What Is True Innovation in Education?

Are the teaching approaches we think of as innovative really innovative? Are students learning anything in our classes? What even is the purpose of school?

If questions like these energize or disturb you, you'll want to read what venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith has to say about his quest for answers to education's biggest problems. Every public school teacher and administrator ought to ponder, as Dintersmith did, whether students in America are learning anything that will truly prepare them for life in the real world.

In this article from The Washington Post, Dintersmith challenges several cherished notions about our schools that haven't been dusted off and reexamined in over a century. He also points out flaws in some "innovations" schools flock to now that are not truly innovative and are not truly growing kids' minds. One example? The flipped classroom.

Dintersmith writes, 'There’s lots of eduspeak chatter about “flipping the classroom” — kids watch boring lectures at home at night, and do low-level multiple-choice questions at school. Hardly a breakthrough. . . ." It's true that the ideal of the flipped classroom has students working in class on problems that require the teacher's assistance, not 'low-level multiple-choice questions,' but the point that none of this is truly innovation is valid. The flipped classroom does the same old thing in a not very different way.

So what is truly innovative education that really does prepare kids for the real world? The article explores approaches by several successful schools across the country.

According to Dintersmith, some 500 "Deeper Learning" schools are doing certain things right:

self-directed learning
a sense of purpose and authenticity in student experiences
trust in teachers to teach to their passions and expertise
a focus on essential skills (collaboration, communication, creativity, critical analysis)
teachers as coaches, mentors, and advisers, not as lecturers
lots of project-based challenges and learning
public display of meaningful student work

Do these objectives reflect your classroom teaching this week? Or is it all about that standardized test in April?

Read more about Dintersmith here and view a preview for his award-winning documentary, Most Likely To Succeed, which has been called the antithesis of Waiting For Superman. 'The film raises important questions,' Dintersmith says, 'but respects each school’s desire and ability to forge a creative path forward. I’m hoping to find change agents in schools, districts, and states across the country, and provide them with a powerful resource to help them have a positive impact on the futures of our children.'

Thinking Differently

Being the wife of a bookseller has its advantages. Books for my kids, books for my classroom, and of course, books for me all find their way into my house at little to no cost to me. When I help sort through giant bins of potential inventory, I often find books on theology, psychology, literature, travel, biography, and other subjects I'm currently interested in. My most recent treasure is a Ryrie Study Bible published by Moody.

Now that I've had my new/used Bible a few days, exploring its notes and cross-references a bit as I reread and meditated on I Timothy, I realized that even though this Bible is the same translation as my previous one, I am thinking in different ways about the words. Even though I've read them before, they seem fresh and new. They fairly jump off the page.

Is it the fresh typeface? Having fewer words per page and more white space? Perhaps the newer binding? (My old Bible was also a salvage treasure). It could be the Ryrie study notes, naturally. Or maybe I'm just falling in love with the Scriptures all over again. But I think it's the combination of all of those things. Having a new Bible is exciting! It's an example of how shuffling can rearrange thinking.

Teachers naturally capitalize on this phenomenon in the classroom. One day in my senior English class, I decided to change the seating chart. The students were suspicious, even defensive. "Are you moving us because we're so naughty?" one asked. Although a few members of the small class did tend to get chatty when seated near their friends, I opted for a more palatable and more accurate reason: "When you sit in a different place, you think in different ways."

The seniors were still skeptical.

"Look at you and [Laura]," I said to one girl. "You two are best friends. Sometimes you read each other's minds. More than once, you've turned in paragraphs that were practically identical. You didn't copy each other. You just think alike because you're so close. If we separate you, it'll allow you to expand your thinking."

The class agreed to the new seating arrangement, and sure enough, it created new discussion leaders and new perspectives immediately.

Sometimes all of us need to shuffle the deck and start fresh. What a refreshing thought for spring!

Book-at-a-Time Bible Reading Plan

NavPress has made available Discipleship Journal's Book-at-a-Time Bible reading plan online, here. This is a user-friendly plan that I've used over the years in its print form. I love it because it is flexible. Read books of the Bible in the order of your choice. If you take the time to read every passage for each day, you'll read the whole Bible in a year. I am a little slower than that, let's just say. Want to get the app on your phone? Look for DJ Bible Reading Plan.

National Quilt Museum Named to List of South's Best Museums

One of my favorite museums is the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. There's something for everyone, including the guys. The museum houses a collection of some 500 quilts and features rotating displays on loan from quilters and collectors around the world. They also help teachers foster an appreciation of quilt heritage in their students with annual School Block Challenge and student-friendly exhibits.

This month, the museum has been featured on Southern Living's list of 25 Best Museums of the South, joining the Kennedy Space Center and other prestigious museums. Visit quiltmuseum.org for information.


Photo: Patriotic Elvis by Jacob Whitworth, Ally Curry, and Noah Newton of Columbia, IL, Grand Prize winners in the 2016 School Block Challenge