Convention Keynote: The DNA of Learning

Introduction by Dr. Demica Sanders, CLAS Director of Professional Learning. Article co-authored by LaVonna Roth who is a speaker, author, and Chief Illuminator at Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E., Inc. and the closing keynote of the 2023 CLAS Convention. Additional co-authors are Elaine M. Millen and Dr. Robert K. Greenleaf.

There is an old proverb, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” As leaders, we are always trying to find innovative ways to provide professional learning to our faculty and staff that will leave a meaningful impact. Additionally, teachers are constantly seeking ways to get their students to not only come to the water, but to thirst after the knowledge that is being provided to them. In this special edition, Lavonna Roth, one of the keynote presenters for the CLAS Convention writes about what educators should do when students come to schools ready to drink!

PART I: When Horses Come to Water.... What Then?

Unpacking the DNA of Learning Series: Each article in this series will walk practitioners through a blueprint for re-starting our passion as educators. The pandemic effect has resulted in a mental and emotional exhaustion that has taken a cumulative toll on all of us— including our students and their parents. Each article will unpack essential components of the DNA of Learning toward reinstating energy and interest through reflection, story, and doable practices. The entire collection will represent a complete blueprint of fundamental requirements for engagement toward timeless learning.

Denny: Two minutes after the class settles in, the door opens. As soon as he enters the classroom, Denny has an attitude. You can feel the perfect storm brewing. He is armed with a wealth of personal tools, often used to derail whatever is supposed to be happening. Chronically interfering with the class lesson is his mantra. As the need for attention escalates, Denny annoys other students invading their workspaces and tortures their thinking. Keeping to oneself requires full effort. He wanders aimlessly about the room, sharpening a purposefully broken pencil out of boredom, as he disrupts the learning culture. Aggressions include verbal assaults. Denny’s trips to the bathroom provide a brief sigh of relief by the teacher for a few distraction-free minutes! He is not focused, nor engaged, nor drinking the Kool-aid of the school mission. He’d rather negative attention than address schoolwork he has neither the skills nor the perseverance to accomplish. He lacks confidence and hope.

Sade: Sade enters her English class reluctantly, knowing there’s little to feel good about. There is no joy in coming to school. Attempts to do the assigned work are seldom completed without a hovering adult. Sade’s the poster child for “hand-over-hand” assistance, profuse with “I can’t” and “I don’t know how.” Sade’s quiet and masterful at ducking so as not to be noticed. When prompted about her work, she seeks direction continuously from the paraprofessional. She lacks confidence and has little interest in the text, so resorts to fidgeting with something in the desk. Everyday Sade patiently waits for someone to tell her what to do next. Even when she plods along and appears momentarily successful, Sade seldom understands sufficiently. A completion-oriented focus to work takes place to get through the day. Withdrawn, few friends, and seldom smiling, there’s not much that strikes Sade as worth an earnest effort. Sweet kid, but... nothing seems to keep her attention.

Cortina: Cortina enters class the same way she walks the hallways; orderly, alone, without notice. She quietly sits, waiting for instruction and lecture to begin. When asked, calm and passive compliance follow. Doing as told, she plays school very well. Cortina completes her assignments and does a good job, getting the expected ‘A.’ Her work is usually good quality and she likes to work alone… it’s easier that way! Cortina’s posture pleads “please do not draw attention to me—just tell me what to do.” She identifies no reason to be in this class—or at school other than to get a good grade. There’s no sense of belonging. On a particularly bad day she looks down, away, or folds her arms with a brief expression that silently wonders, “why are we doing this?” The day is long, boring and without personal or social inclusion. Because she does as expected Cortina doesn’t believe anyone even notices her. As a result, she distances herself emotionally and invests in precious few friends. She is a master at accommodating the system and staying below the radar. It’s safer that way.

The Metaphor

We all know the metaphor, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Perhaps we see the analogy referenced at times to students suggesting “You can teach them, but you can’t make them learn it.” We’ve all encountered those that perennially generate consternation and frustration for peers and adults at school. When working with Denny, Sade and Cortina the origin of their disenfranchisement may not be transparent. The reality is they see no clear purpose to the learning. They have not learned the essential problem-solving skills to be successful in school. They see no relevance or interest in school and in fact, have few, if any connections at school that they see as purposeful in their lives. Bottom line: They are not thirsty. We can—and do lead them to curricular tasks. They just don’t drink. So, we can lead a horse to water… and if it doesn’t drink, the prevailing current suggests there’s something amiss with the horse. Right?! After all, it was given multiple opportunities to take that drink! The logic in this is both clear and prevalent. What if we prioritized ensuring hydrating a desire for learning (creating thirst) over drinking a scripted curriculum that has no taste for both learners and teachers alike?

