Jane recently described the travel metaphors we like to use in professional development settings where we’re introducing teachers to project-based learning. We advise travelers who are new to PBL that they may encounter some turbulence and occasional detours ahead, but also unanticipated wonders. This week I happened to read two dispatches from thoughtful teachers who are on quite different journeys with project-based learning. One is moving full-steam-ahead, teaching core content through challenging projects. She seems to have good support from colleagues and coaches. The other, restricted by a test-prep school culture, is making side trips into PBL—but only with only some students, and only some of the time.
Shelley Wright, high school teacher in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, writes a series of posts to describe how an ambitious Holocaust museum project has unfolded. Part 1 describes her decision to “take the plunge” and part company with familiar teaching practices. (Spoiler alert: There’s no yellow brick road. Doubts emerge. But courage and patience win the day.) In Part 2, initially wary students warm up to their new role as creators; our traveler gets more comfortable in her new role as co-learner. She reports, “To be honest, this project is so interesting, I want to be part of it. I want to help make and design it, and I’ve never had that impulse while teaching before.” In Part 3, empowered students race the clock to prepare their museum exhibits for a showcase event. Shelley comes up for air long enough to offer three nuggets of wisdom that are guiding her PBL journey: improvise, learn the hard way, and don’t regret.
Steven Davis is in his tenth year teaching high school English in an urban setting in northern California. In a guest post on Larry Cuban’s blog, Steven describes the learning that is happening not during regular class time, but instead through less formal experiences before school and during lunch. That’s when he invites a group of students who are English language learners to take part in hands-on activities. These aren’t full-blown projects, but they give students time and opportunity to experience things like curiosity and persistence. As he considers what students are gaining from learning to use a soldering iron or assemble electronic kits, Steven reflects, “The project has been less about teaching than it has been about providing students with mentoring, tools, and the setting in which they can learn for themselves.” He ends by considering, “Who knows where project-based learning experiences will lead?”
Sounds like more PBL adventures await. More postcards, please!
Just published by Edutopia, this new classroom guide focuses on strategies and tools for assessing projects. Download a free copy here and then help grow the conversation by sharing your own favorite suggestions for making assessment meaningful in PBL.Before taking a trip each of us considers what we want to experience. If only subconsciously, we also filter our choices based on the kinds of travelers we are. What kind are you? Do you prefer the certainty of a detailed itinerary and guided tour? Or, are you an experienced through-the-back-door wanderer? Let’s think about professional learning as a journey and see how getting oriented can affect the success of anyone’s “trip.”
I do quite a bit of professional development around project-based learning (PBL) and technology. Whether learning groups are focused on PBL, technology integration or any other change effort, most are comprised of folks with a range of abilities, from novice to expert. Over the past few years I’ve found it helpful to start workshops by asking folks what kind of traveler they are in relation to the learning journey ahead. My colleague and coauthor Suzie Boss came up with the traveler metaphor and a range of descriptors. Think about a topic of your current professional learning. What kind of traveler are you?
Armchair tourist: Curious from afar, need to know more
Tenderfoot: Setting out on that first journey, ready to try new things
Explorer: Used to stepping out, ready for new frontiers
Scout: A seasoned traveler who can show others the way
These identifiers, in contrast to “novice” or “expert” imply movement, or growth. A tenderfoot traveling even a short distance may be taking a more profound journey than a seasoned explorer or scout.
Once I ask folks to self-identify and we establish the composition of the group, I can begin to differentiate instruction for the learning ahead. Participants benefit from knowing the composition of the group, too. It’s comforting for any learner to know he is one of an acknowledged group whose needs will be addressed.
During a workshop, just as you do in your classroom every day, I form small groups, assign peer teachers, and customize activities based on individual needs or strengths of the group.
At the end of our time together we revisit the “traveler” types and I recommend differentiated steps to take beyond the workshop. I’ll leave you with an example from a recent project-based learning workshop in San Francisco.
Armchair Tourist
Keep reading and observing
– Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age, authors Jane Krauss, Suzie Boss
– PBL Handbook, Buck Institute for Education
– Edutopia Project-based Learning site: www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning
– Understanding by Design, authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
Tenderfoot
Join a well-designed project
– Cornell Labs Citizen Science www.birds.cornell.edu/citsci
– Pennies for Peace, an international service-learning project www.penniesforpeace.org
– iEARN global network of projects www.iearn.org
– The My Hero Project – http://www.myhero.com
Explorer
Expand beyond your classroom, find partners
– Classroom 2.0 www.classroom20.com
– Edutopia PBL Group www.edutopia.org/groups/project-based-learning
– ePals www.epals.com
– Global Education Collaborative http://globaleducation.ning.com
– Global SchoolNet www.globalschoolnet.org
Scout
Build buzz and go to scale
– Buzz-builders: Twitter, blogs, Facebook
– Alert the media!
– Invite others to join your projects
– Share your wisdom through webinars, conferences, formal or ad hoc PLCs
You and your colleagues might not be studying PBL, but try the “traveler” metaphor on for size with any learning initiative of which you are part. How might you use it to look for differentiated learning opportunities?
