As you can probably tell from the title, I've been thinking about innovators in education. Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934) coined these terms, MKO (More Knowledgeable Other) and ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development), to explain his theory of learning. He observed that there were periods in which a child could further his/her understanding (ZPD) when an MKO helped connect the new information or skill to existing knowledge. The connections (scaffolding) would be made by social interaction between the MKO and the child.
Vygotsky used these terms to refer to a child's learning, however, I got to thinking more about MKOs and ZPDs. Who are my MKOs? Where is my ZPD? Clearly, the educational innovators, such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Montessori, Froebel, and Wollstonecraft, are MKOs. Although none of their theories are implemented in whole today, pieces are evident throughout current educational thinking and practice, even though some ideas were conceived nearly a century or more in the past. Their ideas transcend their times and make us think about our teaching practices.
Maria Montessori (1870–1952) looked at the children as her MKOs. She felt that teachers must be the observers of children, learning each one's interests and how he/she learns. The children would lead the teachers in how to assist them. In other words, teachers would always have to be in a ZPD to know how to help children in their learning. That's a great challenge for us as educators today. Have we really gotten to know our students and how they learn? Sometimes we move ahead so quickly with our own lesson plans, we don't take enough time to observe. Maybe our classrooms should be a ZPD for us, instead of us always trying to be the knowledge-givers.
Friedrich Froebel (1782–1852) began that beautiful "kindergarten." Like Montessori, he felt that children should have a role in their learning. He respected them and allowed them to learn through creativity and play. I know we're all pretty committed as educators to engage our students with creative learning opportunities. But it never hurts to be reminded of his happy kindergarten, full of creative energy, exploration, talking, games, crafts, movement, and music.
Children were also Jean Piaget's (1896–1980) MKOs. He learned about their development by observing them. He, too, saw that they needed to play an active role in their learning. He reminds us to value process over product, encourage collaboration, and respect children's individual rates of development.
In this age of assessment and accountability, teachers are put in the role of MKO and even have to prove our worth. So it's hard to take a step back and let the children lead us a little. But I hope we can take the time to learn from our students. They make us better teachers. Here's to being in a continual ZPD.
Lastly, I want to mention Mary Wollstonecraft (1959–1979), who was an advocate for higher education for women. Without her and other reformers like her, who knows where I'd be? Definitely not in grad school! When thinking about her saying, "Education held the key to achieving a sense of self-respect and a new self-image that would enable women to put their capacities to good use," I can't help but think of the 14-year-old Pakistani girl, Malala Mousufzai, who clings to life after being shot by the Taliban because she stood up for girls' right to education. What an incredible and horrible situation! Such a thing should not happen in today's world. Young Malala is a courageous reformer, as much or more than these others we have studied. She reminds me how precious education is. I hope we will continue to champion her cause and make equal education available to all, despite gender, race, or social status.
Carolyn – I really love how you reflected on multiple researchers and connected them to MKO and ZPD. I agree that we are continually in the ZPD, learning from everyone we interact with, including our students! I am constantly reminding students that even adults learn new things everyday. It is so true what you said about not taking time to really observe our students because we are so focused on moving ahead with lesson plans. I know in Montgomery County, the goal of the new curriculum is to allow more time for students to grasp concepts and really gain a deeper understanding, rather than just grazing the surface of as many concepts as possible in a limited amount of time. I feel this new curriculum has allowed me to really focus on my students’ needs and not when the next assessment has to be given. It is amazing to see all of the changes made in education from past to present and I am looking forward to see what the future has in store.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn I agree, it is very hard to let the children take the lead for their learning when we are held accountable for the progress. This type of learning and teaching requires teachers to capitalize on teachable moments in a big way and sometimes it is hard with so many students. Or sometimes we just don't have the resource available to us to capitalize on those moments. For instance, we sorting short o objects and I didn't think about the kids not knowing olives. It would have been great to have olives and by the time I had gotten them, the kids were on to the next thing which was pumpkin pie.
ReplyDeleteThe best way I let me students take the lead is I give them centers with open ended materials and let them explore. I have stringing letters and one student likes to put the letters in ABC order, another likes to find all the pink letters, and another likes to spell our sight words. I then take the time and show the class what each student did to help them branch out a little when they go to that center.