As Paul Totah and I continue, for our book, to interview teachers from around the country with innovative courses, we’re finding some commonalities across those classes. One of them, I’m trying to incorporate into the design of my new modern world history class (1850–present): student choice.
Kevin Gant, who teaches an integrated Environmental Studies and Statistics class at Nex+Gen Academy in Alburqurque, told us
Time after time, I am impressed that student choice remains a guiding principle in the course because using curiousity as a guide in the design of the course, students are willing to go far and above my expectations. For example, students going to the desert to do water measurements on the weekend, not because it was assigned, but because they wanted the data for the project they designed.
Of course this is nothing new; student choice is an integral part of project-based learning. In another interview, John Larmer, Editor in Chief at Buck Institute for Education, explained that
Students are allowed to make some choices about they work, how they use their time, and they products they create to demonstrate their learning.
With all of this fresh in mind, as I design the syllabus for the modern world history class that I’ll be teaching in the Fall, I’m trying to build as much student choice in as possible. For example, in the mid–1800s when Britain began allowing home rule for colonies, creating the Commonwealth, the story is different in each country, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Realistically, in this survey course, students do not need to know everything about each of those — so why not let them choose which to dig into deeper?
