"Having confidence in one's ideas does not mean "I know my ideas are right"; it means "I am willing to try out my ideas" (Duckworth, 5)
What is a wonderful idea?
How do ideas grow from ideas?
How do educators encourage students to arrive at wonderful ideas?
Why are students ideas significant?
When students come to the realization that their ideas, values, thoughts, and skills are significant, they become confident in their ability to learn and share. Student's develop self respect for their own thoughts and are more willing to share and converse with classmates about their ideas. An inclusive environment harvests this growth in self-confidence, helping students solidify their ideas. When students see their ideas as significant, they begin to ask meaningful questions to help grow their ideas even further.
"One can familiarize children with a few phenomena in such a way as to catch their interest, to let them raise and answer their own questions, to let them realize that their ideas are significant- so that they have the interest, the ability, and the self-confidence to go on by themselves" (Duckworth, 8)
Learning models that are so focused on getting to the final answer are preventing students from learning the important skills locked inside the struggle of problem solving: (Duckworth, 67)
surprise
puzzlement
struggle
excitement
anticipation
dawning certainty
This lack of divergent exploration connects to the ideas recorded by students in the novel "Doing School" by Pope. Student's who have mastered the art of doing school correctly, meaning getting college-ready grades and preparing strong community service-based resumes, express their frustrations and missed opportunities to learn.
When, where, and why did we change from learning through play to learning for preparation?
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