#Inquiry in the #PYP: From Paper to Practice: 5 Approaches for Provocations (that “Stick”)
Even though we all use ‘the framework’, we have all sorts of curriculums in our schools. Some schools use the PYP Scope and Sequences, others use their national curriculums and yet others look at curriculum like a buffet- take a bit of AERO Standards, some of this from the Common Core and a portion of NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards). (Nevermind that most schools don’t even acknowledge any Technology Standards) Whatever approach you take to the “Written Curriculum”, you have to bridge what you put on paper with what is the “Taught Curriculum” is going to look like and how on Earth are you going to let student agency influence it.
This sort of tension is what I am really thinking about and concerned with–how are we going to shift our thinking about the “Written Curriculum” being the driver into it being the “map” that we can use to go on divergent paths created by student’s interests. And I think solid provocations are the “starting line” from which are learning journey begins. Although I have written about provocations before, I wanted to come at from a different angle from the ideas presented from the book, Made to Stick. (I am a huge fan of the writing of Dan and Chip Heath). Because at the heart of a provocation, we want it to leave an indelible mark and make a real impact on students’ thinking in order to create action and authentic agency. They would call this type of learning “sticky”. (Don’t you love that?)
But the challenge of creating a provocation is that you know too much. The Heath brothers term this, the Curse of Knowledge. Here’s what they mean:
It’s a hard problem to avoid—every year, you walk into class with another year’s worth of mental refinement under your belt. You’ve taught the same concepts every year, and every year your understanding gets sharper, your sophistication gets deeper. If you’re a biology teacher, you simply can’t imagine anymore what it’s like to hear the word “mitosis” for the first time, or to lack the knowledge that the body is composed of cells. You can’t unlearn what you already know. There are, in fact, only two ways to beat the Curse of Knowledge reliably. The first is not to learn anything. The second is to take your ideas and transform them.
Stickiness is a second language. When you open your mouth and communicate, without thinking about what’s coming out of your mouth, you’re speaking your native language: Expertese. But students don’t speak Expertese. They do speak Sticky, though. Everyone speaks Sticky. In some sense, it’s the universal language. The grammar of stickiness—simplicity, storytelling, learning through the senses—enables anyone to understand the ideas being communicated.
(From Teaching, Made to Stick, by Dan and Chip Heath)
I can really relate to this, especially when I taught older students because I thought they already “knew stuff”. With that in mind, provocations can really reveal what students are thinking and feeling. So now that you have the context of why provocations can be so powerful and transformative for student learning, I’d like to share with you 5 approaches for provocations (that “stick”):
1.Unexpected: Create curiosity and pique interest with unexpected ideas and experiences that open a knowledge gap and call to mind something that needs to be discovered but doesn’t necessarily tell you how to get there.
Example-Central Idea: The use of resources affects society and other living things.
Take out all the classroom resources that are made from petroleum products after school one day. The next day, have the students come in and be shocked?-where did all those resources go? Then have them consider what these resources have in common. And then have them consider the impact on society if these non-renewable resources went away.
2. Concrete: Ground an idea in a sensory reality to make the unknown obvious.
Central Idea: Economic activity relies on systems of production, exchange, and consumption of goods and services.
Create a classroom economy by “printing” money and having students create businesses. Turn all of your classroom resources into “commodities” or by providing services (like sharpening pencils) to illustrate the conceptual understandings. This provocation goes on for weeks, by the way, so that they can experience the related concepts of scarcity and marketing.
3. Credible: Demonstrate ideas and show relationships to “prove” a point.
Central Idea: Informed global citizens enhance their communities.
Go through news articles either on a social media news feed or through an internet search on a topic that is relevant and interesting to your students or controversial (ex: climate change). Have the students examine at least 3 websites or sources of information and put them through the filter of the CRAAP test.
4. Emotional: Powerful images, moving music, role-play–anything that incites either strongly positive or negative feelings.
Central Idea: Homes reflect local conditions and family’s culture and values.
Using images from photos of children’s bedrooms from around the world have the children try to match the picture of a child with a picture of a bedroom. Why do they think those images go together? What evidence in the photo might suggest the values and culture of that child’s family?
5. Story: Use a story, whether from a book, a video or from your own life, to illustrate a challenge or provide a context worth exploring.
Central Idea: Our actions can make a difference to the environment we share.
Share the story of One Plastic Bag and have students reflect on the impact her small action had made in her community. What would you do with a plastic bag? (During our 1st-grade classes’ personal inquiry time, students were invited to take some plastic bags and play around with those materials. It is interesting to see who and how they took action.)
So there you go. These are just 5 approaches to 5 central ideas. Crafting provocations are probably one of the best things I love about the PYP and when we share insight into how we can approach these central ideas, I think it elevates everyone’s schools because of the insights gained. I’d love if others could share and post ideas for provocations to further illustrate the importance that they play in deepening our students learning and inspiring authentic connections and action.
Developing learners as leaders is my joy! I am committed and passionate International Baccaluearate (IB) educator who loves cracking jokes, jumping on trampolines and reading books. When I’m not playing Minecraft with my daughter, I work on empowering others in order to create a future that works for everyone.
I can’t believe they haven’t gone by the waste side yet, like horse-drawn carriages or 8-tracks. It doesn’t serve where we are in education and what we know about learning and teaching. And, as a parent, the letter A (approaching), M( meets) and E (exceeds) next to a subject area with a couple of sentences that explains the justification of those letters really doesn’t help me figure out how I can support my child. And, as a writer of those comments, knowing that parents are intended audience for these report cards, you end up summarizing the skills gained vs. the conceptual understandings–because at the end of the day, parents just want to know if their kids can read and do math up to the “standard” of their peers. So really, the report cards provide late feedback that schools may feel “report” the learning but ultimately doesn’t serve any of the stakeholders involved, students included.
Those first comments became the fodder for discussion–Were “hearts” and emojis really helpful for growing ourselves as learners? And they also talked about how we presented our learning online. One student expressed a chronic sentiment: “Sometimes I can’t hear them speaking. I think people should listen to themselves before they post. ” As a teacher, I loved this observation which really has improved their presentation skills overall. As a result, students have naturally begun to articulate how they really wanted to engage better online.
This has also helped to spread mathematical thinking around. I can see students nudge one another and say “Hey did you so-and-so’s idea? Go check it out!’
Now we are at the stage in which we are encouraging and educating parents about how to make helpful comments and responses. It’s a bit hard to get them to “unlearn” some of the social media habits that we have as adults, so we get parent comments like “Love you boo-boo. Great work!” I hope that the students challenge their parents and ask them what they connected to in their post.
A classic definition of a concept is an enduring understanding that is broad enough that you can transfer it across disciplines and time. But I’d like to add that a concept is something that makes you think, makes you wonder, gets those neurons firing. A topic fades from your mind, just like a rainbow after a shower–it seemed lovely at the moment, but quickly disappears from your memory. You see that quote from Chip and Dan Heath–our goal whenever we write a Central Idea is nearly the same–an idea so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning about it. This is why the PYP makes such a fuss about developing conceptual knowledge and skills. Learning facts and skills without a context is a waste of time and often evaporates unless we make units that are “sticky”. Concepts are like a bad rash that won’t go away. Concepts get under our skin and stick with us and reappear in new contexts that broaden our perspectives.
