Last Sunday, January 8, NPR broadcast a This American Life episode entitled, “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory.” I was mesmerized as I listened to this expose of an electronics factory as told by a self-described “worshiper in the cult of Mac.” The story caused me to think about a great many things. I certainly thought of a powerful PBL possibility…
What if student learners tracked the production and “story” of a product of their choosing? What if they selected an electronic device, an article of clothing, a favorite object, a drop of water from their home faucet, a unit of electricity from a school light bulb…and what if they worked to discover the back story of this product, object, or unit of energy? What would they discover? What could be learned? Would they learn some history? Some math? Some science? Some anthropology, sociology, and economics? Some English and foreign language? Some critical thinking? Some creativity? Some writing? Some literacy and numeracy? Some ecology? Some justice? Some…
Today on This American Life, NPR is rebroadcasting an episode entitled “Kid Politics.” During my walks with my dog Lucy, I have listened to “Kid Politics” twice so that I could contemplate and think about the act-one story detailing the Reagan Library fieldtrip that at least some would see/hear as a “capital P” project-based learning example. While the story is fascinating and thought provoking, I believe that the trip to the Reagan Library is a simulation resting close to the “lowercase p pbl” end of the spectrum (see “Contemplating pbl vs. PBL” blog post that explains this categorization method for curriculum/instruction innovation).
I am hoping that some of you will listen to the NPR episode and let me know what you think about the Reagan Library simulation as a pbl vs. PBL. (I am really curious what @jonathanemartin would say…seems a great continuation of our BIE Common Craft video dialogue.) In the podcast story, what gets to me is the game-show sound effects of a “right-answer bell” and a “wrong-answer buzz.” When students in the simulation here these Pavlovian noises, I wonder what gets imprinted about having thoughts of their own.
Now, is this simulation a potentially powerful way for students to study the Grenada-invasion history? Yes. Is this simulation probably more fun and exciting to the students than merely reading about the event in a textbook? Yes. But the simulation does not cross the threshold of pbl vs. PBL, in my opinion. And it’s mostly because of that darn bell-buzz sound effect – the facilitators clearly are gearing for right and wrong answers. Are they teaching history or creating opportunity for critical thinking and original ideas? If they are trying to do both, I wonder if they are measuring their success at each objective.
Capital P PBL involves students in relevant, real-problem, community projects that don’t possess preconceived solutions. Capital P PBL does not merely place students in simulations so that they can re-enact what adults have already done. Again, I am not saying that I think the Reagan Library experience is worthless. In fact, I would love to participate in the simulation that is described in the “Kid Politics” episode of This American Life. I think the simulation is a powerful way for students to study the history and bring it to life with real drama, real emotion, and real reaction. But I hope that these students and their teacher used such a simulation as a jumping off point for a debrief that seemed a must after those reporters and Presidential staffers mingled in the same room. I hope that this jumping off point provided a springboard for students to engage in their own critical decision making…about a current issue…amongst an authentic audience.
Are you wondering how to engage students in more real-world learning? Are you looking for inspiration for and examples of project-based learning that connects students and adults with authentic issues challenging our citizenry? I am. John Hunter, Jamie Baker, and The Martin Institute help me do so…
“World Peace Game Creator John Hunter Named Martin Institute Fellow”
Press release from January 5, 2012, by The Martin Institute for Teaching Excellence…gives details of partnership between Martin Institute and John Hunter, provides information on film about John Hunter’s classroom approach, and offers dates for summer institute on developing curriculum and instruction that innovates like the World Peace Games
“#PBL examples, courtesy of TEDxWomen”
Blog post from January 11, 2012, on It’s About Learning – about finding examples and inspirations for PBL…links to two other posts about PBL
In contemplating pbl vs. PBL, I am working to discern the spectrum of possibilities for enhancing project-based learning opportunities in schools. For me, one way to innovate and develop more powerful PBL opportunities involves practicing deliberate observation and journaling – purposeful discovery, interpretation, and ideation can set a foundation for project design and implementation.
Of course, it also helps to see examples of school-aged children engaging in learning that is rooted in real-world challenges and that is promoted through communication with authentic audiences. This morning, I was fortunate enough to have a TED talk link in my email inbox. Thanks to faculty and colleagues who are exploring the complexities of PBL and sharing, I can share these three examples of PBL that seem to fly toward that upper right quadrant of the matrix I offered on Jan. 4.
Whatever it is I think I see becomes a PBL to me! [sung to the tune of 1977 Tootsie Roll commercial embedded below]
If you were alive and watching TV in the mid to late 1970s, then perhaps you remember this 30 second advertisement from Tootsie Roll…
Simply replace “tootsie roll” in the jingle with “PBL.” Occasionally, my wife and sons will catch me singing this around the house. Truly, just about everything I see becomes a PBL idea to me. This visioning, though, is the result of purposeful and deliberate practice, as I have tried to grow in my capacity to develop “uppercase PBL” opportunities.
