Bloom and The Baby Boom

A cynical observation of Baby Boomer teachers--and the next generation of teachers they've trained--who consider themselves progressive educators...

Many of you shun rote learning and any sort of memorization in favor of more inductive, process-based learning; yet you scratch your heads in disbelief when your students aren't as quick and sharp as you remember yourselves being at their age.

(If you've read any of my previous postings, no doubt you can see where this is going)  (:

To my mind, it's nothing short of flabbergasting that so few of you realize what's missing.

Boomers, when you were 6,7,8,9 years old in the 1950s, rote learning was the norm. Was it boring, did it feel meaningless, did you resent being forced to memorize material? Yes...but that came later. You didn't feel that then. 

Of course it wasn't exactly fun to memorize the state capitols, the multiplication table, science facts, etc. But by doing so, many of you built confidence in yourselves as learners. You developed the ability to recall information. You knew stuff. And, most importantly, when it came time to apply this knowledge, you were prepared. In fact, so many of you were so prepared that you quickly developed into critical thinkers---critical thinkers who then, rightly, questioned the validity of curricula based primarily on rote learning and memorization!

To put it another, much simpler way, there are lots of folks out here in classrooms today getting hit with faces full of bath water!

The secret to instilling confidence, motivation, curiosity and good study habits in kids kindergarten through 5th grade is to give them what the Baby Boomers got: a well-developed foundation of knowledge on which to build critical thinking skills. The Boomers and their protege are so committed to developing higher-order thinking that they race our children there before they are ready. They would do well to revisit their old buddy Benjamin Bloom and the cognitive domain of Bloom's taxonomy. 

NEXT: How to make 'em bloom...

What is "Dumbing up?" (Part 3)

The Symptoms:  

Our kids get bored, frustrated, and overwhelmed too easily. 

They lose steam before they even get going.

The Diagnosis:     

Superficial performance at the Knowledge Level leads to superficial performance at higher levels.

The Antidote:        

Make it fun to memorize facts, recall terms, retrieve information, identify, match,

select, and repeat.  

What is "Dumbing up?" (Part 2)

Without a solid foundation of knowledge at the identify-match-recall-spit-it-out level, is it possible to develop higher-level thinking in any meaningful, lasting way? That is, is it fair to expect students to develop intellectually without first establishing the basis on which to develop their intellects?

We must admit that, however well-intentioned we are as parents and teachers, far too many of us expect students to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills without preparing students to do so. Consider the negative impact this has on healthy cognitive development; then contemplate the potential adverse effects it has on social and emotional development as well.

What is "Dumbing up?" (Part 1)

Through the 1960s, rote learning through repetitive 

practice dominated our schools' curricula. 

Critical and creative thinking were low 

on the agenda (if they were on the 

agenda at all). Thankfully, the tide turned. 

Today, we take it for granted that our 

children need to develop into higher order

thinkers. To navigate our fast and complex 

world, they must infer meaning, think 

abstractly, synthesize information, and 

solve problems. Deep understanding is more

important than the recall of facts; children

should not be machines that simply spit out

information.

BUT...