Comments on: Questioning "Student Centered Learning"

By: Student Centered Learning vs. DI | LearnWell Education

Student Centered Learning vs. DI | LearnWell Education — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 19:49:17 +0000

[...] more information about student based approaches to learning please take a look at Neil Stephen’s “Questioning Student Centered Learning.” He has done incredible work in this [...]

By: Reflections on Planning Authentic Teaching & Learning in Geography « The Learning 2.0 School

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 20:16:07 +0000

[...] Mind, published by Neil Stephenson (PD Coordinator, Calgary Science School). In a post on Student Centered Learning, Neil talks about his experience when planning an inquiry unit on the Italian Renaissance with [...]

By: “Bill goes to a farm and sees cows and chickens. He counts 6 heads and 18 legs. How many of each animal does he see?” : The Power to Enrich

Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:51:53 +0000

[...] quote Neil Stephenson: “One does not have to look far today to see examples of how the ‘schooliness’ of [...]

By: Tweets that mention a few of my thoughts on expertise: #atle10 -- Topsy.com

Tweets that mention a few of my thoughts on expertise: #atle10 -- Topsy.com — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 18:09:47 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Neil Stephenson, Vanessa Cassie. Vanessa Cassie said: @Neilstephenson Great post, Neil! Lots to think about http://bit.ly/gkym2u #atle10 [...]

By: Not All Constructivism is Created Equal | Thinking In Mind

Not All Constructivism is Created Equal | Thinking In Mind — Sat, 08 May 2010 17:02:45 +0000

[...] In a previous post, I have written about liberating constraints, one way to frame thisdesign of learning toward deep, disciplined-based understanding. [...]

By: monika hardy

monika hardy — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:15:15 +0000

nice.

Liberating constraints... where can I read more about what you've done to develop them?

Wondering too - about the incredible experience your kids had with authentic writing... - where can I find some of your thoughts on being driven by testing. Certainly not liberating constraints.

Thanks.. I'll search your blog later as well.

By: Collin Li

Collin Li — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:37:23 +0000

Love this post!

I agree completely that learning is about engagement with students.

Reminds me of the slideshow I saw from this tweet

Collin

By: Neil Stephenson

Neil Stephenson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:22:18 +0000

Stacy – thanks for the comment. Your questions are echoing so many of my recent conversations and thoughts, particularly around education conferences. I would love to move conferences toward networking and collaboration opportunities, where teachers have the chance to meet and share discipline-based approaches in their classrooms. This particularly true of technology conferences – as I struggle with discussions about technology divorced from content. I'd love to have conversations with other teachers about the types of 'liberating constraints' they're building into their classrooms.

By: Neil Stephenson

Neil Stephenson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:18:37 +0000

Kris – I completely agree – I recently read an interesting article by William Pinar discussing the need for both verticality and horizontality in all disciplines. By horizontality, Pinar was referring to the current issues and contemporary knowledge of a discipline. This is far too often the only element in a discipline: isoloated and fragmented bits of current thinking. Pinar argues for greater verticality – the historical understanding of a discipline. I think that teaching a subject (mathematics) to students in a meaningful way also includes an understanding of it's history and ancestry. However, the few times I've seen this lived out, it usually means a study of the historical thinkers (students picking an researching a famous scientist). But I think this is missing the mark – I think what it means to have an understanding of the history of a discipline is to study the historical debates, struggles, voices and 'ghosts' that live within a curriculum concept. My graduate supervisor, David Jardine, talks about the need to place students within the historical conversation of mathematics (or history, or chemistry, etc) Students should be introduced to the idea that the concepts within the curriculum are not isolated notions that emerged in history fully formed, but rather have been struggled over, debated and contested. In reality, the disciplines we teach are alive and abundant – not fragmented and disembodied the institution of school so often reduces them to.

By: Neil Stephenson

Neil Stephenson — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:09:27 +0000

Joanne – thanks for the response. I agree that in an inquiry-based classroom not everyone has to be doing the same thing – however, I do think it's far more effective to have all the different things leading toward the same larger question. I think we as the teachers should be looking to the lived-discipline for guidance about the larger, essential question(s) that we as a class are working toward answering. Underneath that, students individual questions should all be leading toward that same larger inquiry. For example, I recently talked with a teacher where each student picked a study question on light – but without any focusing question for the whole class. Wouldn't it be more powerful if each individual research question fed back into a larger question – developing a collective knowledge building experience? Also, that way each individual student has an authentic audience for their work – since every student will be relying on all the others to complete the larger study?