DisruptED TV Magazine

Relevance and Reflection: A Learning Map for Success

By: Joseph S. Pizzo

Back in the Dark Ages when I was in college (Well, some of my students may think it was that long ago), I can remember learning about the importance of engaging students in their work. Back then, relevance was one of the key “buzz words” in classes designed to train us future teachers (now known as pre-service teachers) in the best ways to engage our students in the learning process. We were taught that the objective should be clearly stated, the outcome should be reachable with a reasonable amount of effort being expended by the student and the teacher, the product should be appropriately challenging, student choice should be offered judiciously, and the goal should be to create a learning environment that would inspire lifelong learners. It was emphasized that we were being encouraged strongly to incorporate that key element that was sure to stimulate interest in the classroom — relevance.

Journalist Sidney J. Harris said in Pieces of Eight, “The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.” In the college classes we were taking in the early 1970’s, we were taught to inspire our future students to use both mirrors and windows as they engaged the material we were presenting. Our professors urged us to have our students examine closely the concepts, conflicts, and ideas that we were learning together. “Together” was a key word in this mirroring process. We used our positions as guides on the side to inquire, troubleshoot, inspire, and celebrate the material being learned and the products being produced.

The learning process was not yet complete, however. With predictable regularity, our professors at Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey) were constantly encouraging us to have our students take the additional step that we had taken while designing assignments: we would encourage our students to look outward “through the windows” so they might discover the place where their own personal interests intersected with those of the world. Reflection was presented to us as a key component of the learning process. Without the opportunity to reflect, the connections that the students were making would possibly become minimized and potentially forgotten. I can still remember our…

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