Kingdom Education

I was remembering some of the things I was taught to focus on as a teacher and considering how they relate to home education. I thought it would be useful to review. Even for those who embrace unschooling – where there is a characteristic child-led focus – there can be usefulness to consider the thought processes that our children are processing :).

I have some thoughts on how to do this, but first some research. 

Agarwal (2019) found that although most understand there to be a progression from lower order thinking, such as remembering and understanding, to higher order processing, such as evaluating and creating – there was no such empirical evidence in this study. The evidence pointed to greater retention of information based on multiple quizzes rather than studying facts or restudying material. 

The focus on Bloom’s taxonomy to craft objectives is prevalent in education. However, this focus has caused many educators to believe that facts must be learned through rote memorization before the greater levels of thinking can be attempted. 

This study we’ve looked at today addresses this misconception and proposes that perhaps students can do a great job learning within the higher order thinking without the “lower” order factual memorization.

What do you think? How has this played out in your home education?

It seems to me that it probably varies depending on the topic. However, in home education we have lots of freedom and time to engage with our children in ways that help them think deeper. We have freedom from forcing them to memorize things they don’t see a purpose for. We have freedom to allow them to think deeply while still helping them fill in gaps when needed.

I was encouraged by posting the types of thinking up on my wall to remind me to ask these questions. Perhaps when they read or as they share something cool they learned, I can be prepared to guide them to think deeper. 

Here’s some example questions/statements to guide us in guiding our children. And if we want to use evidence-based practices, we would be sure to ask these questions repeatedly (Agarwal, 2019). 

Remembering: Can you list those steps for me?

Understanding: Explain that topic in your own words.

Applying: How could you apply that in this [give another] situation?

Analyzing: Comparing those concepts, what do you notice?

Evaluating: What evidence do you have to back up that belief?

Creating: What can you make to show this to others?

Even though I think this comes natural to us, I know I need to be intentional in varying my emphasis when I have discussions with them. Maybe I’m not the only one. I can also see how I utilize these kinds of questions in all subjects, from Scripture to Language, to remind myself to get them thinking in different sorts of ways.

I will try to write a review on what I’m reading regarding recent educational research and how it relates to homeschooling monthly. I’ll be tackling types of questioning and providing feedback soon. Subscribe if led. Shalom!

Reference

Agarwal, P. K. (2019). Retrieval practice & bloom’s taxonomy: Do students need fact knowledge before higher order learning? Journal of Educational Psychology, 111(2), 189-209. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000282