TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING

http://pzweb.harvard.edu/research/TfU.htm

Project Zero's Teaching for Understanding: Enhancing Disciplinary Understanding in Teachers and Students was supported by The Spencer Foundation.

During the first three years, the collaborators developed a framework that stresses in-depth learning. This framework provides teachers with a language and structure for planning their curriculum and for discussing teaching for understanding with other colleagues and with their students. At its core is a performance view of understanding: If a student "understands" a topic, she can not only reproduce knowledge, but also use it in unscripted ways. For example, a student in a history class might be able to describe the gist of the Declaration of Independence in her own words; role-play King George as he reacts to different parts of it; or write out parts of an imagined debate among the authors as they hammer out the statement. These are called "performances of understanding" because they give students the opportunity to demonstrate that they understand information, can expand upon it, and apply it in new ways.

In addition to performances of understanding, the framework highlights three other key concepts: generative topics, understanding goals, and ongoing assessment. For teachers, attention to each of these aspects of instruction helps ensure that they will be focusing their time and energy on helping students to learn about those concepts, ideas, and skills that are most important to understand. For the students, this approach to teaching and learning enables them to apply their knowledge and skills flexibly in a variety of situations.