World-Changing Project-Based Learning at Mabry Middle School
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I just spent an hour watching the closing keynote address at NECC ‘07 by Dr. Tim Tyson, principal of Mabry Middle School. The engaged filmmaking by the Mabry Middle School students is “world-changing,” literally. One example among many, from watching these students’ short films: I won’t buy chocolate - or anything else, for that matter - from Nestle or Mars, because of their film, until those corporations make some changes. Something about choosing my taste for Snickers over my distaste for slavery in other countries strikes me as a bit wrong. I hadn’t thought about it clearly until seeing these students’ films. Thanks to them for waking this adult a bit more from his consensus trance.
One of the many remarkable things about these films are the student reflections featured in each. Teachers reluctant to connect classroom learning to real world citizenship might find these middle school citizens will change their worlds too.
And Dr. Tyson’s closing remarks encapsulate so well what I’ve been trying to articulate since discovering I was “Nobody” that I had to pause the video and transcribe. Here they are:
It’s not about Technology and Connectivity. I wish we would move beyond that in the discussions in our profession.
The effective educator in this age of hyper-connectivity is the educator who collapses the distance between children and meaningful contribution.
Our children today crave project-driven learning experiences that allow them to immediately see the relationship between what they learn in school and what they live in their day-to-day lives.
They want school to go beyond preparing them for next year. They want to be prepared to make a contribution today!
Meaningfulness is the product of connectedness, of sharing, of contribution.
We need to stop simplifying this life experience of [students] into discreet, disconnected learning experiences that have the meaningfulness distilled right out of them.
Our children have the untapped capacity to make the world a better place today.
Over and over, those wonderful words: contribution, meaning, the world. Not just information, not just literacy, but “making the world a better place.” In other words, “Real-World Project-Based Learning for the Digital Age.”
Idealistic? Yes. But what’s wrong with ideals?
I take my hat off, too, to the teachers, parents, and administrators of the Mabry community for the courage to “teach controversy.”
That’s education.
It’s an unforgettable 45 minutes. Rating: Thumbs to the stratosphere.
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Thanks for sharing this! Some of our students are members of Reality Check, an organization dedicated to fighting the sale of tobacco to children. Through their efforts, the small town I teach in has enacted strong new regulations about allowable tobacco advertising in stores. It would be great if some of my Current Events students made a documentary about this (I can suggest, but if their interests lie elsewhere, I guess I’ll need to bite my tongue and get out of their way!)
[Reply]
diane
16 Jul 07 at 5:09 pm
Clay,
It was great to see kids who had accomplished something at NECC. But I’m a little leary about attributing the need for meaningful education to anything technology related. A minor quibble, though.
On a related note, you might like this diary - http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/15/73050/3250
Sylvia
[Reply]
sylvia martinez
16 Jul 07 at 5:28 pm
Hi Diane~ One of the interesting things as we navigate these waters of leading v. fostering independence is finding the balance, and your reminders of that are, well, worth remembering
Sylvia, Thanks for the link. It’s loading now. As for your “minor quibble,” is that claim made anywhere? If so, I agree with you. At the same time, though, the technology is one heck of a toolkit for extending the reach of that meaning and change to the larger world, yes?
[Reply]
Clay Burell
16 Jul 07 at 5:35 pm
That school isn’t very far from where I live. Very nice looking website they have.
[Reply]
Dana Huff
16 Jul 07 at 10:24 pm
I was really impressed with Tim Tyson’s presentatino, and the way they are using blogs and film at their school are really excellent.
It really resonated with me when he asked when we are going to ask kids to contribute something meaningful–when they are in college? married? having kids?
Why can’t we ask them now?
Very powerful stuff.
Thanks for sharing the link. I had liveblogged it but didn’t realize the video was up on NECC now and I missed the ending.
[Reply]
Carolyn Foote
16 Jul 07 at 10:44 pm
Carolyn, So that’s the speech someone was talking about in an earlier comment. It’s coming together now.
This is posted not at NECC, but at Apple Learning Interchange, by the way.
I’m checking out their website’s collaborative outreach set-up. Interesting, interesting, interesting school. In Marietta, GA, to boot. I lived there briefly. I’m surprised.
[Reply]
Clay Burell
17 Jul 07 at 2:03 am
Thanks for highlighting this, I might have otherwise missed it. In a country (Peru) dominated by the Nestle brand, I am sure thinking twice about my purchases now.
Chris
[Reply]
Chris Craft
20 Jul 07 at 8:22 am
Wow, Chris, I thought you were in one of the Carolinas. How long have you been in Peru?
The Mabry students and teachers - the Mabry learning and doing community - is a really powerful model. I hope they’re reading that they taught two teachers to change!
[Reply]
Clay Burell
20 Jul 07 at 7:40 pm
Tech to Go
18 Jun 08 at 5:56 am