Which came first? The chicken or the egg? As a business education teacher I am confronted by this conundrum each time I sit down to write a lesson plan. The standard that I am delivering and the scaffold of the concepts that I expect my students to already understand are printed neatly and separated by an index tab in the binder that also holds the curriculum document which itemizes the standards that go with each unit.
It is my job to find an interesting observation or question to draw the students in, remind them of what they already know and ask them what they think should be the natural outcome of “X” while carefully leaving a trail of bread crumbs to guide them toward the explicitly stated objective of the curriculum.
The truth is that the students have their own ideas about where the trail should lead and often they will gallop ahead of any lesson plan if they are empowered to exercise their curiosity and branch out on their own learning opportunity.
Here is the conundrum, how often can we set aside the prescribed objective in favor of the student-lead learning opportunity?
If you have a sales background, you probably recognize this anecdote about the young sales person invited to a sales meeting with a senior executive. The young sales person works for several days assembling data and building a slide deck that is perfect in every way: Clear graphics, simple statements, minimal language crafted expressly for this client. The meeting goes very well, the conversation is relaxed and the customer’s questions are all fully answered ending in a handshake and an order. On their way to the elevator, the young sales person laments that they were not able to make their presentation. The senior executive responds to the young sales person “Your work in developing that presentation paid off because you were fully prepared to answer every question that the customer asked. That preparation translated into an easy conversation and an order. Your effort in assembling that presentation was not wasted.”
Similarly, lesson planning is not wasted when students are engaged in learning. Identifying what we want students to take away from a lesson, knowing our content fully, and preparing for the needs of the learners is like the young sales persons perfect presentation slide deck. Recognizing a teachable moment and taking advantage of student lead learning is the goal of every good teacher.
The class went in a different direction. The lesson plan was not followed and students were rewarded for their interest and curiosity while the teacher took on the role of facilitator ceding to them their responsibility to learn; isn’t that the point?
GoodReads reviewer Trevor wrote in his review of the 1969 book Teaching as a Subversive Activity “We train people according to how we organise the institutions they are required to fit within – and if even part of the reason for having schools is to provide our society with citizens capable of acting in an active democracy, someone really does need to explain how this will be achieved from over a decade in such an autocratic environment.”
Yet here we are, nearly 50 years later still trying to change the status quo. “The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.”
But maybe, if we look past the rows of desks and standardized tests, there are glimmers of change peeking through. Maybe the genius hour, project based learning, and other models of student lead learning are gaining momentum. Maybe we need to get better at recognizing teachable moments. Maybe we need to let go of the plan and take advantage of the learning opportunities!
Christine Heinicke 