âCome along, Toto,â she said. âWe will go to the Emerald City and ask the Great Oz how to get back to Kansas again.âL. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
We have all, at one time or another, heard the phrase âWeâre not in Kansas anymoreâ to refer to a place or situation thatâs different from homeâa departure from the comfortable and the familiar. For over a hundred years, the stories of the wonderful, magical Land of Oz have captured our imaginations. But, in the beginning, long before we learn to fear the evil plotting of the Wicked Witch or want to help a cowardly lion to find his courage, a young girl named Dorothy, accustomed to a life of monochrome monotony, utters these words as she takes her first steps into a brand-new world far from the only home she has ever known (thanks to a rather convenient cyclone).
For the most part, we in education remain stuck in our own version of Kansas. Itâs true that school reform has been in the making for years and many of us are pursuing the change we want to see by working long hours to help our students succeed. Weâve made great strides, and there are indeed pockets of magic and creativity in classrooms across the nation. But sadly, this just isnât the norm. Excitement and passion are not the standard.
Teachers are told they must adhere to a rigid system they were never allowed to help build. Teachers tell students what they will learn (targets and objectives), how they will learn (endless practice problems; copying notes from yet another lecture; a âStory of the Weekâ with a detailed reading log; and worksheets so ponderous and endless that they strip all relevant value and interest from their original lesson goal), where they will learn it (sitting at their desks that rarely move, anchored just as intractably as their classrooms), and all for the goal of passing a test, so that they may move on to another test, advancing to the next grade level, the next school, and yet another empty box to mark âDone.â We cannot allow our classrooms to continue this way.
True learning begins when students feel like theyâre a part of something personally meaningful in the classroom, when theyâre in a space that inspires them to follow their curiosity, to embrace wonder and discovery. We have come to a crossroads. Our world demands that education cannot stay in Kansas any longer. Thereâs a cyclone of change looming darkly on the horizon. It is up to all of us to embrace and encourage that change. As teachers, we face many challenges, many influences that want to keep us in Kansas, that want us to uphold the status quo at any cost. How do we lead the change of learning in the classroom and become champions of something truly authentic and transformative? To truly serve our students and prepare them for the future, we must:
- Give students freedom to express their own creativity and choose what, how, when, and where they learn.
- Inspire students to wonder and care more, so that they naturally expand their own thinking.
- Coach and support student learning ardently.
- Create a classroom community that embraces different points of view and promotes outlandish ideas, allowing students the flexibility to change their minds, and to fail in a safe, supportive environment while gaining the confidence and ability to overcome challenges.
Freedom
Schooling can sometimes feel as though itâs more about generating good little cogs in a meaningless system of endless predictability than it is about creating avenues for students to use their own voices, creativity, and talents. Being a part of a classroom should be and can be energizingâan experience that inspires us to learn and be creative. But this can happen only if the time spent in school (both inside and outside the classroom) is fun and meaningful and connects to studentsâ own interests and choices; it canât happen simply through forced compliance and obligation. Classrooms must represent freedomâfreedom granted to students to speak their minds and freedom to seek help and advice from those peers or adults they trust. The purest form of learning happens when it is sought out, when it is a voluntary decision to answer the question âWhy?â When students are connecting with others who have similar interestsâwhether in person or via texts, media, or independent solitary musingsâthey collaborate, share ideas, and question each other.
When Dorothy first lands in Oz, she arrives in the midst of a civil war of sorts. The Wicked Witch of the East had âheld all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day.â How many of us have experienced, firsthand, or at least known that teacher, whose classroom-management style is similarly tyrannical? The teacher who might be so close to retirement that they have checked out. Or the teacher whoâs been overworked to the point of burnout. And of course, in some cases, thereâs the teacher who simply does not like their job.
Finding Freedom: Herbieâs Experience
I had a life-changing moment in the third grade. To minimize my presence as a distraction in class, my teacher brought in a cardboard refrigerator box and erected it around my desk so that I was completely cut off from the rest of the class. Now, it should be said, with a nod to fairness, that I was (and might still be, if you ask Nathan on the right day) quite a handful. I was hyperactive, constantly questioning, and the perennial class clown who would do anything to make my classmates giggle. My teacher, Mrs. Fridge-Box, as weâll call her to protect her anonymity, had tried any number of solutions to subdue and punish her most trying student: sending me to sit outside alone on the concrete, holding me back from learning my multiplication tables (which I loved, and at which I excelled), trotting me off to see the principal, holding parent conferences, and far too many other strategies to list here, lest this story become as frustrated and tired as Mrs. Fridge-Box had most assuredly become.
I distinctly remember the embarrassment and humiliation, deliberately engineered by Mrs. F-B, as she threw me even further into the spotlight by erecting four walls around me to smother my natural enthusiasm. But do not worry. I remember the embarrassment and humiliation lasting exactly five minutes.
