Supporting Deeper Learning How Can We Develop Teaching that Ensures Success in the 21st Century?

Linda Darling-Hammond 2010What Deeper Learning is Not

Linda Darling-Hammond 2010

What Deeper Learning is: An understanding of the meaning and relevance of ideas to concrete problemsAn ability to apply core concepts and modes of inquiry to complex real-world tasksA capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new situations, to build on and use themAbilities to communicate ideas and to collaborate in problem solving. An ongoing ability to learn to learn

Routine CognitiveNon-routine Manual-10-8-6-4-2024681019601970198019901998Percentile Change from 1960Source: Murnane & LevyRoutine ManualExpert ThinkingComplex CommunicationsDEMAND FOR SKILLS IS CHANGINGThe dilemma of schools:The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitize, automate, and outsource

Writing12345678910111213TeamworkProblem SolvingInterpersonal Skills

Computational Skills

Reading SkillsOrganizational EffectivenessGoal Setting/Motivation

Listening Skills

Personal Career Development

Creative ThinkingLeadership

Oral Communications19701999FORTUNE 500 MOST VALUED SKILLS

Toward What Ends?Sustaining people-- Employment -- Food and shelter-- Clean waterSustaining the earthResolving conflict Nurturing peaceful collaborationDeveloping new solutions and strategies for living and learning

NINE LESSONS FROM THE SCIENCE OF LEARNINGHow Can Teachers Support Deeper Learning? 1. Make it relevant Connect to the real world2. Teach through disciplinary modes of inquiry3. Simultaneously develop lower- and higher-order skills4. Encourage transfer of learning

Teaching for Cognitive Flexibility and Creativity Visual arts and musicDesign & engineering (making)World languagesSocial-emotional learning -- Perspective taking-- Acting with and for others

Teaching for Student Agency The abilities to Take initiativePlan and implementFind and use resourcesEvaluate and synthesizeLearn to learn

Dependent learners Independent learnersrely heavily on the teacherare self-reliantcannot make decisions about their learningcan make informed decisions about their learningdo not know their own strengths and weaknessesare aware of their strengths and weaknessesdo not connect classroom learning with the real worldconnect classroom learning with the real worldthink that the teacher is wholly responsible for their learningtake responsibility for their own learningdo not know the best way to learn somethingknow about different strategies for learning (generally and personally)do not set learning goals. plan their learning and set goals. work for extrinsic motivators such as grades or rewards are intrinsically motivated by making progress in learningdo not reflect on how well they are learning and whyoften reflect on the learning process and their own progress

Teaching for Student Agency

Create complex, authentic tasks worth doingPlan for choice and inquiryConnect tasks to authentic assessmentsBuild effective scaffolding that supports competence, confidence, and motivation Support self- and peer-assessment and revisionBuild reflection & extension into learningEnable collaboration & peer learningDevelop social-emotional skills Identify strengths, learning styles, and goals with studentsSupport student decision making, social responsibility, and leadership

How Can We Support Teaching for Deeper Learning?

Creating a System that Supports Teaching for Deeper Learning

Standards that Guide Development (NBPTS)1. Teachers are committed to students and their learning: they know how to support learning and development;2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students: they generate multiple pathways to knowledge; 3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning, using multiple methods to create engagement, orchestrating learning in group settings;4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience, using research and seeking advice; 5. Teachers are members of learning communities, collaborating with other professionals, parents, & community.

Teacher Education that Instantiates and Supports Deeper LearningCandidates experience deeper learning pedagogies: -- hands-on projects and performance assessments-- revision to standards-- communication, groupworkFocus is on how people learn for mastery and transferDevelopment is at the coreContent is linked directly to opportunities for practice Candidates learn to take the students perspective

Clinical Training: The Need for Teaching Schools & ResidenciesAs in medicine, teachers need to see and enact good practice while studying research and theoryModel schools support learning from expert veterans while candidates are taking tightly linked coursework, modeling state-of-the art education for students and teachers as well as opportunities for developing curriculum, new practices, and research.

Intentional Induction

New teacher supports: orientation, mentoring, and seminars in key areas Reduced teaching load and collaborative planning timeDemonstration Classroom Learning: observations, debriefing, co-teachingProfessional learning for mentors

Inquiry-Based Professional Learning Collaborative inquiry through professional learning communities and networks-- Lesson study-- Action research -- Peer observation and coaching-- Subject matter projects for content pedagogy-- School-wide / cross-school authentic assessment Time for Collaborative Learning-- Other countries: 15-20 hours per week + 100 hours per year

Professional Learning Opportunities that Impact Practice are Generally:

Focused on specific curriculum contentOrganized around real problems of practice Connected to teachers work with children Linked to analysis of teaching and student learningIntensive, sustained and continuous over timeSupported by coaching, modeling, observation, and feedbackConnected to teachers collaborative work in professional learning communities Integrated into school and classroom planning around curriculum, instruction, and assessment

USING ASSESSMENT FOR STUDENT & TEACHER LEARNING

Assessment measures are structured to continuously improve teaching and learning. Assessment of, as, and for Learning

Graduation by Portfolio Supports School-wide LearningTasks evaluating :Scientific investigationMathematical problem solvingLiterary analysis Social science research and analysisWorld language proficiencyGlobal awarenessArtistic performance

Assessments Can Support Teacher LearningAs models of good instruction As exemplars of quality work and standardsAs diagnostic information regarding learning especially when feedback shows actual performances, not just scoresAs a focus for professional conversation about standards, curriculum, and instruction As information to guide investments in professional development

Around the World, Teachers Collaborate in Assessment Design, Scoring, and Evaluation

Rich tasks with thoughtful rubrics and teacher moderation can enhance curriculum equity whenThey are embedded in curriculum and instructional supports They are readily available to teachersThey are used to analyze student learning

Assessments Can Support Equity

Focus Accountability on LearningAs Ted Sizer noted, the goal of education is for students to learn to use their minds well and to be able to apply what they know in the world beyond school i.e. Learn deeply Assessment of, for, and as learning focuses on improvement for students, teachers, & schools Intelligent accountability through evaluation, reflection, and sharing of expertise is designed to support the learning of everyone in the system: from students and teachers to school organizations and state agencies.

21st Century Learning for AllWhat the best and wisest parent wants for his or her child, that must the community want for all of its children. Any other child is narrow and unlovely. Acted upon it destroys our democracy.-- John Dewey

Equity agendaPerhaps most compelling to us was the research conducted by Harvard and MIT professors Richard Murnane and Frank Levy, who took a hard look at the labor market of the future. By carefully examining the kinds of jobs that are being displaced by computerization, their fundamental conclusion is that the economic faultline of the 21st century will fall along a skills based divide.

At greatest risk are jobs that can be expressed in programmable rules--blue collar, clerical, and similar work that requires moderate skills and used to pay middle-class wages. The loss of these jobs leaves a growing division between those who can and cannot earn a good living in the computerized economy. Left unchecked, the division threatens the nation's democratic institutions.*Here is one data point from that research: a survey of Fortune 500 companies who were asked to rank the most valued attributes of their new employees. As you can see these skills have long been important, ranking in the top 20 since 1970. But in the 21st century, they are at the top of their list.

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