{"id":261028,"date":"2024-09-27T02:48:57","date_gmt":"2024-09-27T02:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/27\/the-most-dangerous-phrase-in-education\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:11:06","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:11:06","slug":"the-most-dangerous-phrase-in-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/27\/the-most-dangerous-phrase-in-education\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Dangerous Phrase In Education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" alt=\"dangerous-phrase\" class=\"wp-image-17779 perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase.jpeg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase-300x224.jpeg 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"478\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase.jpeg\" alt=\"dangerous-phrase\" class=\"wp-image-17779\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dangerous-phrase-300x224.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>by <strong>Terry Heick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was speaking (tweeting) with Mark Barnes tonight, and he mentioned the idea of challenging existing forms and practices.\u00a0And then someone tweeted the above image\u2013a quote attributed to <span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #febe10;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Grace_Hopper\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Rear Admiral Grace Hopper<\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #414042;\">, according to the image source globalnerdy.com\u2013<\/span>and I was happy and favorited and saved and blogged.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve always done it this way\u201d implies legacy and tradition, which can be good. But it\u2019s also one of the most dangerous phrases we can use\u2014and this danger extends\u00a0to education, as well.<\/p>\n<p>I talk a lot about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/teaching-disruptively\/\"><strong>disruptive teaching<\/strong><\/a> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/the-future-of-learning\/classroom-future\/\">paradigm shifting in teaching and learning<\/a><\/strong> not because I\u2019m inherently rebellious, or some kind of academic anarchist. I\u2019ve just taught long enough\u2013in a wide variety of places\u2013to realize that this idea of progress\u2013and slow iteration\u2013through data and sharing and \u2018opening our classroom door\u2019 just isn\u2019t sufficient.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not\u00a0<em>bad,\u00a0<\/em>it just doesn\u2019t reflect the priority and urgency of our collective challenge.\u00a0At best, students come to school to play the game and be thought of as smart and successful; at worst, they come to disrupt and resist and simply make it through the year because they see no value in what they do.<\/p>\n<p>We have to create laws to force students to come to school, and it\u2019s often the students that need school the worst who aren\u2019t \u2018made\u2019 for it; that is, school is made for students who are strong readers and writers that can manage their work while learning to play nicely with others.<\/p>\n<p>Changing lives usually comes from relationships with teachers rather than the power of curriculum.\u00a0But talking about mobile learning, self-directed learning, new content areas, adaptive learning, or valuing questions over answers can kill conversations in school and elicit polite smiles from teachers, mainly because those aren\u2019t the rules of the game they know.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with the safe approach to teaching is that it won\u2019t yield anything other than what we\u2019ve always had. Without doing things <em>radically different<\/em>, the most we can hope for is some kind of increment. This isn\u2019t a plea for chaos, but rather the courage to make mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>The phrase, \u2018We\u2019ve always done it this way\u2019 symbolizes stagnant thinking and a resistance to innovation, reflecting an unwillingness to question established methods or consider new ideas. This mindset often stifles creativity, limits progress, and prevents growth by clinging to outdated practices simply because they are familiar. <\/p>\n<p>It can also create an environment where change is seen as a threat rather than an opportunity for improvement, discouraging individuals from challenging the status quo or exploring alternative solutions. Over time, this rigid adherence to tradition can lead to missed opportunities, decreased efficiency, and a lack of adaptability in a rapidly evolving world. To foster innovation and continuous improvement, it\u2019s crucial to replace this mindset with one that values flexibility, embraces change, and encourages forward-thinking approaches.<\/p>\n<p>To \u2018experiment\u2019 on students (because that\u2019s what\u2019s already happening anyway). Dream, try, and collect data. <\/p>\n<p>Do something different this year.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t necessarily\u2013and mindlessly\u2013<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/the-best-teachers\/\">do what you\u2019re told.<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Light up a new pathway.<\/p>\n<p>Creatively, professionally, and persistently agitate your department, grade level, school, or district to not just become the best version of their existing selves, but become something else that they didn\u2019t think was possible.<\/p>\n<p>The same hope you have for your students.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Most Dangerous Phrase In Education<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/education\/dangerous-phrase-education\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] by Terry Heick I was speaking (tweeting) with Mark Barnes tonight, and he mentioned the idea of challenging existing forms and practices.\u00a0And then someone<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261028"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}