A new trend among families is to “give children experiences instead of things.” The popular reason given by parents for this is based on their observations that children don’t usually remember the toys that they’ve owned but will remember their experiences for a lifetime.
What if their school lessons were likewise based on experiences? Experiential learning has been around in some ways in schools for a long time. Most usually in science laboratories in secondary school, or in the block area in kindergarten. And I would expect that these are moments in our own schooling that we
remember aspects of, at least much
more than any notebook page of writing or math work. If that is the case, that our experiences with manipulating objects while dynamically interacting with others
for “hands-on” learning, we might wonder why more of everyday instruction hasn’t been developed to be experience-based.
The New York State Education Department proposes to implement a new pathway for the state-issued high school diploma: one that would provide for project-based learning
and performance-based assessments. What does this mean for the reimagining of standard education
for our children?