Risk Taking

Back to school preparations have really helped me to generate a giant bucket of things to write about, but have also cleared my calendar of any spare time for writing.

I enjoyed the month of August with family. It was a lovely break from routine and restful enough to allow me to return to school pumped and eager for yet another beginning. I especially enjoyed some added time with my 10 year old niece and discovered what an amazing person she is. She has a fabulous sense of humour, loves to read (and reads very well), and has a quick wit that I envy. She is also anxious to do well in school, always striving to complete all of the items on a given rubric so that she can get the best possible grade (she comes by her perfectionist nature quite naturally). She is thinking about her future and what classes she will need, to get into the right University for her chosen career path. She is 10!

I tell you all this because I have come to realize that her education is missing something I believe is vital. She is 10 years old and school has taught her that the purpose of school is to get good grades. I believe the purpose of school is to learn, and in particular, how to learn.

It's a bit of tricky situation. Of course, her family are proud of her good grades. So am I. But in the long term what will serve her well in her work life? Her good grades will be long forgotten, but her ability to think critically, to be a good problem solver, to work collaboratively with others and to think creatively are more likely to help her on the road to success.

I recently read a short article by Alina Tugend (see link) author of Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong.  At e.p.i.c. School, our young students are at a very vulnerable stage and what we teach them is no where near as important as how we teach them. I want our students to learn that mistakes are part of the learning process, and that taking risks will help them achieve new learning.

Reflecting on what sort of classroom environment is needed for our students to learn at their best, for them to be able to take risks, is a list of behaviours that our students must experience. I am certain the list is just a beginning, please feel free to add to it.

• 'Mistakes' are valued for the learning they provide. 'Mistakes are seen as natural parts of the inquiry process'.
• Questioning - asking is invited.
• Teachers ask many open ended questions - where there are no right or wrong answers. In our classroom this is often called 'brainstorming'. 
• All ideas are o.k. to share.
• Sometimes questions are asked and not answered.
• Ideas are discussed for their explanatory potential, ability to solve the problem, rather than being called 'right' or 'wrong'.
• Inquiry and making mistakes are both modeled.