear you say more about field-level productivity through empowerment. Do you have a piece on that somewhere to share?
Adding the recommended reading section to these posts is a brilliant touch. Your ideas grow from your infosphere, and being able to explore this space is interesting.