I have often mused that if we could teach one idea per course per year, that would be enough. How many courses, how many years of study, have you gone through and yet cannot recall learning anything in particular? Is there a class you still carry with you, one that inspired you and stays with you in daily life?
Our idea to teach one thing to each student started organically. A student’s parents were coming in to check on their daughter’s progress. In our staff meeting, I suggested that as a group we should decide on one phrase, one idea, to help her education. I figured it would be best if we all agreed on that idea and then shared it independently from one another. It worked well. The parents left with one thought in mind: support their daughter to relax at home.
Then we applied that approach to all our students. We sat together and decided on one thing to teach each student through the year. We came up with phrases such as:
- Consider the grey area
- See the good side of things
- Take notes
- Look outside yourself for inspiration
- Socialize and participate
We shared the list among the staff, and we are excited to see how it goes. This exercise emphasizes our goal as educators: to teach students about themselves.
One idea, taught patiently over a whole year, can outlast a syllabus. That is the kind of learning we try to make room for at AVRO.