As part of my Curriculum Foundations class, we do a ton of readings about curriculum and how it has developed over the past century and a half. Some of the essays are really dry, but some are fascinating. In each reading, we have to pick a quote that "speaks to us" and react to it.
From “Educational Objectives—Help or Hindrance?” Elliot Eisner
“The amount, type, and quality of learning that occurs in a classroom, especially when there is interaction among students, are only in small part predictable” (p109).
When I was taking my methods classes, my professors encouraged us to make use of “teachable moments,” telling us there wasn’t any real way to predict them but we’d know them when we were in them. I found, when I was teaching, that there were many of these teachable moments. One of the things I loved most about being in the classroom was that every day was different and dynamic, even with the same students. On some days, every class was different. There were many times that a lesson started out one way but due to student participation and interest—and sometimes my realization that what I had planned was just not going to work—it ended completely differently than what I had intended. This is the reality of teaching . . . or it should be. No matter how many state standards are imposed or how many tests the students have to take, nothing should take away a teachers’ ability to use teachable moments in their classes. To use the way the students interact and often teach one another to guide their planning. And to understand that learning can’t be standardized and there will always be room for creativity. No matter how many objectives are written, there are some elements of instruction and learning that happen “on the fly” while teachers are in those teachable moments that a group of students can sometimes create. They are every bit as valid and effective and, I would argue, crucial to good instruction and good teaching.
from “Objectives” W. James Popham
“There are undoubtedly some objectives . . . which may currently be unassessable yet are so intrinsically meritorious that they are worth the risk of some instructional investment” (p95).
I think it’s important to keep in mind that some of the best educational experiences with our students can happen in those unscripted, sometimes unplanned for, but almost always valuable moments that we can’t quantitatively justify or explain. Not always able to put into words what has happened—but we know there’s been good teaching and good learning. Clear goals and objectives are important, but sometimes students can learn from lessons that we teach, daresay, just for the fun of it and don’t necessarily assess. Those lessons or topics that we teach because we believe they have, like Popham said, intrinsic value in them that can’t always be objectified or measured. One of my favorite lessons I taught was punctuating dialogue. Alone, it was a fairly non-exciting topic, and I myself couldn’t stand the thought of reading through the boring sentences in the book. So, I used my need to teach correct punctuation into an excuse to teach some Shakespeare. I taught seventh grade—in my district, students were still two years away from any Shakespeare (if they followed college prep). It was not in my curriculum, and I didn’t plan to assess students on what they learned, but we had a Shakespeare day anyway. We talked about what the students already knew about him, I gave a mini lecture on his life and times, and we talked about life in Elizabethan England. I mentioned some movies and stories they might be familiar with that had origins in Shakespearean works—and I introduce the idea of an archetype. I did this only to put these ideas in their heads and make Shakespeare seem less intimidating—I hope that when he was introduced later on, they might remember that he could be fun. To that end, I shared some of the more tame Shakespearean insults and had the students write conversations using them. On these, I did correct their punctuation, but I think they took more away from those days than just how to use quotation marks. I broadened their horizons, and students learned, retained, and engaged in the process . . . all without a state objective or assessment!
