In fifth grade, my class studied the Civil War and I wrote a speech about Sherman’s March. In my speech I was asked to imagine myself as a first-hand witness and to speak as if I had lived through through the Siege of Atlanta. I imagined myself as a fiesty and proud Southern woman, wearing a fabulous antebellum dress and spoke with passion about the death of my beautiful city and home. As long as I live, I will never forget what I learned about that terrible time in United States history. I vividly remember everything about giving that speech, from the details about how Sherman laid siege on Atlanta while crushing the spirit of the Confederacy, to the shirt I was wearing that day. In fact, when as part of a history class syllabus at Wellesley College a decade later I was reading primary sources of woman in the South during this time, I felt like an “expert.” I truly understood the causes and effects of Sherman’s March on the greater Civil War conflict. I could relate the impact to other battles within the Civil War and other wars. I could understand how geography, politics, religion, slavery, etc. played a role in the conflict. The learning I had brought with me from the time I was ten years old was absolutely applicable and ingrained in my brain.
Arguably, as educators our goal should be that students walk away with enduring understanding like this all the time. What made this learning so durable for me?
1. The learning was of high interest to me. My class was studying the Civil War right around the same time that I saw the movie “Gone With the Wind” for the first time (explaining my said portrayal of fiesty Southern belle). In my short life I had never seen a movie that was so romantic, powerful, sad, epic and with such fabulous costumes! Talk about a hook! It didn’t matter to me that my fifth grade teacher was a fairly sardonic and dry middle-aged man who lacked passion for his work…I was already interested in the subject matter. As educators, we can never underestimate the power of the hook.
2. I was a collaborator in my own learning. I was allowed to choose what aspect of the Civil War I wanted to study. Having been indoctrinated by the technicolor tragedy of Scarlett trying to get Melanie out of Atlanta, I was intrigued by this period of the Civil War. My teacher provided me with enough choice to make my curriculum emergent based on my interests. When students have the opportunity to research and learn about areas of interest, there will always be a greater and more durable learning.
3. I was not asked to merely regurgitate facts. If my teacher had asked me to read about Sherman’s March and regurgitate material, I can say with confidence that I would not remember anything about it today. I say this because I had plenty of other experiences in school where I was asked to do just that and I don’t remember a blessed thing about any of them. Because I was working at the upper end of Bloom’s Taxonomy, I not only had to learn the information, but had to use my brain’s muscles with flexibility to apply it realistically. Learning experiences at the upper end of Bloom’s Taxonomy stick with students.
Leading educational experts know that this type of educational experience creates durable or lasting learning. When Carol Ann Tomlinson wrote her book about differentiated instruction, she cites the importance of creating experiences that allow for durable learning. When Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe crafted Understanding by Design (UbD), they noted the importance of identifying the desired enduring understandings. I challenge you as an educator to think about the experiences you had as a student that created lasting learning for you–model your own lessons after them. I also challenge you to consider using the UbD model when designing instruction for your classroom.
Edstrom Educational Consulting has been thinking about how teachers can do this and have launched an exciting and practical instructional seminar called, “Applying Understanding by Design in Your Classroom.” We had the extraordinary experience of training the extraordinary faculty at the Gillispie School in La Jolla, CA on this topic. Over the course of the fall, we will be working closely with these teachers and helping them develop curricular units based around UbD. We will keep you updated about their progress, but the process to date has been very exciting! What are you doing in your classrooms to encourage enduring learning?
Tags: assessment, assessment design, differentiated instruction, differentiated learning, durable learning, Educational consulting, enduring understandings, instructional seminars, Understanding by Design
6:21 pm on May 24th, 2010
Thanks Allot, I really learned allot of good things by coming here this afternoon.