My theory on theory

No matter what your chosen career path is, there are always ideas thrown around about how to do that job. In fact, we could go even broader and apply this to anything you want. Relationships, passions, religion, politics etc. Some of these ideas are old and widely used, so much so that they almost become laws. We view these theories as the bedrock or core of whatever practice you wish to apply this too. There are also new ideas emerging constantly about how to do something. Sometimes these theories will address changes in society or technology and show a new approach that addresses a necessary change in how we do things. For instance in education we used to think that didactic instruction was the only approach. Now we know through research and tests that our approach needs to be multi-faceted. So that we engage multiple types of students in multiple ways. Most people would not argue that. However sometimes theories emerge that are so controversial or threatening to our bedrock beliefs that we write them off immediately. We forget that the theories that we consider to be "foundational" to our practice, at one time were just theories. Man made ideas, conceptualized and embraced by human beings. So what's to say that that idea was not wrong? People take this stuff seriously. We drag our feet and scoff at change. I sometimes don't even like weddings in my family because I know that means we'll have a new face around the table at holidays and I don't like the idea of changing something that I've become accustomed to.

There's a famous phrase thrown around about ideas that people are afraid to embrace. They say "well that sounds like it would work in theory but probably not in practice." Which essentially is the biggest professional cop-out anyone can make. It's saying "that's a really good idea but i don't know if it will work so I won't try it." Frustrating right? And I see this day in and day out in the schools. We know how things should be done. There are always emerging concepts and philosophies in education and so many classroom teachers are afraid to try them. There are a lot of reasons why people don't want to try these new ideas, but a lot of them have to do with laziness and fear. Teachers don't want to go to through the hassle of changing lesson plans and activities they've spent years developing and they are scared of failure and perception/repercussions from other teachers and administrators. So what were left with is a bunch of ideas that are good in theory, but no one wants to try so we say they wouldn't work in practice. And what we have as a result is an institution that that has remained more or less the same for 100 years. If you took a person from 100 years ago and had them walk through present day they would be pretty taken aback and confused. But I bet they'd feel right at home in most schools.

Friday I had the chance to teach every period for the whole day. And I did something that many people told me is in possible. I facilitated a student led discussion that lasted 40 min and focused on social connections to the book, The Hunger Games, that we are reading in class with 8th graders. Now in theory, we as teachers know that discussions is where learning happens. We talk about it all the time in our Ed classes. But what happens when we get to field is, we are told that this idea of collaborative learnign and social connections is good "in theory," but impossible to use with 8th graders. You see 8th graders talk to much, and you can't trust them to participate in a discussion and stay on task and be appropriate and disagree with one another respectably. They just can't handle it. So it's better not to try it, at least this is what they say. However Friday I found out that they are full of shit.

The discussion was awesome, the kids participated and walked away with a better understanding and appreciation for the book, and I walked away understanding that the only way to know if a theory works in practice is to try it. Kids respond to new idea. They are equally as bored today with the same old stuff in school as kids were 100 years ago in a one room school house. So if we try new ideas and we challenge them to go further, more often then not they will try to rise to that level. This fear to change our teaching style is just as silly as my fear of new faces at my Thanksgiving table. Because to avoid change is to avoid growth, and adding a face at the table is also adding a present on your birthday.