Phenomenon based learning, a concept yet in its developing phase but gaining popularity in countries that have moved away from discrete subject based teaching towards more integrative curricula. As its name implies, learning is centered around an observable phenomenon (preferably observed by the students especially in elementary classrooms), and lessons are generated around the questions that arise from the observations. Project based learning but entirely authentic as it centers learning on real world issues and events. Examples of this can be seen in Finnish classrooms where phenomenon are considered global events that could be social or scientific or both. Global economic emigration is a good example where global warming is exponentially decreasing the arable land around the world's hotter climes and forcing large group migration in search of employment and economic opportunities. Here I have attached a short youtube video on what could be the future of education if we want to use essential questions to drive learning in classrooms that ask the questions that their communities are currently struggling with. (A Nevada classroom used this approach in a pre-school classroom where much of the learning was centered around having observed the solar eclipse http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2018/06/18/the-power-of-phenomenon-based-learning/)
Another question that has resonated with me from Buehl is: "what are the most enduring understandings __ the big ideas that a literate person should know after the passage of a significant amount of time, say five years?" Do we really ask ourselves these questions before preparing a lesson. Not the generic, what do we want students to learn from this? But _what is the purpose of this lesson? What purpose does it serve? Is it of any value to the student's current or future lives? And if there is, then are we providing all students equitable "opportunities to learn" (Gee, 2003, 2013) that will result in enduring understandings?
The idea that teachers should first question themselves over the significance of what they are teaching before they even start planning is a caveat that we seldom think about; especially, when our own knowledge of the discipline remains shallow. Do we know what it means to engage in the practices of a discipline? Readers will argue and disagree, but for current and future teachers in all disciplines I will ask: have you engaged in authentic research and produced a text that reflects the practices of a disciplinary expert, a mathematician or a scientist? If yes then you are ahead of many. If not, then you are not alone but this must be the time when we need to reflect on our own practices especially when we go in classrooms with such ambitious ideas as Kist's concept of classroom as studios and teachers as masters in their crafts.
And last, have we even begun to question the purposes of education as it currently functions? whether this aligns with how we envision education? and would asking this question help us in providing students with more meaningful and authentic opportunities to learn?
Can we ask our students what they expect from their own education? and be able to realize something that is far more ambitious then they had ever envisioned?
References
Gee, J. P. (2003). "Opportunity to learn: A language-based perspective on assessment." Assessment in Education 10(1): 27-46.
http://nstacommunities.org/blog/2018/06/18/the-power-of-phenomenon-based-learning/)
https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/Using%20Phenomena%20in%20NGSS.pdf
Your post has a lot of intriguing points. I do think they we do have to question the purpose of education as a whole and even the day to say practices to make sure that there is learning or a great purpose everyday. I really enjoyed reading about the phenomenon based learning it was interesting and seems like it would be great to make the curriculum relevant to the students because it is stuff that is happening in their lives .
ReplyDeleteSara, thank you for your comment. I also found phenomenon based learning to be quite intriguing and it seems to be closely linked to integrative curricula when students will learn about one concept that traverses science, math, literature etc.
DeleteHi thank you for posting this week. I think the idea of phenomenon learning is so important and interesting in the educational world. This creates specific events or things that students can relate their learning to. It eliminates the possibility of students asking "why is this important" because they can see the direct connection to the phenomenon they are learning about. This could be great for other social studies courses, such as geography or civics, however I think it might be slightly more difficult in history since most observable phenomenon would have taken place in the past. What ideas do you have to work with that in the classroom?
ReplyDeleteDane, thank you for your comment. I think that phenomenon in social studies are interlinked. So for instance a phenomenon that could be considered as driving deeper conversations in migrations. There are so many issues related to migration: imperialism; war; oil; the arms industry; drugs; global warming; water; etc ..all interlinked if we look deep enough... and can definitely trace back to similar historical phenomenon; colonialism; slavery; forced migration; racism etc..
