Imagine, for a moment, that you are at work. You're sitting at your desk and your boss walks over to you and says, "This is why I don't let you do this on your own. This is how you do it. Let me do it for you."
I hope you reacted, like I did, by thinking, "Well, what's the point?"
This is an all to real scenario for so many of our students. It may not be in those exact words, but time after time students are told, shown, and proven to be completely dependent on the adults in their lives. Parents, teachers, even strangers. So many adults create situations of dependence without even thinking about it. Why, I'm not sure, but it's harming our students.
How will they ever grow up to figure out if their body is too warm or too cold if we tell them when they have to wear a jacket and when it has to be zippered? (I understand their are times it is a safety risk. I am addressing all times except for those.)
How will they figure out which way will work best if we just tell them which way will work best?
How will they ever branch out and try things on their own if they're told constantly how and why and what and who and where and when to do this that and the other.
We need to embrace the messiness of learning. We need to develop students who can think, and reflect, and attempt, and fail, and LEARN from that failure.
We need a new kind of independence day in education. The kind that pushes for independent thinkers, independent doers - independent kids!
Kids don't need us as much as we think they do. Try it. I promise. Might they fail? Might they try something that doesn't work? Might they not get it the first time? Might they have to do it again, or try something different, or recover? YES. GOOD. That means they are learning.
I hope you reacted, like I did, by thinking, "Well, what's the point?"
This is an all to real scenario for so many of our students. It may not be in those exact words, but time after time students are told, shown, and proven to be completely dependent on the adults in their lives. Parents, teachers, even strangers. So many adults create situations of dependence without even thinking about it. Why, I'm not sure, but it's harming our students.
How will they ever grow up to figure out if their body is too warm or too cold if we tell them when they have to wear a jacket and when it has to be zippered? (I understand their are times it is a safety risk. I am addressing all times except for those.)
How will they figure out which way will work best if we just tell them which way will work best?
How will they ever branch out and try things on their own if they're told constantly how and why and what and who and where and when to do this that and the other.
We need to embrace the messiness of learning. We need to develop students who can think, and reflect, and attempt, and fail, and LEARN from that failure.
We need a new kind of independence day in education. The kind that pushes for independent thinkers, independent doers - independent kids!
Kids don't need us as much as we think they do. Try it. I promise. Might they fail? Might they try something that doesn't work? Might they not get it the first time? Might they have to do it again, or try something different, or recover? YES. GOOD. That means they are learning.
Can I send this out to my parents who want to carry their child's back pack and unload it at the door? At our Open House I ask my parents to raise their right hand and repeat: I am not in third grade. I am not in third grade! It is so hard to let go and let them grow up--but the CAN do it. And they learn a LOT in the process. Great post.
ReplyDeleteI went through the same thing as a 4th grade teacher. I'm not a parent myself yet, but I feel very strongly about independence!
DeleteI wholeheartedly agree. We have to embrace a growth mindset and allow students to make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. I especially like your call for raising independent thinkers.
ReplyDelete