Touching down in 2022

Too many educators and their students are suffering from a lack of purpose and meaning in their work. Shall we continue to suffer and be marginalized in the situational soup or do we give thought to why our students lack a thirst for learning? Perhaps what the pandemic has demonstrated over the past year is the urgency to connect what we teach to what students see as having value for their future goals and aspirations. Typical, traditional maneuvering will not fix an issue if we’re focusing on the wrong problem! What if it’s not about the program, books, facility or new-fangled, instructional strategies? Clearly our new buildings, technology, materials and programs would have fixed the problem by now if they were the cause. Our repetitive return to rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic is exhausting for all yielding little return. The origin of our ongoing challenges does not begin with pointing fingers or faulting students, but rather to ask, “Why are they not thirsty for learning?” Then, perhaps we can focus on what may unearth decades of misaligned, albeit good intent. The DNA of Learning Blueprint depicts the fundamental components that provide insight into the origins of our perennial challenges.

Unpacking the blueprint

The blueprint encompasses essential components to guide learners through to timeless learning. It starts with knowing learners well— knowing their interests, personal beliefs, values, and hopes and dreams. Following the indepth understanding of each student comes the requisites for learning how to navigate the many uncertainties we encounter along the way; learning how to relate to others; as relating to content and concepts through meaning and interest; followed by awareness and applying known practices of cognition that lead to memory and recall. Once students are well known and requisites are met, the “wings” of engagement and neuro-moves can now have the impact we desire from our instructional practices. These are listed is the blueprint and will be elaborated upon later in the series. Bundling competencies and skills provides a means of making the abundant curricula more accessible and doable in the course of the calendar year. As the DNA of Learning moves toward the final goal of “timeless” learning, we assess progress with analogies, performance competencies and demonstrations of the transfer of learning to new arenas. In the end, all learning must lead to new frontiers of exploration and discovery for the student.

Using the blueprint

We lead our students to the “learning watering hole” but all are not partaking of the program offered. Let’s walk through the blueprint and locate where the disconnect may be occurring for each of them. Though their behavioral choices differ, few have a clear sense of purpose for personal investment in the offerings of this place called school. Why aren’t they thirsty for the good things before them? No meaning, relevance or passion for learning come to the forefront. What’s missing is not instructional prowess and accompaniments to the classroom. What’s missing is in the requisites—that which comes before instruction, before curriculum, before testing and books and programs and all the wellintended provisions. If Denny, Sade and Cortina do not first connect well with others, especially the adults in school, little learning evolves. They must first become adept at navigating the uncertainties they encounter and be involved in effective strategies for cognition before becoming thirsty for learning. Until their fundamental need to be known, understood, and connected are met, thirst will evade them. Different kids for sure, but with one common denominator... they are disenfranchised from the provisions before them. The DNA of Learning Blueprint is clear. Everything starts with the student being well known. This relationship must be vetted through the requisites of relating, cognition, and navigating uncertainties prior to believing that there will be thirst. It should be clear that if the first two items were fully in place the wave of disenfranchisement witnessed for so many of our students could be influenced in sustainably positive ways. When an issue arises, look to these two aspects of the Blueprint FIRST. 95% of the time, the path forward will originate within the requisites and/or knowing any given student more fully. Without identifying that source, we’ll experience Groundhog Day over and over, again. Let’s pause and identify where and why the issue is present before purchasing more programs and entertaining yet another initiative.

Getting Started

Simple, not easy. What is required is to simply identify the gold standards for learning... what is tried and true for years and supported by the learning sciences: 1. Navigate uncertainties with rigor and focus; 2. Keep an eye on the purpose as well as each student’s personalized journey; 3. Understand how ideas and people relate within their context... how they connect and find meaning. Astute folks have reminded us of this for decades while we systematically replaced gold standards with flashy new fads and short-term band aids. It’s time to rethink our outdated teacher development efforts toward intellectual conversations that delve deeply into questions that get at the root of the DNA of learning within our educational system. In respective order, some questions might be:

1. How might we get to know each student well enough (beyond current notions of what this means) to understand the personal interests, aspirations and concerns that drive their choices?

2. What relationships will cause engagement in learning regardless of the content?

3. What strategies might we learn, teach and use together to navigate the challenges and uncertainties we encounter?

4. Is there a known learning science & cognition literature that provides for consistent impact on sustained learning outcomes?

5. How do we implement, monitor, assess progress and stay the course for at least five years—stemming the tide of initiatives that have been historically impotent?

Coming full cycle: We have seen over time that we can lead them all to water and many will only consume what is required out of compliance motivated by reward tactics or grades. We can lament how “kids” are not the same as they used to be—or some other blame-frame for why learning has not taken place… and the downward cycle will continue. The virus has illuminated the issue, not created it. Why are so many learners no longer thirsty for what is being offered? Address this question with forthright, honest reflection. The outcomes may be the best guidance we’ve had all along. We will not increase student success without the realization that learning STARTS with developing a thirst.