{"id":8355,"date":"2014-07-09T20:31:43","date_gmt":"2014-07-10T01:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8355"},"modified":"2014-07-09T20:31:43","modified_gmt":"2014-07-10T01:31:43","slug":"book-review-the-architecture-of-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/?p=8355","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Architecture of Learning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“We are not merely educating students in the details of Columbus, magnetism, and predicate adjectives. \u00a0We are teaching future judgement makers. \u00a0Whether our students assess the validity of legal arguments, the wisdom of purchasing a new home, or the ethics of using new methods, their success depends, in large part, on how well they learn to think. \u00a0That in turn depends on how well they are taught. \u00a0By combining thinking and teaching, we create opportunities to foster independent thinking–the capacity and courage to ask questions that will overcome self-centered and conformist thinking to pursue truth.”\u00a0<\/em>Dr. Kevin Washburn,\u00a0The Architecture of Learning<\/em><\/p>\n

My goal as a high school principal is to lead our teachers to invest in the hearts and minds of our students for the glory of God and the good of others. \u00a0We don’t train students to make widgets or sprockets on an assembly line or even specifically to be a this or a that in the professional world. \u00a0Instead our desire is to challenge our students in such a way that they are equipped to think, to figure things out, to work well with others, to get their point across, and most importantly…to impact the world for Christ. \u00a0My driving passion is for our students to have the tools they need to sit at the table of influence in the communities they choose to plant themselves in for college, career, and beyond. \u00a0Our high school is a training ground for students who desire to be world changers and difference makers for the sake of the gospel to the glory of God for the good of others. \u00a0One of the most basic pieces of that strategy is to teach our kids how to think.<\/p>\n

<\/em>Four summers ago, I had the privilege of sitting in a series of lectures by Dr. Kevin Washburn at the International Institute for Christian Educators at Columbia International University. \u00a0His goal was to show us how learning really worked. \u00a0He has done quite a bit of neurological research combined with years of experience in the classroom and in the field of education to put together a very practical resource in his book The Architecture of Learning<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0I read the book immediately after the conference and then picked it up again a few days ago in preparation for our academic team’s meeting with Dr. Washburn tomorrow.<\/p>\n

The Architecture of Learning<\/em> makes a wonderful distinction between instructional design<\/em> and lesson planning<\/em>. \u00a0Just the term instructional design even sounds more exciting! \u00a0Imagine how much more captivating a classroom is when it is designed…rather than just planned to cover content over a specific period of time. \u00a0Dr. Washburn’s work covers all of the 21st century learning skills in a way that practically demonstrates how these skills must overlap…silos won’t work in education anymore..it’s just not how life really works.<\/p>\n

I highlighted several things the first time I read this book and highlighted several more things this week in re-reading. \u00a0I’ve posted the items I highlighted below…<\/p>\n

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  • To be effective, a teacher must align instructional methods with learning\u2019s cognitive processes, the brain\u2019s ways of constructing understanding and forming memories. \u00a0Although \u201cteachable moments\u201d do occur spontaneously, a good teacher provides\u00a0consistently<\/em>\u00a0effective design instruction. \u00a0Learning is produced through deliberate instructional design.
    \nInstructional design<\/em>\u00a0differs from\u00a0lesson planning<\/em>, the term we traditionally use to describe a teacher\u2019s pre-instruction preparation. \u00a0Though\u00a0planning<\/em>\u00a0implies forethought,\u00a0design<\/em>\u00a0reaches beyond the standard plan. \u00a0Designers communicate by intentionally combining elements.<\/li>\n
  • Lessons read from lecterns limit learning because they fail to engage essential learning processes.<\/li>\n
  • the quality of a teacher\u2019s instructional design often determines the quality of a teacher\u2019s instruction.<\/li>\n
  • Five processes, or building blocks, interact to produce learning:\u00a0Experience,\u00a0Comprehension,\u00a0Elaboration,\u00a0Application,\u00a0Intention<\/li>\n
  • Through elaboration, the brain examines comprehended (i.e., labeled and sorted) data to identify patterns, uses the patterns it recognizes to recall relevant instances from long-term memory, and overlays or blends the new data with known experience. \u00a0You mix the old dollop (previous experience) and a new dollop (new data) to create a new concept.<\/li>\n
  • Elaboration makes material memorable and meaningful.<\/li>\n
  • Elaboration leads to learning that is lasting, influential, and occasional life-changing.<\/li>\n
  • Experience provides the new data that will be used to construct new knowledge. \u00a0Comprehension provides the content structure of the developing knowledge. \u00a0Elaboration emphasizes the organization component of comprehension by relating similar previous experiences. \u00a0Application engages the brain in recall of the labeled and sorted data.<\/li>\n
  • Curiosity carries learning forward.<\/li>\n
  • A teacher begins designing effective instruction by first examining the subject matter and answering the related questions: What will your students be learning? \u00a0and What will they do with their learning?<\/li>\n
  • How will you focus your students\u2019 attention and engage the mental processing needed to construct the learning? \u00a0How will the flow of instruction mirror the brain\u2019s means of learning?<\/li>\n
  • Students who master certain skills but lack the conceptual understanding necessary to recognize where those skills are valuable lose opportunities to apply them in life.<\/li>\n
  • Widening the contexts in which the students can use their learning promotes transfer. \u00a0The Intention strand increases the likelihood that material learned in school will influence a student\u2019s interactions with the world.<\/li>\n
  • Critical thinking is a purposely engaged manner of reasoning.<\/li>\n
  • Critical thinking involves monitoring and assessing one\u2019s own thinking or that of other.<\/li>\n
  • Critical thinking involves evaluation in relation to established standards.<\/li>\n
  • Critical thinking considers relevant contextual elements.<\/li>\n
  • Critical thinking employs specific skills.<\/li>\n
  • Where and when are students taught to process new information and proceed through the steps that lead to excellence in self-directed learning and communication?<\/li>\n
  • We are not merely educating students in the details of Columbus, magnetism, and predicate adjectives. \u00a0We are teaching future judgement makers. \u00a0Whether our students assess the validity of legal arguments, the wisdom of purchasing a new home, or the ethics of using new methods, their success depends, in large part, on how well they learn to think. \u00a0That in turn depends on how well they are taught. \u00a0By combining thinking and teaching, we create opportunities to foster independent thinking–the capacity and courage to ask questions that will overcome self-centered and conformist thinking to pursue truth.<\/li>\n
  • Experience prompts thinking that creates expression.<\/li>\n
  • Creativity comprises thinking (process) and doing (ability), moving from imagination to invention, from the conceptual to the concrete, from idea to realization.<\/li>\n
  • Creativity possesses the potential to energize and increase learning. \u00a0Why, then, is it not applied more commonly in our classrooms?<\/li>\n
  • Schools may offer us opportunities for additional training and education, but whether we grew as educators or not would be our choice and responsibility.<\/li>\n
  • May our teaching ignite learning that validates our committed, daily, and intentional instruction efforts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        “We are not merely educating students in the details of Columbus, magnetism, and predicate adjectives. \u00a0We are teaching future judgement makers. \u00a0Whether our students assess the validity of legal arguments, the wisdom of purchasing a new home, or the ethics of using new methods, their success depends, in large part, on how well […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,35,25,17,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-creative","category-education","category-leadership","category-north-cobb-christian"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8355\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meganstrange.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}