Teaching Upside-Down

By Allen Dickson

More teachers and students sho­­uld stand on their heads. 

Picture a traditional image of a classroom; the teacher out the front, firing questions at learners who sit listening at their desks. The teacher imparts information while – sponge-like – the student absorbs. The student tries to avoid making mistakes, because less mistakes equals better grades. The teacher maintains control – rules are enforced, content is covered and assessment highlights what the student gets wrong. 

But when it comes to student engagement, all the research and experience suggests we have to turn this preconception on its head.

An ‘engaged classroom’ has the students out the front… but with learning occurring everywhere, the concept of ‘the front’ could be anywhere. The students question each other… and themselves. Less about ‘listening-to’ information and more about ‘thinking-through’ information, the teacher is a fellow traveller in the student’s own discoveries. The focus moves from the information to experience and application, as the student absorbs and imparts.

If a learner is engaged, the teacher doesn’t need to maintain control as rules become unnecessary. Content isn’t covered but is uncovered. Curiosity and exploration become the driving force behind the syllabus. Assessment shifts from the mistakes that students make to focus upon what the student takes from their learning. Most importantly, mistakes are encouraged. Mistakes open up opportunities to learn.

In this upside-down classroom, the labels of ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ are interchangeable; the learner teaches and the teacher learns.

How different would our classrooms be if everyone stood on their heads?