Fast & Slow Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century will offer incisive perspectives on why much of what is called educational “reform” does not work; how to identify what’s wrong in many reforms; and what educators, families and institutions can do to promote better educational opportunities for all children. More than a “talk”, this event will be a conversation around shared, collective efforts to improve school reform, teaching, and learning.

1. Fast & Slow Learning in
the 21st Century
Gustavo E. Fischman & Eric M. Haas
edXchange
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers
College

2. What drives you crazy about
education reform?

4. We are the students
of today
Attending the schools
of yesterday
Being taught by the
teachers of the past
With methods from
the Middle Ages
To solve the
problems of the
future!

5. Many reforms are
rightly wrong
Because they are based on models
—prototypes and metaphors—
that feel right
but are fundamentally wrong

6. DELIVERING
WRONG
KNOWLEDGE IS THE
SAME AS
LEARNING AND
TEACHING

7. Sometimes what feels right initially, when you
think about it a bit more slowly isn’t really a good
idea

8. The Conduit Model
Words are vessels for
objective meaning
Minds are
empty
Teacher
s are info
depositors

9. A predominant
logical fallacy
• Authority A in the name of society decides
that Knowledge K is important
• A selects teacher B with lots of K to deliver to
student X who doesn’t have any K
• B gives K to X
• If X doesn’t “get K”, then it is X’s problem

10. How often have we actively or
inadvertently thought, talked, and
acted as if teaching as direct
transmission is true?

11. How can we avoid the
rightly wrong temptation of
using the Conduit
Metaphor?

12. Rethink Rationality
David.Plunkert.image_.via_.NYT_.11-27-11

13. Think of a Grandmother

14. Think of a Math Class

15. What do you see?

16. Can yuo raed tihs? Are yuo
srpruesid?
Can you read this?
You can aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht
you are rdanieg. In fcat, if yuo are
fulnet in Egnislh you cnnaot not
raed tihs. Yuor bairn rdaes this
atoullimatacy and yuo conant sotp
ylsouerf. Amzanig, huh?
Yo ca re d t is jus fin , too. Eve with
t e miss g l tt rs.

17. More Accurate Metaphor
BUT not Perfect . . .
Learning is Growth
Minds or Brains are Soil
Ideas/Understandings/Students are Plants

18. Growth Metaphor Logic
• People construct their understandings
• People need supports to construct
accurate or expert
understandings/abilities
•High expectations
•Sufficient supports
•Strong relationships

19. Madness Test
Apply to any educational
proposal
Does it . . .
Misunderstand how people learn ?
Apply (rightly wrong) ideas as silver
bullets ?
Disregard (contrary) evidence (consistently
and stubbornly) ?

20. Promote Smart Ideas
Ones supported by credible evidence
of likely success
Avoid Dumb Ideas
Ones with little of no credible evidence
of likely success

21. Top 11 “Rightly Wrong” Ed Ideas
Popular, but little evidence

22. Top 10 “Smart” Ed Ideas
Less Popular, but with more
evidence

23. Thanks!

24. join us again
on November 8
at Brunson-Lee
Elementary School