Supporting Deeper Learning

How Can We Develop Teaching that

Ensures Success in the 21st Century?

© Linda Darling-Hammond 2010

What Deeper Learning is Not

What Deeper Learning is:

An understanding of the meaning and relevance of ideas to concrete problems

An ability to apply core concepts and modes of inquiry to complex real-world tasks

A capacity to transfer knowledge and skills to new situations, to build on and use them

Abilities to communicate ideas and to collaborate in problem solving.

An ongoing ability to learn to learn

Routine CognitiveNon-routine Manual

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Routine Manual

Expert Thinking

Complex CommunicationsDEMAND FOR SKILLS

IS CHANGING

The dilemma of schools:The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitize, automate, and

outsource

Teamwork

Problem Solving

Interpersonal Skills

Computational Skills

Reading Skills

Organizational Effectiveness

Goal Setting/Motivation

Listening Skills

Personal Career Development

Creative Thinking

Leadership

Oral Communications

WritingWriting

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Teamwork

Problem Solving

Interpersonal Skills

Computational Skills

Reading Skills

Organizational Effectiveness

Goal Setting/Motivation

Listening Skills

Personal Career Development

Creative ThinkingLeadership

Oral Communications

1970 1999

FORTUNE 500 MOST VALUED SKILLS

Toward What Ends?

Sustaining people

-- Employment

-- Food and shelter

-- Clean water Sustaining the earth Resolving conflict Nurturing peaceful collaboration Developing new solutions and strategies for

living and learning

NINE LESSONS FROM THE SCIENCE OF LEARNING

5. Teach students to learn to learn

6. Address misunderstandings directly

7. Promote teamwork as a process and outcome

8. Exploit technology to support learning

9. Foster students’ creativity

How Can Teachers Support Deeper Learning?

1. Make it relevant – Connect to the real world2. Teach through disciplinary “modes of inquiry”3. Simultaneously develop lower- and higher-order

skills4. Encourage transfer of learning

Teaching for Cognitive Flexibility and Creativity

Visual arts and music Design & engineering (“making”) World languages Social-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 learners

rely heavily on the teacher are self-reliant

cannot make decisions about their learning

can make informed decisions about their learning

do not know their own strengths and weaknesses

are aware of their strengths and weaknesses

do not connect classroom learning with the real world

connect classroom learning with the real world

think that the teacher is wholly responsible for their learning

take responsibility for their own learning

do not know the best way to learn something

know 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 learning

do not reflect on how well they are learning and why

often reflect on the learning process and their own progress

Teaching for Student Agency

1. Create complex, authentic tasks worth doing2. Plan for choice and inquiry3. Connect tasks to authentic assessments4. Build effective scaffolding that supports competence,

confidence, and motivation 5. Support self- and peer-assessment and revision6. Build reflection & extension into learning7. Enable collaboration & peer learning8. Develop social-emotional skills 9. Identify strengths, learning styles, and

goals with students10. Support 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 Learning

Candidates experience deeper learning pedagogies:

-- hands-on projects and performance assessments

-- revision to standards

-- communication, groupwork Focus is on how people learn for

mastery and transfer Development is at the core Content is linked directly to opportunities

for practice Candidates learn to take the students’

perspective

Clinical Training: The Need for Teaching Schools & Residencies

As in medicine, teachers need to see and enact good practice while studying research and theory

Model 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 time

Demonstration Classroom Learning: observations, debriefing, co-teaching

Professional 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 content Organized around real problems of practice Connected to teachers’ work with children Linked to analysis of teaching and student learning Intensive, sustained and continuous over time

Supported by coaching, modeling, observation, and feedback

Connected 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 Learning

Tasks evaluating : Scientific investigation Mathematical problem solving Literary analysis Social science research and analysis World language proficiency Global awareness Artistic performance

Assessments Can Support Teacher Learning

As models of good instruction As exemplars of quality work and standards As diagnostic information regarding learning –

especially when feedback shows actual performances, not just scores

As 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 when…

They are embedded in curriculum and instructional supports

They are readily available to teachers They are used to analyze student learning

Assessments Can Support Equity

Focus Accountability on Learning

As 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 All

“What 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