What if ...

What if we helped our students develop a growth mindset and taught them metacognitive skills to transition them into more enlightened and productive learners. We may be mistaking complacency and "laziness" for the lack of learning and study skills.

What if skills such as critical thinking, collaboration across platforms, communication, and creative problem solving are embedded in the learning process for all students? We know that inquiry based learning and problem/project based learning not only embed these skills but also engage the learning process towards more authentic and deeper learning.

What if the ideas of standards based learning and assessment are correctly used to focus on learning, feedback and continuous improvement? Students need to learn how to take charge of their own learning. Standards based assessments help identify shortcomings and encourage relearning opportunities.

What if social emotional or life skill issues do not muddy the academic grade but are given their rightful place as important non-academic outcomes that are reported separately? Students do not need to have their academic assessment diluted by behavior or habits. They however do need to learn to develop those good social, emotional and work habit skills for their educational and life journeys.

What if schools stopped linking learning to Carnegie units? We are told that technology is breaking down the classroom walls, implying that student learning is no longer dependent upon what is presented in the classroom. We talk of students taking charge of their own learning and progressing at their own pace, no longer bounded by time or space. In this context, the Carnegie unit is an unhelpful anachronism.

What if students were allowed to manage their own learning and able to use competency assessments to progress through a chosen learning path? Would this not be better than seat time linked to semester or year-long courses? Would this not be more in tune with the needs of individual students?

What if we simply stopped pouring new wine into old wine skins?