written by Dan Sarian
How much information did you retain from your 13 years of grade school? If, on average, you were exposed to 800 hours of instruction per year, well, do the math. That’s a lot of instruction! We’ve all crammed for tests and quizzes and then “dumped” that information out of our short-term memory the minute we got it down on paper. Other pieces of information we retained even though we learned it by rote such as the multiplication table or states and capitals of the U.S. But thanks to Google we now have access to the entire world’s vast library of information with just a few clicks. This has significantly reduced the amount of information we have needed to place in our brain’s amazing storage and retention capability. What it hasn’t reduced is the need to think and make associations in our mind between existing information and new information.
FRCS is constantly pursuing educational excellence through the training and equipping of our faculty in research-based classroom strategies, methodology, learning theory, educational psychology and Biblical integration. Our teachers are life-long learners, and if they had one wish (besides more time for planning and prep) it would be more time to read, study and take continuing education classes. The next time you talk to one of our staff ask them how many books are on their night table.
I led a recent professional development session for my elementary teachers based on a learning theory espoused by Jean Piaget, the Swiss educational psychologist (1896–1980). Piaget developed a theory of learning that focused on why and how a learner is able to receive, organize and recall certain types of information. Since the vast majority of instruction in schools involves the transfer of facts and general information Piaget theorized that our brains are highly efficient organizers. He coined the term “schema” to describe how students organize and interpret information based on their existing knowledge base. In practical application, this means that effective teachers are able to create bridges in student’s minds by helping students reference and access existing information on a subject and then enabling them to link new information to that which they already know.
Here’s an example of how this works. Read the following narrative.
“With the hocked gems financing him our hero bravely defied all scorn and laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. Your eyes deceive he had said. An egg, not a table correctly typifies this unexplored planet. Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. Forging along, sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often through turbulent peaks and valleys, days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last, from nowhere, welcome winged creatures appeared signifying momentous success.”
Do you know what this narrative is about? What do you need to know in order for this narrative to make sense? Well, if you knew that “hocking gems” referred to Queen Isabella’s vast treasury of precious gems, that an “egg, not a table” is a description of the shape of the earth and that the “three sturdy sisters” is a reference to three ships, the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, you would be able to link this information to Christopher Columbus’ famous voyage. Do you see how accessing existing information was able to bring this narrative into focus?
My teachers are professional educators who are consummate learners! They thrive in the environment at FRCS because of our commitment to equipping them to continually sharpen their teaching craft. Piaget’s schema theory is just a sampling of what our faculty are studying.
