Project Based Learning

The staff at Evanston High School has spent the last two days (and much of the last year) studying project based learning (PBL) with the Buck Institute for Education. I'm sure that you've all heard of PBL, so I won't waste time explaining what it is. I do, however, want to take a second to note a couple of my likes and concerns.

First, I like the authenticity in learning that PBL provides for. Students are able to learn and produce in the same way that professionals in the field do. They are able to encounter problems and dilemmas not found in traditional curriculum and be forced to work through those problems. Their final audience is someone other than the teacher. I really think that these things will help get students engaged in what they are doing and away from "playing school."

I also really like that PBL encourages failure. Not failure in the way that we think about it in traditional education. There is no lack of learning. No lack of ability of effort. There is only a product that turned out differently than the student expected it to, and as long as the student understands why the failure happened, then the failure becomes one of the most teachable moments for students and they are not punished for it. If you haven't seen Honda's video "Failure: The Secret to Success," take a minute and check it out here. I love encouraging my students to fail!



I do have some concerns about PBL. They're not necessarily concerns with the approach itself, but rather the execution of that approach. What I see as I look over many of the projects being proposed is that the project does more to take the student away from the intended content, rather that reinforcing and adding to that content.

As a literature teacher, I'm especially wary of how PBL is being used to teach novels. Many of the projects seem to focus on the theme of a novel and strive to develop that theme further. Personally, my goal is not to teach the theme of a novel, because I want students to understand that theme. I don't teach "To Kill a Mockingbird," because I think students need to understand racial equality or traits of character (however, if I were teaching racial equality or character, I think "Mockingbird" would be a great tool to help teach that). I teach the methods, devices, and style by which Harper Lee came to create a novel that effectively illustrates her intended theme and I teach how to recognize what that theme is.

I may approach the teaching of literature differently than others and they may disagree greatly with the last statement that I just made. There is a good chance that I am wrong.

Overall, I'm excited for the PBL approach to education. Now, to incorporate the 30 other things that they're stressing in our district right now...