{"id":2119,"date":"2019-04-08T17:30:21","date_gmt":"2019-04-08T17:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2024-10-15T22:02:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-15T22:02:15","slug":"group-based-learning-swim-lesson-vs-swim-meet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/2019\/04\/08\/group-based-learning-swim-lesson-vs-swim-meet\/","title":{"rendered":"Group-Based Learning: Swim Lesson Vs Swim Meet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Senior Fellow Don Nielsen of Discovery Institute writes in\nhis book Every School <\/em>\u201cA parent needs\nto have only two children to know how totally different children can be.\u201d  That is why the \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d system is\nno longer advantageous during the information age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

ExcelinEd<\/em>, a national non-profit organization focused on state education reform founded by former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, is pushing<\/a> for more individualized learning. They propose \u201cNext generation learning re-imagines learning for the 21st<\/sup> century by providing innovative educators flexibility and support to meet the needs of all students.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to understand why group-based learning is\nhighly antiquated. To explain this, one must look at the design of the\nbell-shaped curve and what role that plays in our public schools. Don Nielsen\nstates, \u201cWithin a classroom of 25 or so students, teachers were expected to\ngrade students using a bell-shaped curve. In other words, within that\nclassroom, there would be two or three \u201cA\u201d students, four or five \u201cB\u201d students,\neight to ten \u201cC\u201d students, four or five \u201cD\u201d students and two or three \u201cF\u201d\nstudents.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statistically, 25 students is too small a sample size to be\nprovided with a normal distribution of data. The current system also assumes\nthat the measure of being educated is solely one\u2019s intelligence, which is a\nharmful supposition that ignores other influences on the ability to learn, such\nas motivation, self-discipline, effort, and access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how does ExcelinEd\n<\/em>suggest we move away from this conventional system of education? In three\nsteps: \u201cLaunch Innovation or Pilot Programs, Remove Unnecessary Policy\nObstacles, [and] Join Excelin<\/em>Ed\u2019s\nNetwork of State Innovation Partners\u201d with this they hope to embolden schools\nand \u201cdismantle outdated seat-time requirements.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This innovation-focused model could be the catalyst for\nremoving group-based learning and measurements from public education. By promoting\ninnovative ideas within schools and classrooms we would be able to rid\nourselves of the bell-curve which permeates our educational system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nielsen provides an excellent analogy: \u201cOur public schools were set up, and to a large degree still are set up today, like a swimming meet rather than a swimming lesson. In a swimming meet, the purpose is to determine who is the fastest swimmer. In public schools we spend a lot of time grading students on what they have learned and then ranking them, rather than ensuring that every child has learned. What we need, however, is a public school system that is organized like a swimming lesson. In a swimming lesson, the instructor\u2019s goal is different. The goal is to make sure all students, even the slowest, learn how to swim. Swimming meets can be the result of swimming lessons, and grading can be a result of learning, but ranking students by ability should not be the primary goal of teachers or of the system as a whole.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effective education of every child requires moving the\nsystem from concentrating on groups to focusing on individual children. ExcelinEd<\/em>\u2019s proposal is a great start!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior Fellow Don Nielsen of Discovery Institute writes in his book Every School \u201cA parent needs to have only two children to know how totally different children can be.\u201d  That is why the \u201cone-size-fits-all\u201d system is no longer advantageous during the information age. ExcelinEd, a national non-profit organization focused on state education reform founded by former Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, is pushing for more individualized learning. They propose \u201cNext generation learning re-imagines learning for the 21st century by providing innovative educators flexibility and support to meet the needs of all students.\u201d It is important to understand why group-based learning is highly antiquated. To explain this, one must look at the design of the bell-shaped curve and what role that plays Read More ›<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":343,"featured_media":2120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,58],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1062],"class_list":["post-2119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-policy","category-innovation"],"acf":[],"author_names":["Bailey Takacs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2119"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2119"}],"wp:action-assign-author":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discovery.org\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post\/2119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}