Let me begin by saying that I love the concept and ideas behind Project Based Learning (PBL). The idea of students engaging in and completing a project that is their idea, using and learning new tools to complete the project and having a teacher act more as a guide than instructor...love every bit of it. I think back to my own children and the projects they worked on and completed. Whether it was a report on a Civil War battle for the social studies fair or a video public service announcement produced for other teenagers, the result was knowledge gained that has not been forgotten. I know PBL works.
The current standardized testing climate that has a grip on the public education system is not conducive to using PBL. The test drives the curriculum and more importantly, the pacing of the curriculum. PBL takes time...lots of time. Teachers do not have the luxury of having a classroom that is rich in PBL experiences. The teachers in my school who use this approach most often are the gifted education teachers. It is their job to cover the state mandated learning objectives in greater depth. Regular classroom teachers do not attempt many of these type projects until after the spring standardized test is administered. I've often heard teachers say they love the window of time after the tests and before the end of school because they can teach the way they want to teach. This is the time of year I see PBL implemented.
In my opinion, teachers need to be persuaded to use PBL and be reassured that their class test scores will not suffer. Teachers need to have time to review the notebooks, rubrics, and frameworks used to document the progress of students that other teachers have found successful. Teachers have to buy in to the idea that grades can be gathered from sources other than one final product. Collaborating with other teachers who are experienced in using PBL would be beneficial.
I would love to see schools where PBL was used on a regular basis; however, unless and until students and teachers are evaluated on more than a single test score I am doubtful it will happen.
I unfortunately agree with you 100%. I saw exactly what you’re talking about in my student teaching this past spring. I was in a 7th grade classroom from Jan-March and left right before they started studying for the CRCT. My mentor teacher said they don’t do any of the fun stuff, including lessons using PBL, until after the CRCTs are over. This was mostly because they were in a crunch for time and unfortunately need to teach for the test.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that until we are evaluated on more than just a test score, PBL will be extremely hard to incorporate into our precious instructional time.
It seems like change is in the air. I have heard the past two mornings about a change in education to prepare students more for the working world, and less to pass tests. No Child Left Behind had its good points and bad points, but kids don't know how to do some very basic things that they used to. I took a class where most of the students were aspiring media specialists. They all said that teachers do not come to the media center due to testing pressure...they can't take the time away from the classroom to do things like PBL. Sad.
ReplyDeleteNick...there are rumblings that NCLB requirements will change. I read a release by the GADOE yesterday that details a proposal to change our accountability standards for NCLB. Test scores were still the cornerstone. There is a reward in elementary schools that allow extra points to be earned for % of students taking fine arts and a world language class...their attempt at being "global". Bottom line is that testing is not going away and our scores are going to become part of our evaluation system. I have mixed feelings about this. While I appreciate the value of data, it is not always reflective of the teaching that occurred. If they would look at growth over the year, I'd be more inclined to support this. All in all, I don't see a bright future for PBL as commonly used strategy in public schools. This is unfortunate in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteCarla...Thanks for the heads up on the blog buddies. I completely agree. Every time we've looked at PBL, I get this uneasy feeling. I absolutely love the idea. However, coming up with a way to actually implement it seems impossible.
ReplyDeleteI watched the example video of the teacher discussing the insect project and how he felt it was important that their multi-media presentation have pictures and sounds. It needed to cover insects and all sorts of additional information. The kids will learn so much. But in a traditional classroom, we may cover that in a few days. To do this right will take a few weeks. Now what happens. That is what runs through the back of my mind every time I think about it.
It also has a lot to do with CRCT and EOCT. Can't spend all of our time doing meaningful projects. We must cover GPS and AKS so they can do well on tests! Sad!
ChanMin: You made excellent points, Carla: issues about standardized tests, time, and teacher persuasion. The gifted gets more opportunities to learn with pbl than others saddens me.. More gifts to the gifted.. One solution can be that people like you who know PBL works should be in the school system/ policy making process.
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