AVReading Newsletter December: Faster Alone; Farther Together
I am sometimes profoundly moved by the wisdom of my students. I recall one student who once told me she was taught growing up that, “We can run faster alone, but we can run farther together.” With that simple exchange, my thinking around community and collaboration totally changed. Under the idea of constructivism, this all makes sense. Students can try to learn the concepts and skills we give them on their own. A teacher can assign readings and papers and projects, and expect students to process these lessons and learn in their own little silos of thinking, and they can move pretty quickly. They do not have to wait up for slower moving, less motivated or distracted peers. They just get the work and move on to the next lesson. Yet, there are so many limitations to this way of lea...