There is a reason we live the way we do, and think the way we think and teach the way we teach. Some actions exist because in our minds it just makes sense to do it that way. However, there are many actions in society that do not make sense. Committing crimes, hate, and racism should not be considered sensible. So is Project Based Learning sensible?
Many theorists would argue the affirmative. Students can cater the project to their own needs and interests. “Learning is a personal activity which each student must carry on for himself” (Ebel, 1972, p. 7). Personalized Learning, Differentiated Learning, and Individualized Learning currently seem to be quite popular. Basically, students are looking for an education that fits their learning style and we know that all students learn in slightly different ways and paces so we should have a multitude of entry points to the curriculum. Projects allow students to fuse their passion with the curriculum.
Skills versus content. Student-centred versus subject-centred. Does project based learning follow one viewpoint more than the other? One of Eisner’s five orientations to curriculum is the development of cognitive processes which focus on the ‘how’ rather than the ‘what’ of education and lead to the development of, “a set of cognitive skills that can be applied to learning virtually anything” (Eisner, 1974, p. 6). Content is not deemed the most important and in the age of technology in which nearly any type of information can be found on the World Wide Web, why would we focus on informational content? In the past, we have relied on finding books at the library to seek out the information we need. Now the same information can be accessed via laptops or phones that can be accessed nearly everywhere due to the advent of modern technology like wireless internet communication and hand held computers. The ever expanding body of knowledge that we hope that our students will know is growing at such a pace that we cannot expect them to know the information but rather where to find it and what to do with it. This relationship between the learner and the material makes schooling open-ended and growth oriented so education is essentially equipping students with the intellectual skills to adapt and shape future situations (Eisner, 1974). This is crucial considering educators cannot forecast the future to know what students will need to survive in our society in the years to come. We don’t know what problems our students will face so we must ensure that they have the toolbox of skills necessary to analyze the situation and take action as necessary. Project-based learning is essentially giving students practice at gathering and analyzing information and implementing the best possible solution. That best solution may not be found in a textbook and will require the learner to explore the information. In fact, Eisner, who studied the relationship of curriculum objectives to curriculum activities and outcomes, argues, “Many of our most productive activities take the form of exploration or play. In such activities, the task is not one of arriving at a preformed objective but rather to act, often with a sense of abandon, wonder, curiosity” (Eisner, 1985, p. 117). Eisner continues to demonstrate the importance of problem-solving objectives because the students are able to find an infinite number of solutions to their problems and be engaged by the open dialogue and the lack of knowing what the outcome will be (Eisner, 1985). Students are generally intrigued by the fact that they are discovering the answer or solution rather than merely being told by a teacher or textbook. There is an intrinsic feeling of worth when they have a purpose. Project based learning can be compared to curriculum theorizers in their approach to learning. Marsh and Willis, in their study of curriculum theorizers would define System-Supporting Explorers, both Literary Artist and Deliberative, as those who believe that learning is personal and emphasize the “interaction between the enacted curriculum and the experienced curriculum” (Marsh and Willis, 1995, p. 94).
Throughout history, curriculum has been constructed by people who think they know what is best for the learner, the society and the interaction between the two. However, predicting what knowledge and skills the learner will need in life is just that; a forecast. Meteorologists predict the weather so that citizens will be prepared whether it is donning hats and sunscreen, carrying big umbrellas, lacing up boots or bundling up in warm scarves and toques. Like weatherman, we must ensure that our students have the skills necessary no matter what the storm-like future will bring. These skills recur in school reform and are at the core of skills based teaching. Problem solving, critical thinking, collaborating, and communicating form the base for project-based learning and are crucial skills that are necessary in life and work.
The complex relationship between curriculum and student is important in the case of project-based learning since the teacher does not have the same role as a standard classroom. According to Miller and Seller, students in a project-based learning style of learning would go beyond simple transmission and fall into the transaction process where the student reconstructs knowledge through the dialogue process and the emphasis is on strategies that facilitate problem-solving, development of cognitive skills and application of these skills in social contexts (1990). They go on to say that this position of curriculum based on building student’s intellectual abilities through problem-solving rather than rote learning was developed by Pestalozzi, Horace Mann, and John Dewey (Miller & Seller, 1990). You can add Socrates to this list as he modeled how to learn through questioning, inquiry and critical thinking and believed that learning is grounded in experience and driven by student interest (Boss, 2011).
To summarize, Ungerleider argues that the BC public school “should exhibit the following four attributes; it should be meaningful, enabling students to connect what they learn in class with their lives outside of school; students should be challenged by the curriculum to reach beyond previous boundaries in knowledge and experience; the curriculum should stimulate student’s curiosity, prompting them to want more; the curriculum must require students to think deeply, to invest mental effort in their learning (2003, p. 108-109).” This quote seems to mirror the goals of the project based learning classroom. Various school reformers have agreed on what education is and what is should be. Project based learning appears to fit with numerous aspects of these educators and should be considered effective. Although, I suppose, only the student can make the final conclusion of whether there education was effective.
References
Apple, M. A. (1995). The Politics of a National Curriculum. Eds. Cookson, Peter W. Jr. & Schneider, Barbara. Transforming Schools. New York: Garland.
Boss, S. (2011). Project-based learning; a short history. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning-history
Cuban, L. (1982). Persistent Instruction: The High School Classroom, 1900-1980. Phi Delta Kappan. P. 113-118.
Doll, W. E. Jr. (1993). A Post-Modern Perspective on Curriculum. New York: Teachers College Press.
Ebel, R. L. (1972). What are schools for? Phi Delta Kappan, 54, 1, p 3-7.
Eisner, E. W. (1985). The educational imagination on the design and evaluation of school programs. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.
Eisner, E. W. (2002). The educational imagination, on the design and evaluation of school programs. (3 ed.).New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Marsh, C. & Willis, G. (1995). Curriculum: alternative approaches, ongoing issues. Miller,
Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Merrill
Miller, J.P. & Seller, W. (1990). Curriculum: Perspectives & Practice. Toronto : Copp Clark Pitman.
Osbourne, K. (1999). Education: a guide to the Canadian school debate – or who wants what and why? Toronto, Ontario: Penguin Group.
Ungerleider, Charles. (1995). Failing Our Kids: How We Are Ruining Our Public Schools. M&S.
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