Jane’s Brain on Pedagogy - Understanding the black box, aka, the brain.
In this series I discuss various pedagogical perspectives and what makes the OmniLearn model so effective. Humans are social animals and our brains are hard-wired for learning. Multi-sensory learning across disciplines is more than a pleasant experience. It leads to the formation of long-term memories and fosters new questions. But the greatest outcome of all of this experimentation and social interaction is becoming a self-motivated, life-long learner whose cognitive and affective skills are well-honed!
There's always somebody who knows more about something than you do. If you can accept that sometimes that person is one of your students, even though they're younger than you, you will be in good shape.
The quote that I heard a long time ago for gifted education was, “Don't be a sage on the stage, be the guide on the side.”
It really meant a lot to me. First of all, it's a lot of pressure to be the sage on the stage because students are going to find something you don't know. At some point they're going to ask a question that you don't know the answer to. As soon as you present to them — “Look, I'm not an idiot. I know a lot of things and I've studied hard and I came prepared to teach you. I am your teacher but I am totally open to being educated by you.” — That's when you have created a safe space for students to participate in their own learning.
In my last JBOP I talked about the dangers of misinformation and I gave an anecdote about talking to a class about red vs. blue blood. Here is the other half of that story:
I told the class, “The horseshoe crab is the only species in the world that has blue blood.” Immediately, little Theo shot his hand up and exclaimed, “Ms. Powel, that's not true!” I could have said “No, Theo. That is true. You’re wrong. I’m right. It's only horseshoe crabs. Let's move on with our lesson on blood in our bodies.” But what does that accomplish? Now Theo is feeling sad, probably self conscious that his teacher disregarded him so quickly. Maybe he feels angry, because he is pretty sure he is right and this grown up who is in charge wouldn’t give him the time of day.
Of course that's not how I responded at all. I asked “Oh really? What other species have blue blood?” Theo started listing off maybe 10 other species. So now the class is invested and we are looking it up on Google and you know what, HE WAS RIGHT! I was incorrect! Horseshoe crabs are NOT the only species with blue blood. And I shouted, “That’s amazing! I had no idea! Thank you so much for this information!” Theo was surprised, because he expected me to tell him to zip it. He told me later that his other teachers get mad at him when he does that.
Because I listened to Theo that day, not only did he give me that information, every week he came in with new information that he wanted to share. The next week, it was the green shark. “Do you know about the green shark? It is such an amazing animal.” Theo went through a whole presentation for the other students and the next week he offered something about outer space and the next week about dinosaur fossils. He's eager to contribute to the class. He craves knowledge and loves sharing it. And I don’t have an ego. I welcome it.
He’s on the stage. And I am the guide on the side.
Even if a student who has questions or information is indeed wrong, there are other ways to handle it without being rude or condescending. Just work through it again. Make sure that you said the right thing and then explain again. If a student has a question or doesn’t believe something I taught, I love it when they say, “Wait, can we go back to where you said that you could fit 10,000 E. coli on the point of a pin?” This means they were listening to you. You're on the next topic but they're like, “Wait, what did she say?” It's amazing the transformation that I've seen in children when I award them stars on the board. They get public acknowledgment for asking questions, for asking for more information, for more evidence.
And if you did misspeak, own up to it. We are all only human. You can admit you made an error. Teachers aren’t all superior beings. And they can’t possibly know everything. It’s okay, better even, to know what you don’t know.
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