Fearless Learners, Fearful Schools

The challenge is to create students who are lifelong learners rather than successful test takers. One of the phrases that Alan consistently uses in his presentations is “fearless learners,” that we have to give our students the tools and the skills to find relevant information and use it well on their own. That we need to teach them to literally revel in the learning process and the collaborative, social construction of knowledge that it creates. That the teacher to student vertical model doesn’t cut it any longer. I sincerely believe that is what the Read/Write Web can do, that it can provide the means for our students to create their own learning opportunities, that it can teach them how to negotiate meaning, how to find truth, and how to become a lifelong learner. I believe this because it’s my own experience, and because I see more and more of it every day in this community of learners.

But here is the struggle, of course. Schools are not fearless. —Will Richardson —Fearless Learners, Fearful Schools (Weblogg-ed)