Element description
Traditionally, educators prepare instruction based on the curriculum and associated lessons. Unfortunately, this approach is inconsistent with what we now know about learning. Remember: learning starts where the learners are, not where we want them to be or where the curriculum imagines them to be. Students begin the process of learning by connecting new knowledge to what they already know, understanding and valuing the purpose of what they are learning, and aspiring to master new knowledge. If we want all learners to be successful, we need to start where they are and position them as their own greatest asset for learning rather than as objects of educators’ pre-set, pre-scheduled lessons. When we take this approach, we reinforce the importance of learners’ roles in their own success, we communicate respect for them as people, and we invite them to invest in themselves rather than simply comply with our wishes and expectations.
