tracEvidence

In the summer I teach English 11, morphing from an elementary teacher into a secondary teacher for six weeks. One of the writing assignments I do with them is based on the card game Mao. The card game is unique in that the only rule you can tell the other players is that no one can tell them the rules: they have to learn by playing the game. I play a few rounds of the game with three volunteers while the other students watch. After playing, I debrief with the students and ask them how they learned the rules. The list usually includes the following:

• learn by playing
• learn by making mistakes
• learn by being penalized (they get penalty cards after making a mistake)
• learn by watching what the “Mao master” does, and try to copy
• learn by “reading faces”
• learn by watching others play
• learn by comparing game to other similar games

After this, I ask them to write an essay on how the game is a metaphor for life. These essays are some of the most powerful writing that these students produce, and shows insight into how these students see their own learning. Some students are reluctant, if not terrified, to learn without being taught directly, whereas others jump feet first into the challenge of trying to figure out the rules. Most students recognize that learning by making mistakes, or by watching others make mistakes, is an excellent way to learn. Many equate the penalties with harsh discipline and punishment they have met along their lives’ journeys, and they often describe this way of learning as “unfair.” Those students who were able to see the similarities between Mao and other card games had the easiest time learning the game. The students who watched the game and discussed it, throwing out theories and discarding the bad ones, while it was being played also learned more than the other students.

This leads me to what I feel is the essential nature of the process called learning. I believe that effective learning involves the following:

• freedom to make mistakes and to learn from them
• freedom of choice
• an extensive bank of background knowledge on which to scaffold new information
• the ability to share new learning with others

This is, of course, just a beginning look into learning theories. As a course on learning theories is the first course of my masters program, I thought I’d start thinking about it now, in August, while I have more time. I will write more on this later on.