Essentialism in Action

I recently watched a short video in which a teacher implemented a "Jeopardy"-like game show activity to test her students' knowledge of geography at the end of the unit. While the class did have fun during the activity overall, some students became frustrated having to work with fellow teammates and were not able to handle not winning the game.

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this competitive approach to learning?

One of the main advantages of this type of learning is that it is an interactive experience in which students have an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned in a mildly competitive setting. This is in contrast to a more typical type of assessment such as a quiz or an essay, which students might find boring or have difficulty demonstrating their knowledge on. One of the disadvantages of this type of learning is that students might get too competitive throughout the course of the activity. This might result in students not getting along or not feeling comfortable participating in similar activities in the future.

2. Why are these topics appropriate for an essentialist classroom?

The topics from around which the activity was based were what is to be expected from an essentialist classroom. In an essentialist classroom, their is an emphasis on academics and mastery of the material. The teacher asked the students factual information about geography, with little to no interpretation of the material; it was almost entirely simple memory recollection, which is what you would expect to see in an essentialist classroom.

3. What are the dangers inherent in any essentialist approach?

One of the inherent dangers in an essentialist approach is that too much emphasis is placed on simply memorizing information. This leaves little room for students to actually break down and understand the "how" and "why" of the information, focusing primarily on the "what." Additionally, in an essentialist approach, the curriculum is determined solely by administrators and teachers. This does not leave room for the interests and needs of the students to be taken into account, which might result in the students losing interest or being unable to remember the new information.

4. What changes could have been done to transform this activity into a constructivist one?

In order to transform this activity into a constuctivist one, several changes could have been made. Instead of simply regurgitating factual information, the class could have had group discussions about not just where certain cities are located, but why they are located where they are (for example, by rivers for easier transportation). This would allow students to scaffold information and connect their prior knowledge about the benefits of settling near water with the new geographic area they are discussing, helping them to learn and remember aspects of the landscape.

Although games can be a fun and creative way to assess student knowledge and progress, it is important to make sure that all students are participating and getting along throughout the course of the activity, even if they are not the winners.