This post by Sean Robinson was originally published on p.31 in: 2015 Fall Edition Living Education eMagazine (Vol. XIV)
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| 2015 Fall Edition Living Education eMagazine (Vol. XIV) |
Each of these educational titles is a way to guide the
priorities of our pedagogy. “Blank”-based
learning methods, in particular, are an attempt to describe a learning process
that is meaningful to students. With
project-based learning, genuine reality-based projects become the vehicle for
learning. With passion-based learning, students’ passions are leveraged for
learning. In competency-based learning, learners
focus on progressively mastering smaller elements of a greater learning
objective. And with inquiry-based
learning, students form skills around developing great questions that can’t
simply be “Googled”.
With all these methods of structuring learning, it begs the
question: do we really need another ‘blank’-based learning?
Ponder how these meaningful learning approaches include interpersonal
connection. In project-based learning,
we see collaboration as an important element.
Students often work together as part of a group while completing projects. Imagine how better the process might be if the
focus of student activity includes fostering effective collaboration among team
members, building relationships with community partners and topical experts,
and sharing learning with the world. It would
take project-based learning to the next level.
We also see connection in passion-based learning. An environment where students feel connected
to one another provides the safety to reveal passions. Is it possible to take this further? As student
passions are discovered, embraced and leveraged during the school year, could groups
with common passions work together with outside organizations to achieve common
goals?
The mastery focus of competency-based learning requires a
good teacher-student connection.
Understanding where students need to work is a key component. Students who have mastered a certain concept shouldn’t
be inundated with its lessons. Students
need to work on concepts that are tailored to their needs, not a one-size-fits-all
shotgun approach. Without a great
teacher-student connection, these needs can go undiscovered. Imagine the effect of a teacher focused on
making a strong connection with each student and supporting students as they
discover their own target zones for learning.
And connection is also found in the tenets of inquiry-based learning. A sense of community and connection is
crucial as students develop and share their genuine questions. Could the students build a connection with
others outside the school who are also working on finding the answers? Could
students partner with those around the world who have the same concerns, the
same wonderings, the same dreams?
The idea of connection is weaved throughout these four approaches
and the many others that are popping up.
In some cases interpersonal connection is already a part of the process
but could be developed further. In other
cases, adding a focus on connection changes the whole dynamic of the
learning. Could it be said that what
underlies the meaningfulness of these approaches is the human connection? Connecting with the teacher. Connecting with the class. Connecting with the community. Connecting with experts. Could there be a method of educating that is
based on these connections?
What is Connections-based
Learning?
Connections-based Learning is a not a new way of doing
education. It’s a new way of seeing
education. It celebrates the way
connections are formed and leveraged through education. It reminds us to seek ways of learning that facilitate
the building of relationships. It
declares that significant learning requires a significant relationship. Connections-based Learning makes it a
priority to leverage interpersonal connection at each step of the learning
process. Whether it is the
teacher-student connection, the connection with members of the class, school,
and community, or the connection with experts in the field of study, thought is
given to maximizing these relationships.
Teacher-student
Connection
Fundamental to learning is the teacher-student
relationship. Good teacher-student
connections help students learn. It has
been found to be true time and time again.
In her NYU Steinhardt article, “The Effects of Teacher-Student
Relationships: Social and Academic Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High
School Students”, Emily Gallagher gives a plethora of studies that support this
idea:
Aligned with attachment theory (Ainsworth, 1982; Bowlby, 1969),
positive teacher-student relationships enable students to feel safe and secure in
their learning environments and provide scaffolding for important social and
academic skills (Baker et al., 2008; O’Connor, Dearing, & Collins, 2011;
Silver, Measelle, Armstron, & Essex, 2005). Teachers who support students
in the learning environment can positively impact their social and academic
outcomes, which is important for the long-term trajectory of school and
eventually employment (Baker et al., 2008; O’Connor et al., 2011; Silver et
al., 2005). - Gallagher (2013)
While working with inner city schools, James Comer found
that the strong social bonds that help students develop the proficiencies to
learn were missing. He created the
School Development Program in 1968 to help schools recreate those social bonds. It worked.
