Transfer

I found myself enthusiastically nodding my head up and down as I read through How People Learn (Chapter 3: Learning and Transfer) and the Wiggins and McTighe article (2008. Put Understanding First. Reshaping High Schools. 65(8):36-41).  Both readings were hitting on the idea of Transfer, along with the overall conceptual idea of the purpose of education.

Wiggins and McTighe's description of how there needs to be a restructuring of high school curricula in order to better serve the mission of high schools I think speaks true for not just high school, but most levels (elementary to college). Both readings focused on how in teaching and learning we can get so caught up in the acquisition process of things. When this happens, we become blind to our own misunderstandings or short comings. This idea of meaning, creating understanding that goes beyond the scope of the lesson you are learning is what we need to grasp.

While I was reading, I began to reflect on my own schooling, and how my teachers taught. I started comparing them to the chart that Wiggins and McTighe's article (figure 1). I noticed that I got lucky, I had wonderful teachers, who practiced a lot of these ideas (elementary and beyond). It wasn't so much the teachers that were struggling to actively help transfer these ideas beyond the classroom, it was more so the pressures on the teachers. By outside pressures, I mean school administration and national standards. I feel like school administration is out on their own island looking at their districts and the nation's school through a tiny telescope, where they only see a tiny picture. Mean while everyone on the mainland is wishing the islanders would just move on to the mainland with the rest of us.  I think this is a place where we need more seriously recognize and close this gap. I think by doing so it will help in restructuring how we teach and learn in order to make it a more powerful experience.

I think the best way I can sum up the readings is from what one of my biology professors told me in undergrad, (paraphrased):

"It isn't just about memorization. It is about understanding, such as structures and their functions, how they relate, advantages and disadvantages of parental care. With that, you take the pieces, and you make them into the story. And you can then compare stories, make broader connections. That's powerful for everyone involved."