On January 4, 2012, I published a blog post about “Contemplating pbl vs. PBL.” In the post, I constructed a two-by-two matrix that helps explain how I think one can move along a spectrum of “lowercase pbl” (essentially project-oriented learning) to “uppercase PBL” in which learners are addressing genuine community challenges and engaging with authentic audiences of co-interested citizens. But how does one even think of such capital PBL ideas?
Based on countless conversations over the past few years, I get the feeling that more than a few educators struggle with the notion of originating and implementing uppercase PBL ideas. Actually, I think the struggle resides more in the implementation than in the origination, but that may need to be its own separate blog post. For now, let’s stick to the topic of originating, or concepting, the uppercase PBL ideas – creating the grand challenges that tend to integrate studies and promote community engagement from our student-learners and ourselves.
A Habit of Seeing and Recording
Concepting and brainstorming ideas for PBL is as simple as developing a habit of seeing and recording. Some may feel that such is easier said than done, but I believe it is really that easy. To form a habit, of course, one must commit to trying and rehearsing. Anyone with vision can develop a habit of seeing and recording, but it does take practice – just like anything else. In today’s world, though, the tools at our disposal make it easier and easier to develop a habit of seeing and archiving potential PBL ideas. Keeping a digital observation journal is a fabulous practice and discipline, if you want to build a resource pool of possible PBL opportunities.
I imagine there are countless ways to keep an observation journal. In essence, though, an observation journal is simply a space in which to record thoughts, questions, and images about the things that one sees while walking around. Because I almost always have my iPhone in my pocket, I rely heavily on this tool to keep my observation journal. As I walk around school and the greater Atlanta area, I often take pictures of things that raise my curiosity. For example, over the Christmas and winter break, I walked my dog quite a bit, and I captured the following images around a few bridges traversing Nancy Creek – the bridges are very close to my school, and Nancy Creek runs through my school campus.
Just from recording these images with my iPhone, I am wondering about fieldwork investigations of the science, math, economics, and history of Nancy Creek. Myriad questions come to mind…
What is the water quality of Nancy Creek? How does it change over a year’s cycle? What kind of life is supported by Nancy Creek? Is it safe for my boys and dog to play in Nancy Creek?
What data is collected by that big metal box? How does it collect the data? Where does the data go? Who uses the data and how is it used? How could schools help the organization named on the sticker? Could students participate in this data journalism of Nancy Creek?
What was the significance of the Nancy Creek area during the Civil War? What is it’s economic and ecological significance now?
Often, to record these images and questions, I upload my pictures and observations to an email-based blog system called Posterous. Then, with categories and tags added, I am developing a significant library of PBL ideas. In Synergy, we use a group Posterous account (see related post) so that all 26 of us are contributing to the pool of potential project ideas. During the first semester, we accumulated over 400 observation-journal posts. Out of those posts, we developed six projects together.
Imagine if a school faculty and/or the entire student body employed such a school-group Posterous (or any such collaborative tool for seeing and archiving) to collectively organize a virtual fleet of observation journal ideas! The PBL opportunities could be endless!
To develop such a habit of seeing and recording is to follow the initial practices espoused in design thinking:
At Design Thinking for Educators, where the above image was screen captured, this five-stage process of designing is more fully explained. For now, though, just think of observation journaling as a means into “discovery and ideation.” As one takes pictures and records questions for one’s observation journal, one is also engaging in a bit of “interpretation.” By posing questions and potential research curiosities, we begin to interpret what we are seeing, as we begin to formulate what projects could emerge from such wondering. To engage in such design thinking is to return to our roots as childhood learners. As Robert Fulghum has said, “LOOK!” may be the most powerful word we articulate (after mama and dada, of course!). And Mary Ann Reilly, in a recent post about “Making Art & (In)Forming Life,” reminds us of the power and potential of observation. We just have to re-open our eyes to that which we might have started to take for granted. We need to teach ourselves to see again…with that childhood enthusiasm for discovery!
A Key for Innovation
Relearning and leveraging our amazing human capacity for seeing is not just a fun way to generate ideas and enjoy the possibilities of challenge in school curricula and instruction. Seeing – as a multi-step, complex system of discovery, interpretation, and ideation – may be the key to educational innovation. In my eyes, innovation is about dreaming, teaming, seaming, and streaming. To dream is to envision. To dream is to “see” with more of our senses and being. To dream is to contemplate what could be.
May we dream big for our schools and our students. May we dream big for the challenges our world faces. Here’s to seeing…together.
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