Author: Terrell Heick
Critical thinking is the ongoing application of unbiased analysis in pursuit of objective truth. Although its name implies criticism, critical thinking is actually closer to ‘truth judgment‘ based on withholding judgments while evaluating existing and emerging data to form more accurate conclusions. Critical thinking is an ongoing process emphasizing the fluid and continued interpretation of information rather than the formation of static beliefs and opinions. Research about cognitively demanding skills provides formal academic content that we can extend to less formal settings, including K-12 classrooms. This study, for example, explores the pivotal role of critical thinking in enhancing decision-making across…
by Terrell Heick It isn’t clear what the original goal of social media was. No single person, organization, or platform could have possibly decided this. Once the framework of publishing content–in any constantly changing but not always evolving forms–was established, new standards for engagement emerged. At its best, the primary goals of most kinds of print publishing in the past were sharing ideas (new, unique, credible, propaganda, etc.) and creating revenue. Social media has made anything simple to publish, which has changed things. For example, ‘social engagement’ and ‘traction’ have become their currency. There are new scales for knowledge-sharing–one billion…
by Terry Heick Education is a series of learning experiences informed by policy, and actuated by teachers. Policy, by its very nature, is sweeping and ambitious. It is designed to work on various scales, is well-intentioned, and often difficult to fault on paper. The teachers aren’t really much different. They are ambitious, designed to work on various scales, and are commissioned (quite literally) to enact the policies that govern the institutions (schools) they work in. The wrinkles arise however as teachers strive to realize a vision for education that is, as things are, entirely impossible: For every student to master every academic…
by Terry Heick My wife is a schoolteacher, and recently I’ve been listening to her online meetings. And there have been a lot of them. It’s July 2024 and a week or three from the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year in the United States depending on your local school district’s schedule. Yesterday, I was at a cafe sitting next to what seemed to be a group of teachers and they had a lot of ideas. And a lot of enthusiasm. Over the low but constant noise of most cafes, some words and phrases were audible: Data. Goal. Standards. Vision.…
by Terry Heick It’s possible that there is no time in the history of education that our systems of educating have been so out of touch with the communities. Growing populations, shifting communities, and increasingly inwardly-focused schools all play a role. In light of the access of modern technology, social media, and new learning models that reconfigure the time and place learning happens, it doesn’t have to be that way. Schools can evolve while simultaneously growing closer to the people they serve. First, for the purpose of this post let’s think of technology and social media as distinct. Technology has…
by Terrell Heick Will robots replace teachers? I was asked this in an interview a years ago for Futurism and tried to offer up some abstract nonsense whose lack of clarity represented my own thinking: “Will artificial intelligence replace teachers? Will the students themselves replace teachers through self-directed learning, social/digital communities, and adaptive technology?” These might be the wrong questions, a product of our sentimentality as a culture and human insecurity in general. For example, if we say that robots can replace teachers, it is seen as a slight at teachers because we suggest that even simple, mindless machines can…
by Terry Heick Phonemic awareness is knowing that certain letters make certain sounds. Phonemic awareness is knowing that sounds can blend together in predictable and unpredictable ways. Phonemic awareness is about loving the sounds that letters can make, then noticing common patterns across symbols, media, and languages. Phonemic awareness makes decoding possible. Decoding is being able to blend sounds together to ‘make’ words you recognize. Decoding is collecting as many words as possible into your ‘sight word bank’ to increase your reading speed and comprehension. Decoding is recognizing common word parts used in many words and using knowledge of those…
by Terry Heick Quality—you know what it is, yet you don’t know what it is. But that’s self-contradictory. But some things are better than others, that is, they have more quality. But when you try to say what the quality is, apart from the things that have it, it all goes poof! There’s nothing to talk about. But if you can’t say what Quality is, how do you know what it is, or how do you know that it even exists? If no one knows what it is, then for all practical purposes it doesn’t exist at all. But for…
The Difference Between Constructivism And Constructionism by Terry Heick While working on the learning theory visual overview, I realized I couldn’t clearly explain the difference between constructivism and constructionism. So I did a little research and initially didn’t find much to ease my confusion. The Difference Between Constructivism And Constructionism Constructivism is–more or less–the same thing. So what’s the difference between constructivism and constructivism? Definition of Constructivism Constructivism is an educational theory in which learners actively construct their own understanding and knowledge through experiences and reflection on those experiences. It emphasizes the importance of learners’ prior knowledge, social interactions, and…
by Terry Heick Having gone on for decades now, discussions around the idea of ed reform are a bit tired. They seem pointless. Exhausting. A waste of time and creative bandwidth. Bottom-up change is exhausting and top-down change is exhausting for entirely different reasons. Rather than state or federal policy, make schools and communities accountable to one another. This would require supporting those communities in various ways and supporting learners by expanding the definition of ‘academic’ success. Among the benefits, the improved visibility of our collective, shared challenge to educate every learner every day for every standard regardless of background,…