The Role of Content in Classrooms Today

Reflecting on my days as a student, I recall how the subject matter was the primary focus in every class. Whether delivered through lectures in college, direct instruction during K-12 education, or occasionally gleaned from textbooks and encyclopedias, it permeated every aspect of learning. Upon closer examination, it becomes evident that information, in the form of content, held a central role in all my classes. The routine was consistent: my peers and I would receive information and then be assigned tasks to showcase our comprehension, occasionally even constructing new knowledge. Essentially, the objective was to excel in exams.

I don't intend to undermine the value of content or curriculum; it serves as the foundation for progressing from basic to advanced learning levels. Indeed, mastering essentials such as letters and numbers is crucial for delving into language arts and mathematics, respectively. However, with the advancement of technology, learners can easily access content and information using various devices as they move through the education system. When considering artificial intelligence (AI), Alexa, Siri, and well-thought-out Internet searches, there is no end to how readily content can be accessed. This prompts the question: How significant is content truly in a knowledge-driven economy evolving rapidly due to technological strides?

Contemporary learners exhibit less compliance and conformity compared to earlier generations, and rightfully so. Whether engaged in authentic or pertinent learning, students naturally seek the underlying purpose and justification, an entirely reasonable sentiment. When content is imbued with purpose and applied in authentic ways to foster fresh insights, learners can articulate:

• What they've learned
• The rationale behind their learning
• The practical application of this knowledge both within and outside of educational contexts

Pertinent and purposeful instruction empowers students to leverage their knowledge to tackle multifaceted real-world challenges, often possessing multiple solutions. This shift in approach is pivotal and represents a move from instruction (what the teacher does) to learning (what the student does). Engaging in learning encourages students not merely to accumulate knowledge but to employ it for practical ends. Many aspire to apply their knowledge to address intricate real-world issues, creating projects, designs, and other tangible outcomes applicable to real-life scenarios. As I shared in Disruptive Thinking in Our Classrooms, the value of content is intrinsically linked to how it's utilized to foster purpose-driven thinking and application, which are both hallmarks of personalized learning.

While being adept at trivia might be advantageous for a game show like Jeopardy, its utility in real life is limited. Given the heightened stakes of today, it's imperative that we critically assess our methods to facilitate growth and enhancement. Nurturing a sense of purpose among our learners is a collective objective that will undeniably yield enduring benefits for their future endeavors.

Relevance is the Fuel of Learning

In a previous blog post, I wrote about the importance of focusing on the why as it relates to learning.  Here is a piece of my thinking that I shared:

The why matters more than ever in the context of schools and education.  What all one must do is step into the shoes of a student.  If he or she does not truly understand why they are learning what is being taught, the chances of improving outcomes and success diminish significantly.  Each lesson should squarely address the why.  What and how we assess carries little to no weight in the eyes of our students if they don’t understand and appreciate the value of the learning experience.

The paragraph above represents the importance of making the educational experience relevant.  In a nutshell, relevance is the purpose of learning. If it is absent from any activity or lesson, many, if not all, students are less motivated to learn and ultimately achieve.  Research on the underlying elements that drive student motivation validates how essential it is to establish relevant contexts. Kember et al. (2008) conducted a study where 36 students were interviewed about aspects of the teaching and learning environment that motivated or demotivated their learning. They found the following:

"One of the most important means of motivating student learning was to establish relevance. It was a critical factor in providing a learning context in which students construct their understanding of the course material. The interviewees found that teaching abstract theory alone was demotivating. Relevance could be established through showing how theory can be applied in practice, creating relevance to local cases, relating the material to everyday applications, or finding applications in current newsworthy issues."

Getting kids to think is excellent, but if they don’t truly understand how this thinking will help them, do they value learning?  The obvious answer is no. However, not much legwork is needed to add meaning to any lesson, project, or assignment.  Relevance begins with students acquiring knowledge and applying it to multiple disciplines to see how it connects to the bigger picture.  It becomes even more embedded in the learning process when students apply what has been learned to real-world predictable and ultimately unpredictable situations, resulting in the construction of new knowledge.  Thus, a relevant lesson or task empowers learners to use their knowledge to tackle real-world problems that have more than one solution.  

