Accumulation of Knowledge
by Connie Miller
Birchwood’s mission states that we are helping children to lead a life of becoming, which requires developing both their character and their intellect. The Natural Learning Model reflects how we believe children learn and grow, through the intersection of agency, experiential learning, and the accumulation of knowledge.
Birchwood’s mission states that we are helping children to lead a life of becoming, which requires developing both their character and their intellect. The Natural Learning Model reflects how we believe children learn and grow, through the intersection of agency, experiential learning, and the accumulation of knowledge.
Our expectation is that children will love learning as they grow in knowledge in every subject area. We give them authentic experiences in the essential structure of the subject, which in turn generates the motivation in them to dig deeper, explore further, and think more broadly. In effect, they become young historians, scientists, writers, mathematicians, and especially readers. The accumulation of knowledge is the base for the Natural Learning Model (NLM) to operate effectively. If students don’t understand the rudiments, the core knowledge in each of the subject areas, they can’t have a richer, deeper experience of that subject.
For example, in reading, students have to be taught how to read, whether through understanding phonics or through a whole language approach. It is such a crucial skill, yet it’s the beginning of the accumulation of knowledge. Without it, the wonderful world of reading won’t be opened up to them. From there they continue on to understand setting, plot, and theme. Often, they need to accumulate more knowledge in order to understand the setting.
For example, the sixth graders are currently read “Number the Stars” by Lois Lowry, a book about the rescue of Jews in World War II by the people of Denmark.
Consequently, they have to learn the basics about the Holocaust, the German plans, and the Danish perspective. With this additional knowledge, they can then wrestle with the moral decisions made by all the groups of individuals and understand the theme at a deeper level.
In math, the accumulation of knowledge is perhaps the easiest to understand. There is so much the students need to know to become mathematicians, but it is very incremental and it takes some time to accumulate the knowledge they need to tackle higher level math challenges. Beginning with recognizing numbers, they move on to learning how to count, and then how to do basic computation. It begins with adding and subtracting, but the growth of knowledge certainly can’t stop there. They have to learn how to multiply and divide and memorize the dreaded, boring multiplication tables. But without that knowledge, they won’t be able to appreciate the beauty of math and its application in the real world, or the excitement of being able to solve increasingly complex word problems.
In language arts, there is a body of knowledge that needs to be acquired to become a writer. Students have to be taught basic grammar rules to construct proper sentences. They have to memorize the spelling and meaning of increasingly challenging words in order to have a well of words to draw from as they write. They have to have stories of all different kinds read to them as models of good writing. Once they begin writing, they have to learn the skill of revising their work. Eventually, the writing Birchwood students produce is a joy to behold as they draw from all these earlier lessons and produce prose or poetry that is clever, funny, sophisticated, poignant, and sometimes full of wordplay.
In science, there is a definite foundation of knowledge that also needs to grow so that our students can become young scientists and explore the world in all its infinite variety. There is science vocabulary that needs to be memorized because those words will be used repeatedly in increasingly complex ways. They have to learn how to observe and then report their observations to others. This may include learning the parts of the microscope and how to use it to assist in their observations. Students have to acquire the knowledge of how to measure with rulers, scales, and beakers. They have to be taught safety protocols so they don’t injure themselves as they carry out experiments. They are taught the scientific method and learn how to follow its steps. Gradually, the world of science beckons with infinite possibilities of areas to explore and examine.
Likewise in social studies, there is a body of knowledge that students need to acquire which grows as they grow. At a young age, they begin to learn about the components that make up their community, such as stores and neighborhoods. Although quite simple, this knowledge will grow all the way through the eighth grade, where they will grapple with the effects of the second Industrial Revolution on Cleveland and its neighborhoods. In the younger grades, students are taught the basic skills of note-taking and producing either a report or display of their research. This knowledge, or know-how, will grow year by year until in the seventh and eighth grade they are doing research on library databases, learning how to interview participants of a historical event, and even writing 2,000 word historical papers. They have learned the craft of a historian and have realized history is a living subject, not a bunch of tedious facts.
This process of knowledge accumulation can, and most often should be, more than a dry teaching of facts. We strive to put the accumulation of knowledge together with essential experiences. For example, we could tell a first grader that George Washington was a great man and our first president and leave it at that. But how much better to help the young student learn how to ask some of the questions a historian might ask, such as: Why him? Why at that time? What character traits made him such a leader? Then the student could do a very simple research project with grade level books to answer those questions and give a little presentation to her classmates. In the same way, a seventh grader could be led to ask the same questions but go much deeper in his critical thinking by looking at primary sources that expose some of Washington’s early failures and consider how they later shaped him as a leader. This kind of authentic learning can happen in every subject area, inspiring a student to realize that every subject area is “cool.”
However, to progress in any of the subject areas, students also need to realize that the accumulation of knowledge can often require struggle and perseverance. Children might love math when they first learn to add but resist the effort needed to memorize their multiplication facts. It can be boring work yet without mastering the facts, they will have great difficulty in progressing to more exciting math challenges. Work is required in order to grow.
Teaching according to the NLM is an art, requiring each teacher to bring together the essential experiences with the skills and accumulation of knowledge. It requires the teachers to introduce children to a higher plane of life by enriching the world of learning. Each subject area must have a clear scope and sequence for accumulating knowledge and the skills needed as part of the essential structure of each of the respective disciplines. The ability to think well needs a solid foundation of knowledge in each subject area.
Perhaps Jerome Bruner, a highly respected education researcher, said it best in his book “The Process of Education,” when he stated: “To instruct someone ... is not a matter of getting him to commit results to mind. Rather, it is to teach him to participate in the process that makes possible the establishment of knowledge. We teach a subject not to produce little living libraries on that subject, but rather to get a student to think mathematically for himself, to consider matters as a historian does, to take part in the process of knowledge-getting. Knowing is a process not a product.”
This article was written by Birchwood School fifth through eighth grade social studies subject specialist Connie Miller. She is committed to teaching students the historical method and introducing them to the excitement of studying history, having seen the impact on students of undertaking a rigorous, yet rich curriculum. Mrs. Miller has helped his students achieve success in National History Day at the local, state, and national levels. She has received the Ohio Historical Society’s Ohio History Day Teacher of Merit award, the David Van Tassel Award for outstanding contributions in mentoring students in history, and the Ohio Humanities Council District 3 Teacher of Merit award.
This article was written by Birchwood School fifth through eighth grade social studies subject specialist Connie Miller. She is committed to teaching students the historical method and introducing them to the excitement of studying history, having seen the impact on students of undertaking a rigorous, yet rich curriculum. Mrs. Miller has helped his students achieve success in National History Day at the local, state, and national levels. She has received the Ohio Historical Society’s Ohio History Day Teacher of Merit award, the David Van Tassel Award for outstanding contributions in mentoring students in history, and the Ohio Humanities Council District 3 Teacher of Merit award.
