A lesson in motion stays in motion: If students lead, will teachers follow?. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Miller, Samuel; Stallings, Sarah; Massey, Dixie; Metzger, Salem R.
• Is Part Of: Phi Delta Kappan. Volume 104:Number 4(2022)
• Page Start: 48
• Page End: 53
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: curriculum -- instruction -- student interests -- student choice -- student voice -- student agency -- interest-driven -- student-driven -- elementary education -- inquiry learning; Education -- United States -- Periodicals; Greek letter societies -- Periodicals; Onderwijs; Éducation -- Périodiques; Associations désignées par des lettres grecques -- Périodiques; Éducation; Enseignement; Pédagogie; Politique éducative; Recherche en éducation; Réforme du système éducatif; Services aux élèves; Système éducatif; États-Unis; Étude comparée (Descripteur de forme); Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 371.0097305
• DOI: 10.1177/00317217221142984
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0031-7217

Abstract

While endorsed as critical for promoting learning, students' interest in a topic has had minimal, if any, influence on curriculum development. Teachers thus are challenged to promote students' interest within an established curriculum. After students demonstrated misunderstandings after reading an article about bacteria, Sarah Stallings and Samuel Miller, a 4th-grade teacher and university researcher, decided to base their instruction on students' queries and concerns. This one lesson provided the impetus for a series of activities across the school year that allowed students to become more actively involved in choosing what they would learn and how they would learn it. What students viewed as important and interesting determined the nature and format of their daily studies .