Rethink Learning Now

I attended a Headstart program nearly four decades ago. Admittedly, I have had many notable learning experiences since that time. As an educator, however, my nursery school days remain among my most personally and professionally formative.

Unlike most children who choose to become teachers when they grow up, I did not enjoy much of my schooling. Beginning in kindergarten, I passed from grade to grade in a blur of academic boredom and social dread....

Learning is a lifetime necessity that is increasingly subtle with the aging process. Behavioral scientist Ralph Tyler, one of my mentors, was chair of my doctoral committee at the University of Chicago. At that time, he was dean of the arts and sciences division, chair of the department of education, and university examiner. (By passing a comprehensive batch of tests, overseen by the university examiner, able students could secure the bachelor's degree in less than the usual...

My maternal grandmother was my most effective teacher. Her life and the decisions she made as a young adult served as a powerful example and inspiration. She came of age during the Great Depression and, along with many of the other Jews in her community, became an activist -- unionizing textile workers on the East Coast, organizing farmers in California's Central Valley, and leading thousands of hungry children in a protest. She was jailed at the age of 14, beaten by police several...

Most of my education was spent in long hours of frustration. I had learning difficulties from the very beginning. At the school psychologist's bidding, I was held back in the fourth grade. This did not help much academically and, even worse, I was devastated watching my peers move ahead without me.

I struggled through high school and upon graduation, hoped for college, but realistically expected a career in auto mechanics. Reaching for my higher education dream, I...

One of the most educational experiences of my undergraduate years occurred during the summer between my freshman and sophomore years. I spent the summer working in the microbiology lab of a factory near my home to earn money for college. One of the microbiologists was an African-American man. We had many candid discussions that summer about race, including his many experiences with discrimination. His willingness to share his experiences transformed the way I interact publicly. For...

The press badges on two junior high reporters caught the president's eye at the steps of Air Force One. "Oh, I see you're starting early," Richard Nixon told the students as he stepped forward to shake their hands.

The two student reporters, wearing the same press credentials as the half dozen professional reporters also at the aircraft, were the only ones who got to talk with the president. He was in Rockford, Illinois to deliver a campaign speech. It was...

Can we call this learning how important it is to empower students? My last year at Kettering Middle School, where I first taught, I had only two classes of 8th grade students, each of which I saw for two 73 minute periods a day, teaching them English, Reading, and American History. I wanted them to work on being able to tell personal narratives. I prepared them using several approaches. First, we read a passage from Once Upon a Time When We Were Colored, by Clifton...

Many of the most significant learning moments in my life have happened to me throughout my 17 years as a professor at Georgia Southern University. One particularly poignant episode took place last year, in a class that I teach called Cognition and Language.

The class is a sophomore level course for education majors and focuses on cognitive and language development in children, including issues of 2nd language acquisition. I teach this course quite frequently, and I...

At Mission Hill School, we publish a weekly newsletter that goes out to our extended community, both near and far. Within the newsletter is a short piece from each classroom teacher. Usually, the piece is a reflection on the children's learning and growth. As I searched a few weeks ago for a topic to write I stepped away from writing about my students' progress and instead thought I'd share a little about my own reflection as a learner.

Recently it was our student...