Kevin Corner's Profile

curriculum design

to prepare them for the world beyond school—to enable them to apply what they
have learned to issues and problems they will face in the future

the common methods of teaching and testing in high schools focus on acquisition
at the expense of meaning and transfer

Out-of-context learning of skills is arguably one of the greatest weaknesses of
the secondary curriculum—the natural outgrowth of marching through the textbook
instead of teaching with meaning and transfer in mind.

isolation rather than in the context of authentic demands requiring thoughtful
application

long-term retention and effective performance are unlikely

propensity to cover lots of content before allowing students to use that
content in authentic situations

Struggling high school students are often confined to a regimen of excessive
teacher talk, rote memorization of discrete facts, and mind-numbing skill-drill
worksheets. The unfortunate reality is that some students will never get beyond
the first rung of the coverage ladder, with its isolated and uninteresting
approach to content; they will therefore have minimal opportunities to engage in
and actually use what they are learning in a meaningful way

. (And we wonder why these students aren't motivated!)

The unit culminates in a thought-provoking (and personally relevant) transfer
task and a reflection on the unit's essential questions.

What percentage of items and tasks assess acquisition of discrete information
and skills?

acquisition of content for its own sake dominates teachers' and students'
experience—and therefore, schooling fails to achieve its purpose for a sizable
proportion of learners

we must challenge the common practice of teaching knowledge and skill for
acquisition first and then teaching for meaning and transfer later

the purposeful and effective use of content is the ever-present goal, and we
must design all instruction with that goal in mind

these skills are the same ones that will enable students to become productive
citizens who contribute to solving some of the most pressing issues we face in
the 21st century

The challenge is this: How do you do things that haven't been done before, where
you have to rethink or think anew? It's not incremental improvement any more.
The markets are changing too fast.”

Kids just out of school have an amazing lack of preparedness in general
leadership skills and collaborative skills

the complaints I heard most frequently were about fuzzy thinking and young
people not knowing how to write with a real voice.

if people aren't prepared to process the information effectively it almost
freezes them in their steps.”

the half-life of knowledge in the humanities is 10 years, and in math and
science, it's only two or three years. I wonder what he would say it is today

developing young people's capacities for imagination, creativity, and empathy
will be increasingly important for maintaining the United States' competitive
advantage in the future.

Animated discussion takes place as students pull the problem apart and talk
about different ways to solve it

Mere memorization won't get them far

uses questions to push students' thinking and build their tolerance for
ambiguity

Of the hundreds of classes that I've observed in recent years, fewer than 1 in
20 were engaged in instruction designed to teach students to think instead of
merely drilling for the test.

working with colleagues to ensure that all students master the skills they need
to succeed as lifelong learners, workers, and citizens

everyone stressed the importance of critical thinking, communication skills, and
collaboration

survival skills every day, at every grade level, and in every class