| Taking more risks with educational programs |
6/10/04 10:59 AM |
Author:
Bryan Hassel
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Roger, this is a great issue to raise. We hear a lot these days about using "research based instruction." And it's very hard to argue against that. If we know something "works," how can we not use it in our classrooms?
But there are a couple of problems with the research-based-craze:
(1) The research base on instruction doesn't come close to covering all the questions educators face about "how to." We always point to early reading research -- this is important, but just a small slice of the overall instructional pie.
(2) Even where research is strongly supportive of some practice, don't we still need to build in room for improvement? For example, circa 1900, research clearly showed that trains were the best way to move stuff and people around the country. Air travel, at that time, was woefully inadequate. But clearly our world has benefited from the experimentation with air travel that went on then.
So amen to the idea of allowing room for risk-taking. Insisting on only doing what's already been proven to work is a recipe for stagnation.
Posted as a reply to:
More Risks Need to be Taken by Roger W. Bourassa
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