They say the journey is more important than the destination, but where the heck are we all going?

Throughout Chapter 3 of Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st-Century Learner, I noticed that a major emphasis was placed on establishing expected learning outcomes before planning the curriculum for a given subject. In Stage 1 of the “Backward Design,” teachers are instructed to “identify what are the most important things for students to Know, Do, and Be at the end of the learning period” (62). While I believe it is important to set goals for students, I think teachers need to be cautious about how this is employed and allow room for unexpected learning outcomes. What may be deemed an “important” learning outcome by the teacher’s standards may not end up being at all relevant to the student in the long run.  

As I came across that quotation, I thought about that tired, clichéd expression that says “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey!” This made me wonder: assuming that each student’s academic journey is unique, does this not also mean that their destinations (ie. What they get out of the curriculum at the end of the learning period) is not different as well? In the “Backward Design,” a clear hierarchy exists whereby the destination (in this case, the student’s ability to demonstrate what the teacher deemed “important” throughout the learning process by means of an assessment task) is elevated above the importance of the journey (which refers to the knowledge and skills the student picked up throughout the learning process). My argument, then, is that the process of learning and the unique knowledge students accumulate by the end of the learning period is far more valuable and even more memorable than anything the teacher decides to be “important.”

In the end, what is “important” is relative.

I came up with an analogy to better explain my take on this issue. I compared the concept of designated learning outcomes to this idea of a “journey” and a “destination”. I thought of it in terms of people planning a trip to Florida. While everyone who has ever been to Florida has their choice of destination in common, their trips are always completely different. Some people choose to take a plane, while other people choose to drive. Some people go to Disney World, while other people go to the beach. Some people return home with stories about the excitement and thrills, while other people return home with stories about the weather and relaxation. Just like you can’t expect people going to the same place on vacation to return with the same experience, likewise you can’t expect students to come out of their educational experience with the same learning outcomes.

Taking all of this into consideration…would this not mean that assessments in general are entirely flawed practices? Who is the teacher to say what is important? Building off of the example of the history lesson in the textbook: who’s to say that the knowledge of “the key characteristics of Canada between 1885 and 1914, including social and economic conditions” (64) is more important and more worthy of evaluation than the collaborative skills the student gained while networking and discussing historical issues with a classmate?

While Daniel may have actually adopted a genuine fascination and passion for history, which will eventually lead him to pursue the subject in post-secondary, Taylor may have only ultimately taken away a lesson on procrastination as a result of a poor mark from a last-minute effort on her history assignment.

Which student has more than likely met the goals of the learning outcome, and which student has not?      

Your guess is probably correct.

Now: which lesson is more valuable?

Perhaps, not so simple…

To push this even further: as adults in university, what do we remember of the information we obtained in elementary and even high school? For me, I can say with the utmost conviction that most of the knowledge I was evaluated on throughout elementary and high school (no matter how well I did!) did not transcend into my later life. The most noteworthy memories I have of my educational experiences center on peer and teacher relationships and just how I figured out how to coexist and get along with other people. I learned what to say and what not to say, how to function in groups without being overly dominant, and how to obtain and maintain a positive rapport with my teachers (to name a few). In addition to relationships, I learned the value of hard work and dedication to the learning process and how it is positively correlated with success.

At this point, I’m left at a loss. I understand why it’s important for a teacher to establish learning outcomes in order to maintain the focus of the lesson, and I also know that the “Be” of KDB helps to address some of these big-picture learning outcomes (like in the history curriculum, students are expected to “be responsible, active, informed citizens in the 21st century,” which is arguably more likely to transcend into later life). However, this still does not resolve the inadequacies of judging student learning based on one desired outcome, or destination.

To return to my analogy: students are ending up in the same places, but are getting there and experiencing these places differently.

As teachers, how are we supposed to fairly and accurately assess learning when arguably some of the most important lessons are learnt outside of our desired outcomes?

I have no answer. But the more I think about it, the more critical I am of assessment as a fruitless and inaccurate “assumption” of student learning, that ultimately bears no real semblance of individual success.    

For this week, I have chosen my junior kindergarten class photo. I'm the one on the bottom row (I was always too short for the middle or top...), the fourth one from the left. Quite the attractive bunch, weren't we? All decked out in our 90's garb and all! See now...these kids know where they're going in life!