A feeling that they must please the grownups at all costs

A feeling that they must please the grownups at all costs

What hampers their thinking, what drives them into these narrow and defensive strategies, is a feeling that they must please the grownups at all costs. The really able thinkers in our class turn out to be, without exception, children who don’t feel so strongly the need to please grownups. Some of them are good students, some not so good; but good or not, they don’t work to please us, but to please themselves. (Holt, How Children Fail, p. 29)

Slide – Organize around the opportunity to contribute

2021 Difference Making 01 REVISED

“It’s ironic that a shift away from a focus on preparation (take Algebra 1 because you need it for Algebra 2, which you might need to go to college which you might need to get a job) to a focus on difference making is the best possible form of preparation for the innovation economy. A portfolio of work that demonstrates expanding contribution to causes that matter — to a young person and their community — is far more valuable to most colleges and employers than a list of courses passed.

What if, instead of a list of required courses, high school was organized around the opportunity to contribute?”

Vander Ark & Liebtag, Difference Making at the Heart of Learning, 2021 (p. 80)

 

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Are there any ‘deeper learning’ virtual schools?

Virtual schools… I like the concept of shifting ‘time, place, path, and pace’ very much. But I think all of the virtual schools that I’ve encountered still focus primarily on low-level learning, digitized and chunked into a digital adaptive learning system. I don’t think I’ve ever seen ‘deeper learning’ or inquiry- and project-based learning as a core tenet of a virtual school.

That said, maybe virtual schools that focus on deeper learning, student agency, and authentic work are out there! Anyone know of wholly virtual schools that emphasize rich, robust project- and inquiry-based learning; authentic student contribution to the world around them; critical thinking and problem solving; meaningful uses of technology to communicate and collaborate; and so on? If so, I’d love to hear about them!

Even though we've changed the time, place, path, and pace, it can still be low-level learning

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