Earlier this week there was an absolutely beautiful op-ed piece in the NY Times, Playing to Learn by Susan Engel. In light of Obama’s proposed changes to No Child Left Behind, Susan Engel describes further changes – ones that would truly impact teaching and learning for the better. “Our current educational approach — and the testing that is driving it — is completely at odds with what scientists understand about how children develop during the elementary school years and has led to a curriculum that is strangling children and teachers alike,” she writes. It reminds me of a recent study from the University of California where National Board Certified, Highly Qualified teachers were surveyed about NCLB. 84% responded that NCLB has had unfavorable effects. “These highly accomplished teachers were skeptical, and in some cases angry, about the consequences of No Child Left Behind for the nation’s school children,” the report said. “This is a problematic outcome of the legislation, if only because these are precisely the teachers the public schools can least afford to lose.” Click here to read more about this study.
In her essay, Engel describes what an engaging curriculum can look like (engaging for students AND for teachers). Here is a bit about an imaginary third grade classroom,
“In this classroom, children would spend two hours each day hearing stories read aloud, reading aloud themselves, telling stories to one another and reading on their own. After all, the first step to literacy is simply being immersed, through conversation and storytelling, in a reading environment; the second is to read a lot and often. A school day where every child is given ample opportunities to read and discuss books would give teachers more time to help those students who need more instruction in order to become good readers.
“Children would also spend an hour a day writing things that have actual meaning to them — stories, newspaper articles, captions for cartoons, letters to one another. People write best when they use writing to think and to communicate, rather than to get a good grade.”
She goes on to describe computation, collaboration and the value of extended time for play. (Check out the full piece for more details.) What she says makes so much sense, I only wish I had written it myself. How have we gotten so far off track with education in this country? What will it take to get us on a better track? I thought Obama would be the answer – but his inner circle of advisers are not what I dreamed of – more like a nightmare! When will our leaders start asking teachers about teaching and learning instead of legislating misguided mandates?
As a teacher, I found ways to have extended periods of time everyday when students were making choices about their own learning. Building materials, art supplies, conversations and good literature kept students engaged and motivated. They had time to play, discover, invent and experiment. At Mission Hill School in Boston where I taught, in a child-centered, democratic classroom, I had time to work with small groups and talk with individual students. We studied curriculum themes for ten or twelve weeks (sometimes longer) and made room for students to carry the theme in their own directions.
My own sons (six-year-old twin boys in kindergarten) now struggle to stay engaged at school. Some days are better than others, but some days are pretty bad. Especially when there has been no time for play or discovery. It is what they live for. Literally, playful learning is like oxygen for them. Hours spent building ramps out of recycled cardboard, rudimentary Rube-Goldberg-inspired contraptions, Lincoln log cities and LEGO vehicles are what makes life worth living for them. They also love to write and illustrate short books – and lately have re-discovered a stack of books they wrote last year (before they started school). What fun it has been, re-reading with them something they wrote a year ago – and noticing how much their writing has developed.
I sympathize with teachers who are struggling to stay true to what is good for kids, and I thank Susan Engel for writing her piece for the NY Times. I’ll be spreading it far and wide. I hope it helps the movement!
I agree with you and Susan Engel! I, too, have been sending this article to people I know and teachers who I coach and mentor.