Cached In: A Tale of Two Analogies

Imagine, if you will, the following scenario.

Consider a child. A child of approximately 1.5 years of age who happens to have the most beautiful smile in the world, the sweetest laugh, and the fullest head of hair that anyone can imagine. This same child brings great joy to the lives her parents, and the child is always at the center of attention whenever a crowd of individuals are present. As with any milestone in a child’s life, celebration occurs whenever she accomplishes a task that she has never accomplished before: her first giggle, her first “word”, her first time meeting another baby, and even her first diaper change.

It is time for another milestone in her life – it is time to learn how to walk! As with any child who tries to learn how to walk, the parents are aware of the fact that she will eventually master the art of roaming around the house on two legs rather than four appendages. While the parents hate to see their beautiful daughter growing up, they also understand that it is a necessity of life.

Typical story, typical rationale, and typical background for such a wonderful child.

The father takes his daughter by the hand, he smiles, and starts walking her up and down the hallway with assistance. His daughter sways back and forth as she walks with the assistance of her father, but she is making the necessary steps to move from one location to another. So far, so good. The father-daughter duo make several laps in this fashion to prepare the daughter for the inevitable unassisted trial! The father is proud of Daddy’s Little Girl, and he nods his approval to his significant other who happens to be filming this special moment.

At this point, the father starts walking his daughter forward for another trip down the hallway. This time, however, he lightly lets go of his daughter’s hand to watch her walk on her own. She sways quite a bit, loses her balance, and immediately falls to the floor. The father walks over to his daughter, frowns, picks her up by her leg, hangs her upside down, and proceeds to spank the child for not doing what he wanted her to do. After all of the help he had given her, with all of the assistance provided, with all of the scaffolding he could provide, he paddles his daughter’s buttocks while asking himself, “How can she not do this after I have shown her countless times!?” The father places his daughter on the floor and walks away as she continues to cry from the punishment that she just received…still…unable to walk.

As the reader, how effective is the father’s strategy in teaching his daughter how to walk? If you are a parent, is this how you taught your own daughter/son how to walk? Is this how your parents taught you how to walk?

Consider the same scenario but tweaked so that it is pertinent to what could happen in a school.  

Consider a child. A child of approximately 15 years of age who happens to have the most beautiful smile in the world, the sweetest laugh, and the fullest head of hair that anyone can imagine. This same child brings great joy to the lives her teachers, and the child is always at the center of attention whenever her peers are present. As with any educational milestone in a child’s life, celebration occurs whenever she accomplishes a task that she has never accomplished before: graduating from pre-school, receiving the honor roll for the first time, earning a perfect attendance award, and being voted the president of the Sophomore class!

It is time for another milestone in her life – it is time to learn how to complete Physics equations pertaining to Newton’s Laws of Motion! As with any child who tries to learn Physics, the science teachers are aware of the fact that she will eventually master the art of using mathematics to describe the physical world around her. While the teachers hate to see their beautiful student growing up, they also understand that it is a necessity of life.

Typical story, typical rationale, and typical background for such a wonderful child.

The Physics teacher takes his daughter by the “hand”, he smiles, and starts providing educational opportunities to complete Physics problems with assistance. His student struggles as she struggles with the completion of problems with the assistance of her teacher, but she is making the necessary steps to move from one mathematical variable in an equation from one location to another. So far, so good. The student-teacher duo complete several examples in this fashion to prepare the student for the inevitable unassisted trial! The teacher is proud of his favorite student, and he nods his approval to his administrator happens to be documenting and observing this special moment.

At this point, the teacher hands out another activity filled with Physics computational problems. This time, however, he no longer speaks and offers assistance in such a way that he lets go of his student’s “hand” to watch her complete problems on her own. She struggles a bit, loses her confidence, and immediately fails to complete any of the problems. The teacher walks over to his student, frowns, picks up the exam, and proceeds to grade it as an F since the student was not able to do what he wanted her to do. After all of the help he had given her, with all of the assistance provided, with all of the scaffolding he could provide, he sees the student’s course grade decrease while asking himself, “How can she not do this after I have shown her countless times!?” The teacher allows his student to leave the room at the end of the class period while he walks away as she continues to cry from the punishment that she just received…still…unable to complete Physics problems.

It would seem that based on your reaction and based on personal experience the method used to teach the child how to walk is one that would be entirely unacceptable in our nation’s culture associated with raising a child. If this strategy is not accepted by the parenting culture that is established throughout the United States of America, then why is does the educational culture of the United States accept it to be used to teach its own children? Both scenarios end with a child in pain (physical pain vs. emotional pain), and both students end with a child being punished for not completing an activity to the expectations established by the individual serving in the “teacher” role.

As we all know, whenever we teach children how to walk, we pick the child up by the hand and then continue practicing with the child until she/he is reader for another solo attempt. When the child falls again, the process repeats itself until the child is able to walk on her/his own. Throughout the process, the child is not punished for the failed attempt; the child is celebrated when the successful attempt has been made! More celebration follows whenever the child can continuously demonstrate that she/he can walk!

In the same vein, the modern educational system could establish a school culture in which students are allowed to revise their work, learn from their mistakes, and continue the revision process, with the aid of a teacher or facilitator of education, until the student can demonstrate that she/he can master the skill on a continuous basis. All-to-often, even today, students are graded using summative assessments that do not allow for students to learn from their mistakes. In essence, we are “paddling” our “children” for not “walking” on the first attempt. Keep these two situations in mind as you think about why we allow the current testing culture in our nation’s schools oftentimes do not allow for student revision.

In either case mentioned, it should be considered completely deplorable…

And with that, I am caching out!