The Culture of the ‘One
Correct Answer’
- its implications
Dr. Rob Waring
Notre Dame Seishin University
JALT, 2011
An education history lesson
70 years ago
information was scarce
we had to go and get it - schools and libraries
knowledge came from teachers, books
the only way to keep this knowledge was to store it in one’s head
literacy and numeracy were paramount (and still are)
30 years ago
homes had encyclopedias
homes had radios and TVs
Today
the total sum of human knowledge since time began is now available
everywhere, at any time, to billions, in seconds
This change implies
We no longer need to send children to schools to get ‘knowledge’
There’s no need to cram obscure facts into learners and test them to check
if they understood it – they can get this information any time they need it,
now or at any time in the future
Learners should be focused on learning processes and experiential
learning rather than on knowledge
We need to stop asking what knowledge learners need to learn and ask
what can we do to help them deal with all this knowledge?
what can they do with this knowledge?
how can they use this knowledge to better themselves and the
community?
how can we help them to develop their talents and abilities?
how can we develop in them an understanding of the process of
learning?
What does education look like today?
Knowledge and information is presented linearly:
– courses dissect and fragment language into teachable units of
knowledge to be learnt and assessed one by one
– much of education and assessment disprivileges integrated,
connected knowledge and processes
The education system itself is linear
– a railroad system that privileges college education above one’s own
desires, needs and passions
– implying that not going to a ‘good’ school or college = failure
– focusing on a conforming one-size-fits all education over a
personalized, interconnected, complex one
What does education look like today? II
It is short-sighted:
– by privileging ‘knowledge’ above process and experiential
learning; correctness over experimentation
An education system based on memorization is fundamentally at odds
with what they need
– once they have forgotten the ‘facts’ (a predictable outcome of
them
not being repeated), nothing is left
We all know what this means, right?
Hard working
Diligent
Smart
Lazy
Irresponsible
Not so smart
We label them and often treat them according to these labels
They label themselves – often for life
The ‘culture of the one correct answer’
Our education systems indoctrinate students into believing:
there’s a right and wrong answer to (almost) everything
there are no, or few, shades of grey
metrics are more important than process
there is a single truth to be discovered – one that is valued above
more integrated, complex knowledge
a score determines their self-worth and worth to society
there is a single conception of ability / intelligence
a student’s role is to follow the railroad to college and to a better
wealthier, high status, professional life
The ‘culture of the one correct answer’ II
The dominant 'culture of the one correct answer’:
doesn’t reflect the dynamic way languages are learnt
underrepresents the dynamic nature of language acquisition
focuses on ‘learnt’ knowledge at the expense of ‘experienced’
knowledge
focuses on explicit versus implicit knowledge
creates in the minds of learners a dissociation from the language as it
is studied as an object rather than as a creative, dynamic system.
The ‘culture of the one correct answer’ III
The culture of the ‘one correct answer’ helps build knowledge but
doesn’t help the process of learning because:
it tells learners to never be wrong and doesn’t allow them to be
wrong
it denies them to chance to fail and learn from failure
it undervalues taking risks and resourcefulness
it creates cautious, passive learners focused on memorizing details
and who cannot ‘think on their feet’or come up with ideas easily
and feel it when they meet people who can
it denies opportunities for learners to learn by experimenting with
ideas
it educates them OUT of their creativity because it discourages risks
it doesn’t foster co-operative learning and social integration
A metricated education system
A (highly) metricated and hierarchical education system:
assumes we can distinguish between students on the basis of a
numerical score
assumes tests can distinguish between the brightest, the worthy,
the hard workers, and the lazy, irresponsible, less worthy ones
assumes a score is sufficient in determining a learner’s current
aptitude, ability and their future potential
makes the learners prisoners to their score – often for life
A metricated education system II
Tests do not tell us the important stuff about our learners:
true score
intelligences
learning style
potential
social skills
passions, needs
adaptability
creativity
etc. etc.
