Several of you have pointed to this Spiral Notebook article and talked about what happens to the students when a student “becomes the teacher.” But I think you’ve overlooked a key element in there that’s highlighted in this paragraph:
Teachers and Students Meet in the Middle… as Learners!
I expect teachers to know the curriculum well and kids to be more comfortable with the technology. The real magic happens when a culture develops that values the gifts of all contributors to the community, so that deep learning for all students can move ahead.
We’re talking about a culture here — a community — wherein the contributions of the “adult” are not any more relevant than those of the “kids” because in this environment, we’re all learners.
This week I got to go back to visit with Mrs B’s technology class to talk about Zone of Proximal Development. One of the ideas we discussed was that what we learn is not necessarily what the teacher intends to teach. I think one of the things that makes my visits there successful — and Mrs B assures me that they are — is that we’re all learners there. I’m an expert learner. They’re novice learners. We’ve been learning from each other about what reality means. Sure, they ask questions and I offer answers — and frequently other questions. But because we all enter into the discussion, we all acknowledge on some level that every contribution is valued.
In a lot of ways, our class is the same way. I suspect that my students may not exactly consider me a “learner” in this transaction, but you’re teaching me lots of things. I’m learning about the culture of Kentucky. I’m learning about the views and perspectives of practicing teachers. I’m learning about my own practice. We’re all learners here and, for most of it, there are no formal teachers.
Cool, huh?