The machinations of Mrs. F-B backfired on her most spectacularly when I remembered what all young students remember when they have a moment to themselvesâto have fun. During recess, I was forced to stay behind in the classroom, and when Mrs. Fridge-Box left the room, I grabbed some crayons and set to work on my very first DIY home improvement project. I drew a doorknob, a window, and some pretty flowers and grass on the outer walls of my new box home, turning it into my own little house. From the comfort of my new fortress, I was free to put on puppet shows for the other students, sing my favorite songs at the top of my little lungs whenever I wanted to, or even stand on my desk on my tiptoesâpeeking over the top of my boxâwhenever I had a question which, alas, was often.
Needless to say, Mrs. F-B very sadly lost her temper again. (My mother was also less than pleased to hear about the Great Boxing, which, after a call to the principal, disappeared the following morning.) But I do remember in that moment learning just how much power I had and how I could now use it against my archnemesis whenever it tickled me, which is of course exactly what I did until summer vacation. Incidentally, Mrs. Fridge-Box retired after that school year, never to be seen again.
The moral of our tale? You can try to put your problems in a box, but they will always find a way out again; or, also: students need freedom and the structure to grow into who they will eventually become. In retrospect, itâs clear what I was doing was learning, just on my own schedule, and in my own way. I was independently, if unknowingly, taking my first steps onto the road toward my passion for creative artistry and my future in the performing arts. Had Mrs. F-B been able to channel my gifts rather than try to stifle them, both of us would now have vastly different memories of that long-ago third grade classroom. Mrs. Fridge-Box might have offered me an opportunity to learn in different ways. She could have allowed me to create a story, song, or play based on the text I was reading or math problems we were solving. She could have allowed me to work independently and supported me rather than trying to fit me into the quite literal box she thought I should occupy.
Thus endeth the lesson.
When youâre a part of a classroom that embraces empowerment and freedom, itâs not governed by initiatives, mandates, rules, or âboxes.â Students draw from a wellspring of energy fueled by unfiltered autonomy, transparency, connection, and generosity. If you are able to tap into your studentsâ gifts, there is no limit to what students and teachers may achieve.
Motivation: Wondering and Caring More
How do we motivate students? How do we, as their teachers and guides, inspire them to wonder and care? There is a direct correlation between what we think and wonder about, and the intrinsic care we are then able to feel. How can we engage students in a way that helps them develop their own thinking? Sometimes called âthe silver bulletâ of the education worldâand of life, in generalâhow is the fire of interest first ignited?
As the planet spins faster and faster, we have all the secrets of the universe at our fingertips at all times. Falling down the rabbit hole of a Google search has never been easier. How, then, living inside the depthless realm of instant and fascinating distraction, can we introduce another option, a different road . . . one that leads to more organized learning, lasting comprehension, and, most importantly, a way to make our students care?
The secret of all engaged participation lies in the hidden and simple power of relatability. Dorothyâs entire time in the Land of Oz, once the cyclone crash-lands her there, is spent with one simple goal in mind: to go home again. In one blazing moment of clarity, she knows exactly what she wants, and she takes us along with her as she tries to find her way.
Every friend she makes learns about her seemingly impossible problem and stands by her side to lend whatever help they can give. And we, as the observers, all want to help her, too. We are able to relate to her fear and distress at the prospect of never seeing her family ever again.
With the dazzling flurry of tech, and the immediacy of social media, how can we help our students relate toâand care aboutâthe material they need to learn? The best way is to get them to tell their own stories. Storytelling is a powerful way for students to share their thinking. It is instantly engaging and intrinsically motivating. A great storyteller helps us decide not only what is compelling in life, but why itâs compelling. A great storyteller ascends Bloomâs taxonomy by displaying all levels of cognitive processing, from recalling information to creating new experiences. Through sensory detail, figurative language, and the call to action, the storyteller helps us interpret information, make new and meaningful connections, and reconstruct that information as part of a new and different creation, namely our reflections on those stories.
A great story, then, is not about the regurgitation of facts, though it can most definitely inform. Itâs also not only about the storyteller, though it most certainly transforms their experience of an event when telling it. A great story invites the listener to expand their mind and think differently about the world. It also positions the storyteller to influence the listener or reader so that they reevaluate their opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and actions.
Hereâs a story to illustrate the point about why stories matter. After we moved to Maine, we decided to become gardeners. But long before we could pick our own vegetables and flowers, we had to start somewhere. So we began researching how to create a vegetable garden (after all, now that weâre here in Maine, we expect to see Martha Stewart around every corner, or at least we hope for that). Combing through websites on how to garden in our growing zone and watching Martha Stewart episodes (literally every single one) represented the information stage.
The next stage was the application of that new knowledge, the actual process of tilling the ground, fertilizing the soil, buying the seeds, and sowing them indoors before planting outdoors during Memorial Day weekend. We could have simply opted to rush out and build a garden based on our limited prior experiences and knowledge of gardening, but it wouldnât necessarily have led to any success. So instead, we informed ourselves before we acted. We metaphorically and literally started from the ground up, and now we have a vibrant garden that produces vegetables to harvest, beautiful roses for our home, as well as all the knowledge weâve gained and the fun adventures weâve had along the way.
Once we created our garden, it was wisdom we gained from experience that not only allows us to maintain the garden but helped us design a garden that also self-sows and flourishes. Wisdom protects it from the early autumn freeze in October that whis...