Why right now is the time to adopt the PBL approach:
This year, our world stopped.
There were no more birthday parties, no prom, weddings were postponed, babies were born, but no visitors were around to welcome them. Restaurants and movie theaters were empty. Everyone stayed home.
So much has changed during this global pandemic.
Students stayed home from school. Parents worked from home while tackling all of the at-home duties of "Distance Learning." Teachers went outside of their comfort zones to do what they've always done: make it happen.
Never before has it been more obvious that we need to deliberately teach students to be creative problem-solvers and collaborative partners who can work together to solve real-world problems.
I teach 2nd grade, and it is a truly powerful year. It is the year that students make the switch from learning to read to reading to learn. They finally get to hold the key to access information independently in our world. They no longer depend on others telling them answers to their questions. They can let their curiosity lead them to discover new things.
It is a fun year to teach because students are building their number sense in math. They are learning the structure of our number system. We are building the road map and foundations that will help them navigate our base 10 system. In language arts, students learn to read and write.
I’ve always found the traditional way of teaching and learning to be quite random. Why do my students need to learn about butterflies in such great detail? Why do we read stories about astronauts working in space? The bottom line is that it IS random!
I am not actually teaching my students about astronauts, I’m teaching them about non-fiction text features, so that they’ll be able to access information that IS relevant when the time comes.
If my job is to teach my students how to fish… Why not just take them on a field trip to the pond? Teachers must begin to teach their students with the PBL (Project Based Learning) approach.
Thinking back on my own elementary education, I realize that I was taught using the PBL model. We had month-long thematic units that culminated to role-playing days that incorporated learning from every subject.
Teachers in this model are able to facilitate learning, rather than merely presenting content. Students access information and make judgments about next steps. Students collaborate with one another to solve problems. Students take ownership of their own learning.
Taking the time to see the PBL approach in action in a 3rd grade classroom makes me reflect on my own teaching practice. It is much more meaningful for students to be a part of the lesson, a stakeholder in the learning experience, rather than a passive receiver of information.
When we examine these geometry students who were charged to design a school of the future, it is easy to see that they are critically thinking through real-world problems. These students will never ask the question, “When will I ever need to use this information?” Allowing students to put their skills into practice designates immediate meaning to the lessons. Teachers join the process and collaborate alongside the students. They do not act as though they know all of the answers. They help point students in the right direction and take steps that will ultimately lead them to the answer.
The PBL approach is not new. Consider this lesson from 2001. The role technology plays in the PBL approach was innovative then, and is still innovative today. It connects the classroom to the outside world. Technology should redefine the learning process and provide students with an authentic audience.
All three of the examples above would likely be considered the Gold Standard for PBL. Students are working to solve meaningful problems, where their choices motivate them, they can make judgments and adjustments, and ultimately, they present some kind of a solution to an authentic audience.
If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that we need leaders and problem-solvers to think creatively and collaboratively to find solutions.
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Danielle, this is an excellent post. I was in school long before you and we did not have those long units. We were taught the way you shared early in your post. I always asked why. I do agree with you that we will need leaders who can see ahead and are NOT AFRAID TO ACT.
ReplyDeleteGreat perspective! Along these same lines, I feel like it was the arts (visual and performing) that helped people get through this pandemic at home. Hopefully school districts realize the necessity for these, and instead of continuously threatening to cut them because of either budgetary reasons or needing more time to teach "tested" subjects, they find more way to incorporate them instead. PBL would be a natural way to do accomplish this.
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