“Why do we even bother educating children in the first place?” This question posed by Tom Hobson (aka, Teacher Tom)  really made me pause and reflect on the value of an education during the recent Pedagogy of Play conference. He suggested that treating school as if it was preparing children for the unknown jobs of tomorrow as rather silly when vocational training is really the domain of corporations and businesses and instead we should prepare students to be involved and caring citizens. In fact, he reminds us that our youngest learners today will be the creators of “those jobs of tomorrow”, so we should be dedicating our learning time to problem-solving and making informed decisions in order to develop sound critical thinking skills and creativity.

My favorite antidote he shared is how he takes out his box of toy farm animals on the 1st day of school, grabs a pig, and says to a 2-year old, “A pig says Mooooo!” just to get a reaction and get the kids thinking.  He wants to provoke them into questioning this information and seeing if it adds up to the experience and knowledge that they have about their world around them. I just loved that! I love it for so many reasons because this seemingly small moment opens up the possibility to learn that…

• We need to really listen to what people are saying.
• We can challenge information that seems “off”.
• We have a responsibility to debate and deliberate information so that we come to a greater understanding of each other’s perspective and understanding of “the truth”.
• We build intimacy with others by having difficult conversations with friends and family rather than destroying it by allowing misunderstandings to linger.

As I reflect more deeply on this idea, I find it imperative to have these “safe” opportunities for students to question authority so that they can learn how to express ideas with kindness and courtesy. We need children to look at us in the eye and say, “Hey silly, pigs go oink, not moo.” And we can lean back and laugh, acknowledging that the correction of information came from a need to develop connection and trust between us. Providing these sorts of opportunities to have them question the “truth” of information is really a critical need, particularly as we reflect on how technology is shaping our society. We need for them to get a sense of confusion and wonder so we can express our knowledge and debate our understanding–even if it doesn’t change peoples minds–the essential outcome is that they are thinking and challenging why they believe the way they do.  This habit begins in our earliest years of life and we have, I believe, an obligation to nurture it throughout their lifespan in our educational systems.

I’m a believer!-Provoking thinking and offering up opportunities for debate should be on our “schedule” of learning every day. As I think forward to this school year, I’m wondering how I can instigate and give more space to these small moments for arguing issues that matter to them. Honestly, I think opportunities will present themselves and it just becomes a matter of allowing the discussion to take place, honoring their need to feel heard and engaging in dialogue. Because these moments are so vital to developing the brain along with the heart, I will put “challenging the moo” on my list of learning objectives for this year.