DeleteIn Buel Chapter 5, the focus is using inquiry based learning with text. This is truly one of the most difficult levels of thinking because it uses creating and evaluation. Students have moved past the facts and comprehension and into the synthesize These skills are building off the basic strategies of the reading apprenticeship with talking to the text and comprehensive discourse. Buel sums it up nicely saying, ““That means that students must be the ones asking the majority of questions and doing the bulk of classroom talk.They must shake off the passive role of receiving information and become apprentices who actually do the work of the disciplines they are studying.” To do this difficult skill, the teacher will have to front load the knowledge with overarching essential questions and text-dependent questioning. Before students begin using these questioning skill the teacher will have to model them, and push students past the surface. I know in my classroom, I use the RAFTS organizer for analyzing the historical sources. The “S” is the so what portion, with guiding questions on the side for student to answer. I also, focus on writing good essential questions, because they can really guide my unit. Many times I will use them as formative assessment question for students to answer throughout the unit to inform my instruction.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in education were are taking major steps in disciplinary literacy and the development of better readers. However, there is not enough interdisciplinary curriculum for students to foster these skills. Many times I feel that the core subjects are so isolated from each other when it comes to literacy and inquiry based learning. I believe that we could be more successful if we adopted the Finish curriculum of phenomenon based learning. This is the idea of blurring lines of the traditional subjects and teaching inquiry based skills. It takes a lot more work on the teacher to build these skills at younger grades, but the achievement have the potential to be great.
In Phenomenon Based Learning, what would the assessment look like? Would be completely remove standards based grading?
I dont know? Would it be removed from standards based grading or perhaps develop more inter-disciplinary standards. i think that teachers need to develop assessments that can bridge the gap between classroom learning and the standardized tests that students have to give. Having said that, schools are introducing curriculum integration at the middle school level, through topics that are taught by different teachers from different disciplinary lens. Could we continue to use the same standards based assessments? Depends on the school and school district. In more fluid curricula settings, it is possible but requires tremendous commitment of time and effort from the part of the teachers to work collaboratively as well as individually.
DeleteThank you for your sharing. Your title of the blog made me question myself why you have these emphases and what made you have to treat "on Education and in Education" so differently. Now I could not say that I am able to grasp your ideas totally, but I think I do was vibrated. Education means both the educators and students are being educated. Students learn how to learn, educators learn how to teach. Both are indispensable. I totally agree that educators should promote education from level "on" to level "in", form theorems to the essence.
ReplyDeleteThe way you phrase my title "from theorems to essence" is quite profound and made me go back to read my title :).. I had'nt thought of it like that but this is the beauty of text. Every reader that interacts with it sees something different in it. Thank you Xiaoyan for your response. It made me reflect further..
DeleteThank you for your post. I like what you said that "teachers should first question themselves over the significance of what they are teaching" and that impresses me. I think it is very important for teachers to figure out what they are teaching, which does not involve professional skills, but cognition on education. Teachers should examine teaching content critically and judge the practical significance of the content to the student's life. If the content taught is out of touch with students' life, why are they asked to learn it?
ReplyDeleteYutong, if you can answer that question then you are halfway there :). There is a great deal of effort that goes into creating lessons that make the content relevant to student lives. Standards based curricula generally focus on conceptual understanding and how the teacher garners this learning is upto them. That is where the real work goes in. To know your students, see whats important to them and then create something that can hook them and then give each student the supports that they need to feel good about themselves while developing independently. Sounds good! It is not easy so if you need to keep trying to get it right, your not the only one. I find lesson planning, one of the most grueling and hard parts of my work.
DeleteYour post touched on one of the aspects that I found interesting in Buehl ’s chapter 5 and that was about the enduring understandings of a passage. This made me think about the importance of identifying the particular information that I want to remain in my students’ minds. Once I identify which information is crucial, I think that having a curriculum that is relevant to the lives of the students can help them engage students to the material and, since they can relate to it, they will most likely not forget certain concepts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Subul - phenomenon based learning is something that interests me as well. I think that shifting towards curricula based on observable phenomena relevant to our students' lives provides us with precisely that opportunity that you described - a chance to reflect on the big ideas that we want to examine and to select phenomena which invite discipline appropriate inquiry. For me the struggle has resided in my ability to invert the balance - to elicit the big idea inquiry from my students. I appreciated the strategies that Buehl shared here and am looking forward to instituting some of the frontloading strategies - hopefully this will encourage my students' curiosity.
ReplyDelete