how hard they worked
knowledge of things we didn’t test
character, personality
talents
abilities in other areas
aptitude for a subject
suitability for employment
readiness to function in society
Mistakes are good
Mistakes are not intrinsically bad (or good)
Realizing you made a mistake may make you feel stupid or embarrassed
but only if mistakes are considered bad in the learning environment
Mistakes are a necessary outcome of experimenting with ideas
Advance in science is predicated on making mistakes (trial and error)
Mistakes lead to new conceptualizations and new realizations which are
the cornerstone of creativity
If students are not prepared to be wrong, they won’t create anything new
We indoctrinate students to believe mistakes are bad
It’s wrong to tell learners that mistakes are bad
they should never make mistakes
they should never be wrong
A poor attitude to mistakes …
Can make them think that the function of education is to look for a
certain ‘right’ answer to questions and problems
Can create a ‘perfectionist’ attitude and the feeling that getting
something wrong means something is wrong with themselves
The diligent, overachieving ‘A’ student feels pressure to retain the
expectations of the ‘A’ status
Those who make many mistakes may feel failures, feel they lack
intelligence, self-worth and may carry this with them forever
A re-conceptualization of mistakes
They (and we) need to accept that learners need to fail as part of the
learning process.
they fail
they notice
their error
they process
the gap
they learn
from failure
by revising
their
hypothesis
they advance
Educate them for what future?
If “teachers build the future”, what will the future look like?
The future will requires learners to:
adapt to changing, unpredictable, insecure environments
be resourceful and creative in finding solutions
be flexible by having a store of options available to them
be risk takers so they can learn from error
be adaptable to learn new skills and new ways of thinking
So what should schooling be for?
Schools should help learners to:
learn the basics – literacy (analog and digital), numeracy, etc.
meet various disciplines so they can decide for themselves what
excites them (and not just the left-brain disciplines)
develop an understanding of the process of learning
understand and develop complex, connected and interactive skills
develop the social self – learning to co-operate, collaborate, etc.
find and sort though an avalanche of competing information by
critically assessing it, and making appropriate decisions
give them a broad range of skills and abilities to deal with a
changeable and uncertain future
be resourceful in applying these skills to multiple situations as
needed in their private and working lives
develop their own talents, interests, aptitude and potential
Not evolution, but a revolution
We need to fundamentally re-think:
what our English classes are for
what we want the learners to do with their English
how we can give the learners choice
how we can give them their voice
how we can get them to share
how we can personalize their education
Our focus should be
To see education as
a process
not
as an object
personal
one-size-fits-all
dynamic
static
meaningful
abstract
relevant
disengaging
self-fulfillment
stamping on dreams
To develop the whole person, not just the left side of the brain
To develop an organic, flexible, personalized education system
To develop a system for the information age not one suitable for an
industrial age
What can we do?
Our learners are diverse and so should our classes be. They have to:
- find ways to connect the English they learn to their future lives
- focus on the thinking principles behind disciplines rather than the
subject matter itself (learning to learn)
- be resourceful by requiring them to develop multi-faceted complex
interdisciplinary projects
- deal with multiple sources of information, digest and critically
evaluate it
- relate the classroom to the outside world – make news videos of
problems / solutions in their areas; make websites and blogs about
their interests
- work in the present - use their mobile phones in class to access the
internet to answer questions they have
Summary
Tests are not intrinsically bad:
they can help learners understand if they have learnt something
but they should be focused on:
- making sure learners have understood processes rather than discrete
information
- their understanding of principles underlying disciplines (and the
relationships between disciplines) not necessarily the subject matter
- assessing their flexibility, creativity, adaptability and ability to
deal with a rapidly changing and evolving society by valuing
these with the same status as literacy and numeracy
The future of education will NOT be about cramming knowledge but about
developing skills and abilities to deal with the knowledge in meaningful and
useful ways in a changing world
We can do better. It’s time to do better.
Thank you for listening
www.robwaring.org/presentations/
waring_robert@yahoo.com