Yesterday I had the opportunity to hear Amanda Ripley, author of The Smartest Kids in the World, speak at the Museum of Fine Arts. After studying education and schools around the world, she learned this: in order to be best prepared for life beyond school, kids need to engage in productive struggle.
Call it creative tension (a la Peter Senge) or productive struggle, or even the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky); bottom line is this: as a teacher or parent, are you solving kids' problems for them? Are you letting THEM do the thinking, or do you rescue them when the going gets tough? The school experience should be about setting kids up with REAL problems, and teaching them creative and critical problem-solving strategies. If kids can zip through an assignment, it wasn't hard enough.
Consider this example the author gave . . . .when visiting a high school Government class in the US, she witnessed sophomores who were asked to "name the seven continents." Compare this task to the one required by the Finland exit exam (given to high school seniors): given five hours, write about "why the conflict in the Middle East has not yet been solved." Which course do you want your student in? Which task reflects YOUR kind of teaching? How can YOU promote productive struggle with the children in your life? Let's help them grow!
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