Kids as Producers, not just Consumers

Proving knowledge within a diverse array of quantitative and qualitative structures is the nature of healthy assessment. However, we are currently in a crisis in our educational institutions; the ways students are asked to prove their knowledge is becoming less and less diverse, and in fact is causing large numbers of students to lose faith in our culture’s institutions of education. Around our nation, roughly 40% of our high school students do not complete 12th grade. Assessment must challenge learners in an authentic and most importantly, engaging reflection of their knowledge in an applied and relevant way if it is to enrich and give meaning to the learning experience.

When you visit a high-performing school, you will notice that there is an accordingly high level of respect between students and staff, a high degree of staff and student self-regulation, and not surprisingly, that staff and students are empowered. Empowerment comes from many sources but much stems from a sense that the work that is being done by students and teachers is attuned to the needs of the learners in that community. Much of this is reflected in the nature of how we ask our students to demonstrate their knowledge.

The canon of public education in particular has not been the primary problem (although it is a legitimate target for critical review); the problem lies in the methods we use to deliver information and build knowledge, and especially in the ways we ask our kids to demonstrate that information and knowledge. Film and video production is one way to enliven the curriculum and increase the options students have for expressing their knowledge.

• Main.HomePage •
• Contact Us •