Real work, real learning

Annotation provided by Chris Webber:

This source seems to be a really relevant book on how to have students transition from high school into the workforce. The first chapter of the book entitled Project Based learning: spilling into life I thought would be most relevant to my practice. The chapter has a section which discusses essentially how people learn. Steinberg also very carefully outlines her “six A’s of project design”. In this she examines issues such as student/adult relationships and applied learning.

“Adults have difficulty coming up with memorable learning experiences that took place inside the classroom because many of the features that characterize real projects are absent in school assignments and projects” (24).

“In school students are expected to learn fragmented bits or chunks of subject matter which seem to be important only as a gateway to more of the same. They move from class to class, in batches of thirty, with few opportunities, except disruptive behavior to distinguish themselves from their peers” (4).