In participating in a program this week, I was once again struck by how often it seems we are learning to pass the test, not learning for life. After the event, I talked to the coordinator to ask why certain things were done. She then explained the underlying goal behind the program--fluency.
I had watched as the participants did as they were told; they worked to complete a project on their own three times. Each participant then was timed as they completed the project a fourth time. I don't think the participants were aware of what the underlying goal of the project was-they were too busy trying to beat the clock.
The goal as well as the task were both life-learning skills, however the purpose for the task was not communicated to the participants so instead of attempting to better their own abilities, they were focused on the clock, not the fluency.
When I initially began working with this project, I too believed the purpose was to beat the clock. I didn't know what the objectives were. Once I knew the ultimate goal, I saw where I had flexibility in working with the participants to help them gain a higher comfort level with the information and better achieve fluency while in fact bettering their times
Are we guilty of this in our classes? We need to make sure we share the overall purpose of the task to assist us and our participants in completing the task most effectively. When participants grasp that, it opens up more opportunity for how we get to the end, how we reach the goal. It allows us to use preferences, be flexible, think and work outside the box. And learn for life, not just to beat the clock.
