One thing that seems to resonate with the movement to a more transformative, 21st Century education is that students should experience choice in order to maximize and personalize their learning. It just makes sense. If we chose to get involved in some learning or research, we are more likely to be engaged and to retain what we have learned. If something is thrust on us as important, sure we can learn it, but the likelihood of us retaining that learning decreases dramatically. How many classes in University did you memorize the content and, after the exam was completed, flushed your brain, never to look back at the learning again? If you’re like me, you can’t even remember the name of the courses much less the content.
In response to this idea of “no choice for students”, like in many educational initiatives, we went full bore the other way. We have opened the doors to choice, allowing students to have a limitless look at what they want to study. I remember a “projects” option I once taught – wide open! How unrealistic is that though, we have outcomes that need meeting and the hodge podge of projects could be unrealistic for teachers to have a reasonable idea of what is going on. But it’s a bigger issue than just the teacher having too much going on in their classroom. It’s about what’s manageable for students.
Too much choice is overwhelming. Have you ever been in the supermarket to buy mustard and when you get in front of the mustard section your jaw just drops. There are over 40 types of mustard. Do you want hot mustard,? You begin to sweat. Do you want a dash of relish in your mustard? Your throat begins to restrict and you undo your collar. Do you want the mustard that the president chose? It must be good, after all, the president eats it! And being faced with an endless opportunity, you chose . . . French’s mustard, the same one you’ve had since you were a child. In light of all that choice, we pick what we know. Remember that’s just mustard. I remember with some terror the first time I went to Starbucks. What a horrifying situation that was. The lady in front of me ordered a skinny, half-caf, semi sweet, mocha chino latte with chocolate sprinkles and who knows what else. Isn’t this just a coffee bar?????? Somehow I felt ordering coffee just wasn’t going to cut the mustard (see what I did there? I went back to the mustard, I take delight in small things).
My inability to deal with too much choice is marked repeatedly in studies. One study in particular was done in a high end deli in New York. Tourists are bussed their regularly and feast their eyes on the myriad of options open to them. The study set up a test table of jams. There were 25 options at the table and people were invited to try a sample and were pointed to where the jam was situated. Very little jam was sold and in fact, many people were intimidated even to stop and test the jam. The next day, only 4 jams were set up and more people came to test the jam and more jam was sold. Why? Too many options can be overwhelming.
So – let’s remember that when we are allowing our students to have choices. Let’s allow the learners in our care to have some selection in terms of how they present their learning or what particular part of the French revolution is the most troubling morally but let’s also not throw a limitless amount of choice at kids – it’s just too hard to handle. Instead of stretching their learning, they may well simply fall back on what they know, what comes easy.
Keep on learning,
Dave
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