Today I’m attending the annual conference of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, and I heard a keynote address by Michael Wesch, who teaches cultural anthropology at Kansas State. He gave one of those wildly popular TED talks – about taking students from being “knowledgeable” to “knowledge-able.”
Today’s talk was equally thought-provoking. Think back, Wesch suggested, to your student days: what was it that gave you your passion for your subject area? He’s betting it was not the answers but the questions, especially the big ones. To question is to:
- be on a quest to learn
- invite connections (between ideas; between people)
- embrace our vulnerability
How, in our classrooms, can we evoke that sense of wonder and questioning in our students? Here’s what we don’t want — physical space and classroom practices that communicate that
- to learn is merely to acquire information
- information is scarce
- authorities will provide you with all the information you need
- authorities will tell you whether information is reliable
- obey and follow along.
