What Is Project-based Learning?
Project-based learning is not new. It’s the way humans have learned for centuries. . .well, at least until the last century. During the Industrial Revolution, compulsory schooling was instituted to create a compliant workforce for factories. This is the structure that remains today though the nature of our work and the skills required are vastly different, leaving our children woefully unprepared for the current economy. Our children need the skills to be entrepreneurs, or work in a gig economy, and be prepared to work in many different sectors over the course of their careers. They need to develop the ability to speak and write well, diversify, work collaboratively on teams, be adaptable, critical thinkers, and have the ability to lead and sell themselves. The beauty of project-based learning is all these skills are built through the project process.
Project-based learning kids learn and function this way all of the time, so they rise above the rest in college and in the workforce because they know how to do way more than take tests. Isn’t this what we want for our children? We want them to be able to think for themselves not just how to “do school” and take tests. I have witnessed the amazing things students can do when they are given space and time to follow their natural curiosity without constant interruption. We want our children to know who they are and what they are really meant to do with their precious lives.
What kind of kids thrive with project-based learning? They are curious and adventurous. They ask a lot of questions. They have varying interests and also specific passions and want to discover and learn using their creativity. They like to use their hands to learn and are excited when doing what they love. It’s the children whom you can’t imagine sitting at a desk all day when there are things to learn all around them, in the great outdoors, and from others!
Project-based learning is relevant, rigorous, and grounded in relationships. We learned like this for centuries; that is, before compulsory schooling became necessary for big business! Factory schooling has divorced our children from their families and their natural inclination to learn. Think of Ben Franklin and Abraham Lincoln who were self-taught. If they wanted to know something, they did their own research—experimental or otherwise, maybe they asked an expert family member, tested their theory, possibly made a prototype and then produced what they needed. They would likely take the time to reflect, revisit, assess how they did, and surely do it better next time.
This type of relevant learning uncovers a child’s natural genius. You’ve probably been amazed by what your children know compared to what you knew at their age, and we’re going to put them back in the same old schools we attended? In this day and age? We owe our kids schools that serve them and allow them to engage in a rich learning process. With project-based learning, we bring in experts from the community as a regular exercise. Every project must have a live source expert--their very own Socrates. Socrates knew that it is through guiding, advising, mentorship, and apprenticeship that we understand what and how we need to learn. This is the heart of project-based learning.
John Gatto who wrote Dumbing Us Down purports our current system teaches how to “do school” instead of how to learn. You may have had a few experiences when you were set free to research on your own and create a project from start to finish (hopefully there is at least one instance you can think of). For me, it was in high school when I was allowed to choose my junior theme topic. I wrote it on something I was passionate about, and it was the most rewarding learning experience I had had to that point. Looking back, I wonder what I could have discovered or accomplished if I had had that kind of choice earlier in my education. Why did I have to wait 11 years in compulsory schooling to have a choice? If you had a choice in what you researched because it was relevant to you, you probably dived into the deep on your topic and did the best work you’ve ever done. Imagine to what levels your children will rise when they learn this way all the time!
With relevant, project-based learning, I have seen unbelievable examples of learning unleashed. One of my students completed Algebra, Geometry, and Algebra II in one school year—the 9th grade! By the time he was a junior, he was tutoring seniors in AP Calculus and his senior year was taking Combinatorics at the local university. When we set students free to work to their potential, the results are amazing! Another student was doing graduate-level research including meta analysis her senior year because she was given the time and space to go as far and deep as she desired. She chose the topic, and she loved what she was learning.
When students have choice as they do with project-based learning, they naturally build reading, writing, and speaking skills to incredible levels because their engagement is exponentially greater. Traditional schools underestimate our children’s capacity for growth, intellectual curiosity and creativity. There is no limit to what children can do and the joys they discover if we only give them the environment they deserve.
