Learning: Who's in charge, anyway?

As I was traveling through Scott McLeod's website today, I saw this quote that screamed Project/Inquiry-Based Learning:

"People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: 'If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe.' - Seth Godin"

Wow! So here's how I see it: As educators, WE are in charge of creating the structure....the curriculum, assessment, and instruction....and the STUDENT is in charge of his/her learning. Well, WE are in charge of making sure the student's in charge. Does that make sense? We can't just sit there and say, "Hey, I provided everything, but he/she just didn't take advantage of the opportunity to learn." What?!? Really?!? If we're really going to own the learning in our classrooms, then learning isn't an option. I would think it would be really hard to go to sleep at night knowing that a student slipped between the cracks and wasn't actively engaged in my class that day. How incredibly sad. That student is counting on ME, and I let him/her down. (This is when my inner voice takes over and asks, "And WHY did you go into education? WHY did you want to be a teacher?")

When you think about it, we all find greater satisfaction when we do something on our own. Now don't get me wrong...I would prefer to pay someone to fix something in our house that needs repaired. My husband, though, would rather engage in the research and fix it himself. I chuckle at the memory of our house in Georgia when he was upstairs fixing the faucet in the bathroom. I suddenly heard a wailing, "Jiiiiiiilllllllllll!" I ran upstairs to find his finger pressed against the faucet, and water was EVERYWHERE! Let me tell you, he will never forget how to fix this problem as long as he lives! I'm reminded here of DuFours' book on Professional Learning Communities entitled, "Learning by Doing." What a simple, yet powerful phrase! We learn by doing! Isn't this what we want for our students?

Project/Inquiry-Based Learning provides the perfect balance of who's in charge. The teacher is the facilitator...the learning guide....and the student is in charge of his own learning (with the teacher in charge of making sure the student's in charge....thus the role of the facilitator). It's time to eliminate the "sit and get" approach to teaching and the rows of desks that go with them. Bring on the collaborative grouping of desks and project-based learning! Our 21st century students are counting on it.