Educate for the Unknown

“The agenda of education should not just be passing along the contents of already open boxes but fostering curiosity for those still unopened or barely cracked open. We need a bolder agenda. Let's call it educating for the unknown.” (Perkins, D. 2014)

I should have been out fishing the local ponds, but spring break in suburban Chicago was chilly and damp. Instead, I tended to my list of household chores and watched sixty-something episodes of "Breaking Bad". I became hooked (pun weakly intended) into the series for the same reason I enjoy fishing; as much as I would like to think I know what happens next, the outcome is always unpredictable and leaves me wanting more. In between Walter White's escapades, I spent some quality time with David Perkins' interesting book, "Future Wise: Educating Our Children for a Changing World". Perkins challenges educators to reimagine school by offering learning that matters to the lives of learners. The book is full of terrific suggestions for making learning "lifeworthy". One concept that has grabbed my attention Perkins calls "educating for the unknown."

How can we teach something we don't know? Perkins says big understandings sustain lifeworthy learning, and this knowledge stems from big questions. These are questions that a Google search won't answer, questions you won't find on a multiple choice test. How did we get here? Climate change; what's the real problem? Warm air is lighter than cold air; but what if not?

Big understandings do not require absolute answers, yet they propel purposeful learning. Watch children at play, "I wonder what makes that top keep spinning?" Inquiry-based learning, discovery learning, project-based learning, problem-based learning are edu-jargon ways of helping learners ask big questions and igniting wonder.

A recent Gallup survey of nearly one million students shows engagement and enjoyment in the classroom decline steadily from kindergarten to 12th grade. Perkins states the key to transforming schools is to shift focus from achievement to relevance. Do you want to increase student engagement and empowerment in the classroom? Add mystery and wonder by teaching students to ask, and then pursue answers to, their big questions.

"Learners' pursuit of a question often makes for better learning. The given answer is not understood; the answer pursued and mastered is." - David Perkins (2-minute video)

What is something you understand very well? How did you acquire this great understanding? Chances are you incorporated one or more of the often mentioned, but frequently ignored, 21st-century skills including; communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creative problem-solving. Educating for the Unknown shifts learning away from pre-packaged content to these timeless, "lifeworthy" skills. Lifelong learning becomes a lifestyle pattern when the learner can transfer big understandings from one situation to another. There are successful practical examples of educating for the unknown in schools.

Makerspaces - Spaces designed for creative exploration, ideation, and prototyping. Makerspaces provide opportunities for students to put their questions into playful practice.
Genius Hour (20% Time) - Time devoted to learners following their interests and passions, asking big questions, and sharing "big understandings."
Project-based Learning - PBL begins with a challenging problem or confounding question. Inquiry drives the creation of a product that is critiqued, revised and reflected upon. Skills get developed through creative, collaborative processes. A final product is presented and shared with authentic audiences.

Technology is accelerating innovation and change, making the future difficult to predict. How are educators to prepare students for careers that don't yet exist? How can teachers help students become "future-ready"? Teachers can identify and discuss trends; they can adopt a learner's mindset, and they can provide present-day opportunities for students to ask big questions and develop big understandings. Teachers can increase student engagement, close the relevancy gap, and better prepare students for the future by educating for the unknown.

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery. Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research." - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.” – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined

Melanie Booth said…

I just read a review of Nonsense: The Power of Not Knowing (by Jamie Holmes) and added it to my must-read list; I'm now adding Perkins' book next to it. It's so critical for all learners (kids and adult learners!) to be able to learn by/with/through ambiguity. To be able to pose the questions (and the *right* questions!) can be as challenging if not more so as finding answers. The connections to creativity and problem-finding and problem-solving and learning-by-doing are key.
Thanks for this post!

May 10, 2016 at 1:02 PM

Robert T. Schuetz said…

Hello Melanie,
I hope all is well with you. Thank you for reading and commenting. I will have to check out the Holmes book you mention - it sounds like something I will enjoy. The one thing we all face is an uncertain future. Wasn't it Einstein who said, "The measure of intelligence is the ability to change." I don't see how change is possible without asking the "right" questions you speak of.
Best,
Bob

May 10, 2016 at 3:49 PM

Nocking the Arrow

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