The students he worked with began to thrive. Students flourish in a positive
teacher-student relationship. Asking
questions, seeking to understand, treating students as individuals, and making
time to build relationships are crucial to building that connection with a
class. As James P. Comer says: "No significant learning occurs without a
significant relationship". Robinson,
S. (2015)
Connections within
the Class, School, and Community
But learning through connections doesn’t stop there. Why does the student, who never writes more
than a few sentences, write pages to the buddy or the pen-pal? It is the human connection. Why does the learning seem to become
galvanized for the student who tutors another?
It is the human connection. Why
is the whole of a group working together greater than the sum of its parts. Human connection.
Picture a class studying Aboriginal Education. The class looks at culture, customs, and artwork. They draw pictures. They hear stories. And they never once talk to an aboriginal
person. That is a missed opportunity to
get firsthand information, to build a relationship, to honour another.
Now picture a Home Economics class developing cooking
skills. The teacher has made a
connection with a local homeless shelter and once a week, the students cook
there. Picture how that one connection
will impact the students. Picture how it
might affect those at the shelter.
Connections add meaning and they provide opportunities to make a
difference.
Connections with Experts
As Lee Crocket, Ian Jukes, and Andrew Churches state in Literacy is not enough: 21st-century fluencies for the
digital age:
Electronic technology in wired, and wireless communications has quite
literally meant the death of distance.
There has never been a time in which distance has meant less than it
does today. Students learning about
civil war could be talking directly with kids in Serbia or Afghanistan. Kids trying to understand the impact of oil
spills could talk with students in Louisiana, Mississippi, or Florida. Students want to understand the impact of
natural disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis could talk to students in
Japan or New Zealand. – Crockett, L. (2011) p. 69
Learning in the 21st Century must take advantage
of the connected world we live in. We are
no longer confined to study other countries from afar. They are only an email, text, tweet,
Skype-chat, Google Hangout away. And whether
it is space, politics, animal behavior, or dinosaurs, there are numerous
experts to contact. All the students
need to do is ask; they might be surprised who responds.
Human connection leads to well-being. In Kelly McGonigal’s TEDtalk on "How to make stress
your friend", she states:
And the cool thing is that all of these
physical benefits of oxytocin are enhanced by social contact
and social support. So when you reach out to others under
stress, either to seek support or to help someone
else, you release more of this hormone, your stress response becomes healthier, and you actually recover faster from
stress. I find this amazing, that your stress response has a built-in
mechanism for stress resilience, and that mechanism is human connection. –
McGonigal, K. (2013)
If we were to base our teaching on anything, I believe it
should be developing connections. The
classroom becomes a thriving environment of learning. We make local or global contributions that
can in turn teach others. We become
healthier people. With a focus on
developing relationships, there is no need to teach good citizenship. As they work on these connections, students
are being good citizens.
Connections are accessible to all. Anyone can get an email address. Anyone can ask a question. As I have been having my students make
connections, I have found the reception to be excellent. Researchers, academics, agency leaders have responded
to a simple question: “Could you help us learn?” And what a difference it makes when students
are asking real people questions. They
are engaged. They bring their best. They feel important. They become part of a global process to
advance understanding. And they learn.
References
Crockett, L., Jukes, I., &
Churches, A. (2011). Literacy is not enough: 21st-century fluencies for
the digital age. Kelowna, B.C.: 21st Century Fluency Project.
Gallagher, Emily. (2013).
"The Effects of Teacher-Student Relationships: Social and Academic
Outcomes of Low-Income Middle and High School Students" Applied Psychology
Opus. Fall issue. Accessed July 2, 2015 on the World Wide Web:
McGonigal, K. (2013).
Transcript of "How to make stress your friend" Retrieved July 27,
2015 from TED IDEAS WORTH SPREADING on the World Wide Web:
Robinson, S. (2015). “What
Relationships do for Learning” Retrieved August 28, 2015 from ON THE SIDE OF
TECHNOLOGY on the World Wide Web:
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