69ý

Opinion
College & Workforce Readiness Opinion

Worlds Collide

By Ronald A. Wolk — December 21, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL
True learning happens only when schooling and the "real world" collide.

In preparation for a recent meeting, I had to read half a dozen documents. Among them was a copy of Lauren Resnick’s brilliant presidential address to the American Educational Research Association in 1987. Titled “Learning In School and Out,” it focuses on what I view as perhaps the central issue in education: the gap between the real world and the world of school.

Resnick, now a distinguished researcher and education reformer who heads the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh, offers a clear premise in her opening sentence. “Popular wisdom,” she writes, “holds that common sense outweighs school learning for getting along in the world—that there exists a practical intelligence, different from school intelligence, that matters more in real life.”

In the late 1980s, research was beginning to provide a basis for making this distinction, and in her address, Resnick explores four major differences between the two types of education: “Schooling focuses on the individual’s performance, whereas out-of-school mental work is often socially shared. Schooling aims to foster unaided thought, whereas mental work outside school usually involves cognitive tools. School cultivates symbolic thinking, whereas mental activity outside school engages directly with objects and situations. Finally, schooling aims to teach general skills and knowledge, whereas situation-specific competencies dominate outside.”

Resnick’s paper is rich in detail and anecdotes that can barely be alluded to in this brief space. But one “elegant example” of real-world learning is worth mentioning.

Piloting a U.S. Navy ship into San Diego harbor requires the skills of six people with three different job descriptions stationed in various locations on board. The six are in continuous communication and work as a team. The expertise is distributed among them throughout the process; no one person can pilot the ship alone. Moreover, Resnick notes, important elements of this expertise are built into the navigational tools the team members must use. They engage with real objects, not symbols, and the competencies they call on are linked to the situation they are in.

Too many children fail in school because they can’t connect what they’ve learned to the world in which they live.

In schools, kids generally work alone and without tools, especially when being tested. 69ý place value on pure thought activities. These mental exercises often involve symbol manipulation, in contrast to the objects and events used elsewhere. “Out of school, because they are continuously engaged with objects and situations that make sense to them,” Resnick states, “people do not fall into the trap of forgetting what their calculation or their reasoning is about.”

69ý seek to teach general, widely used skills and theoretical principles. The rationale is that students will be able to apply this knowledge to a variety of real-life situations in the future. The vast majority of us, I’d wager, discover when we leave school (including college) that the skills and theories we take with us are rarely useful in our working and daily lives. To be truly prepared, Resnick says, “people must develop situation-specific forms of competence.”

Resnick fears that schooling is becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of what we do. If so, it’s also likely that it will become increasingly irrelevant. 69ý certainly shouldn’t abandon their academic mission, but their lessons should relate to real objects, events, and experiences. Too many children fail in school because they can’t connect what they’ve learned to the world in which they live. When they drop out, or squeak through, they are as ill-prepared for that real world as they were for the world of schooling.

69ý need to refocus their efforts to reflect the lessons of the outside world and to help create what Resnick calls “adaptive learners”—people who “can perform effectively when situations are unpredictable and task demands change.” Adaptive learners are not likely to be developed in an isolated academic cocoon.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the January 01, 2006 edition of Teacher Magazine as Worlds Collide

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

College & Workforce Readiness Can the AP Model Work for CTE? How the College Board Is Embracing Career Prep
The organization known for AP courses and the SAT is getting more involved in helping students explore potential careers.
5 min read
David Coleman, CEO of the College Board, speaks at the organization's annual conference in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 21, 2024.
David Coleman, CEO of the College Board, speaks at the organization's annual conference in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 21, 2024. Long an institution invested in preparing students for college, the College Board increasingly has an eye on illuminating career options.
Ileana Najarro/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness The Way 69ý Offer CTE Classes Is About to Change. Here's How
The revision could lead to significant shifts in the types of jobs schools highlight, and the courses students are able to take.
4 min read
Photo of student working with surveying equipment.
E+
College & Workforce Readiness Even in Academic Classes, 69ý Focus on Building 69ý' Workforce Skills
69ý work on meeting academic standards. What happens when they focus on different sets of skills?
11 min read
69ý participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky. on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
69ý participate in reflections after a day of learning in Julia Kromenacker’s 3rd grade classroom at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. The Bullitt County district that includes Old Mill Elementary has incorporated a focus on building more general life skills, like collaboration, problem-solving, and communication, that community members and employers consistently say they want from students coming out of high school.
Sam Mallon/Education Week
College & Workforce Readiness Preparing for the Workforce Can Start as Early as 1st Grade. What It Looks Like
Preparing students for college and career success starts well before high school—and it doesn’t only involve occupation-specific training.
5 min read
Jenna Bray, a 1st grade teacher at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., helps her student Lucas Joiner on an online learning assignment on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
Jenna Bray, a 1st grade teacher at Old Mill Elementary School in Mt. Washington, Ky., helps student Lucas Joiner on an online learning assignment on Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. The Bullitt County district, which includes Old Mill Elementary, has incorporated a focus on equipping students with more general life skills—like communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving—that employers and community members consistently say they want from students coming out of high school.
Sam Mallon/Education Week