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Diverse Learners respond well to relevant and contextual learning. This improves memory, both short-term, and long-term, which is all backed by science. Sara Briggs sums it up nicely:

"Research shows that relevant learning means effective learning and that alone should be enough to get us rethinking our lesson plans (and school culture for that matter). The old drill-and-kill method is neurologically useless, as it turns out. Relevant, meaningful activities that both engage students emotionally and connect with what they already know are what help build neural connections and long-term memory storage."

In the words of Will Durant based on Aristotle’s work,” “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”  The point here is that consistent efforts must be made to integrate interdisciplinary connections and authentic contexts to impart value to our learners. Relevance must be student based: the student’s life, the student’s family, and friends, the student’s community, the world today, current events, etc. 

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When it is all said and done, if a lesson or project is relevant students will be able to tell you:

1. What they learned
2. Why they learned it
3. How they will use it

Without relevance, learning many concepts don’t make sense to students.  The many benefits speak for themselves, which compels all of us to ensure that this becomes a mainstay in daily pedagogy. 

Learning from Airbnb To Create an Amazing Learner Experience

Over the past few years we have seen disruptive innovation take hold.  The entrepreneurial spirit, aided by advances in technology, has propelled the creation of new businesses that consumers are flocking to.  One of those businesses is Airbnb. I don’t want to assume that everyone knows what this company is all about so here is a summary from Wikipedia.

Airbnb is an online marketplace and hospitality service, enabling people to lease or rent short-term lodging including vacation rentals, apartment rentals, home stays, hostel beds, or hotel rooms.  The company does not own any lodging; it is merely a broker and receives percentage service fees (commissions) from both guests and hosts in conjunction with every booking.  It has over 3,000,000 lodging listings in 65,000 cities and 191 countries, and the host sets the cost of lodging.

Image credit: https://airbnbreview.com

The concept is amazing as it benefits both the consumer and supplier while cutting costs.  However, the success of Airbnb as a company goes well beyond what many of us see or experience.  Their success as a disruptive innovator lies in the company culture that has been cultivated.  They greatly invest in their people, which as a strategy only has an upside. I recently read 3 Lessons From Airbnb on Creating an Amazing Employee Experience by Jacob Morgan. To lead off the piece he shares the following. 

Employee experience is a hallmark of a forward-thinking company that cares about its employees and wants to provide them with the resources to be successful.

Image credit: www.n3xtcon.com/blog/what-do-we-learn-from-the-story-of-airbnb

I encourage you to read the entire short piece.  In the article Morgan goes on to list and describe 3 important lessons that create a strong employee experience. Each in its own right is a pivotal component in building relationships. It all comes down to relationships. Without trust, there is no relationship. Without relationships, no real learning occurs. Here is how those principles can be embraced in schools to improve the learner experience.

Involve students and staff

Student agency is the key to building powerful relationships with the most important stakeholder group in schools.  Affording students choice, allowing them to use their voice, and providing them the opportunity to advocate will empower them to better own their learning.  This type of involvement also leads to the creation of a better school culture beyond the classroom. We can’t forget the adults in this process. Educator agency is just as important.

Be authentic

Will the real you please step forward? That is what students and staff want to see.  Mike Robbins has a pretty good perceptive on the power of authenticity. He writes:

Authenticity is what gives us freedom to be ourselves and be comfortable with whom we are, and it’s also what gives us access to connecting with other people in a meaningful and genuine way.  This is true power of authenticity and when we embrace it, even though it can be uncomfortable and scary at times, we give ourselves and those around us one of the most important gifts of all — the real us.

Be true to yourself and others. When you fail (and you will), showcasing your vulnerable side will only help to strengthen the bonds with those you work with and for. Authenticity in leadership from your particular lens and position is critical in building a thriving learning culture. 

Continually evolve

If you want to make a difference then lead differently, learn differently, and act differently. Change begins with us.  Don’t expect others to change if you don’t first. Where it goes from there depends on the momentum that is built. The process of evolving as a whole is about overcoming fear, learning from mistakes, and challenging yourself to be better. When it comes to your school or district, the system will only evolve if you continue to push the envelope.

Don’t prepare students for something. Prepare them for anything. In doing so the learning experience for our kids should be nothing less than amazing.  If this is the goal then the work culture has to be equally as amazing for the adults. This is what I have learned from Airbnb.