The Teacher As Learner

I started my self-study journey with the goal to engage in my own personal scientific inquiry. I wanted to give myself the same structure and timeframe that my 8th grade students had for working on their own scientific investigations so I could experience the process as they did. By putting myself into the position of the learner from day one, I was able to gain valuable insights into what the process was like for my students allowing me to better support them in their learning.

The possibility of exploring my own personal project as part of the self-study was really exciting for me. However, choosing a topic was more difficult than I expected because there were so many possibilities that intrigued me. Then, I remembered the story about the 5th graders and their cooking robot (which I wrote about at the beginning of the self-study process). I loved the engineering challenges that were an inherent part of that project, and I still remember the thrill of analyzing programming codes and trying to figure out the logic that would make them work. The memory of that project made a difficult choice much easier for me because it reminded me of the type of work I love to do and how I learn best.

Giving students choices is a great way to help them feel more invested in their work. However, unlimited choices can be stressful as well. Like me, some students might have too many ideas, others might have none at all. In the past, choosing a focus had been the area students struggled with the most. It was no different this year as approximately three students in each class knew where to begin, but the rest had no idea where to start. To help guide students through this process, I reflected on how I overcame my own difficulty in choosing a topic, and I designed two exercises for students to engage in on the first day of their independent projects.  

The results were remarkable. Students went from expressing great concern that they didn’t think they could choose a topic in one class to knowing exactly what they wanted to pursue by the end of a simple 10 minute exercise. The combination of reflecting on past experiences, identifying what they love to do along with their learning style, and imagining ideal science investigations helped students realize the type of work in which they wanted to engage.

Experiences like this one were common throughout my self-study journey. There were many moments where I found that the obstacles I was experiencing as a learner in my own project mirrored those that my students were encountering in theirs. This symmetry was mutually beneficial for both my work on my project and the students’ work on their projects. Even the challenges and limitations of sharing my work through the writing of this blog post made me rethink the ways in which I have my students share their own work. I realize now that it was only by experiencing the process as a learner myself that these small obstacles could become visible to me in my role as a teacher.

Ongoing Questions

One of the questions I started with at the beginning of this process was, ‘Is setting aside one prep period each week (the equivalent amount of time that students have) enough time to deeply immerse myself in my own scientific investigation?’

After having gone through this process, it is clear to me that it was not enough time. Students have a 42 minute class period, therefore, I chose a prep period that was also 42 minutes long. In reality though, when you account for material set-up and clean-up the total time available is closer to 32 minutes. That amounts to only 4.2 hours of work time over the course of two months! My own research into my topic and determining the best materials to use for my investigation took up more than half of that time. The goal for both my self-study and for the independent projects with students was to provide opportunities to become deeply immersed in scientific investigations. But, given that deep immersion into these investigations is limited by time constraints, part of me wonders if they are worth doing. Did I find value as a learner in these investigations? I certainly did. I learned a lot through this process, but are there ways of making it even more valuable?

As I move forward, I want to think about ways I can restructure my time and the program to provide more opportunities to become deeply immersed in exciting investigations while working within the time available. I also want to continue to think about how to find time for sharing work along the way so together we can engage in rich scientific discussions that enhance the work of everyone.

One thought on “The Teacher As Learner”

  1. Sherezada, thanks so much for sharing this and for exploring, pushing against, and finding ways around the various obstacles that can get in the way of our learning. I think it is especially powerful here that is only when one really steps into the role of the learner that we can gain valuable insights to better inform our teaching. It is a reminder that teaching is not simply an activity with which we engage students who somehow become the object of our work. Your insight here is that the learner must always be at the center and in important ways the teacher must becomes the object in service of the student’s learning. While there is certainly a reciprocity in the teacher-student relationship, if we aren’t able to get as close as possible to what the student learning expereince is actually like, we miss something of great importance.

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