Authentic learning is real life learning. It is a style of learning that encourages students to create a tangible, useful product to be shared with their world. Once an educator provides a motivational challenge, they nurture and provide the necessary criteria, planning, timelines, resources and support to accommodate student success. The teacher becomes a guide on the side or a project manager, a facilitator not a dictator. Processes become the predominant force and the content collected is organized appropriately into portfolios.
Authentic learning engages all the senses allowing students to create a meaningful, useful, shared outcome. They are real life tasks, or simulated tasks that provide the learner with opportunities to connect with the real world.
Instead of vicariously discussing topics and regurgitating information in a traditional industrial age modality, authentic learning provides a learner with support to achieve a tangible, useful product worth sharing with their community and their world.
Our greatest short coming in education these past few years has been to ignore the brain research that is richly available to us that affirms that implementing multi-sensory activities, pursuing meaningful tasks, exploring a variety of skills with real world applications is optimal learning and that it needs to be practiced regularly.
In an authentic learning model the emphasis is mainly on the quality of process and innovation. The emphasis isn’t about understanding teacher speak and regurgitating content just for a unit test, it’s about developing a set of culminating skills sets, within a realistic timeline, using self-motivated inquiry methods to create a useful product to be shared with a specific audience.
Is it realistic to think that authentic learning of this nature can be done, ongoing, throughout the school year? Maybe one day it may but realistically, of course not. With the current school classroom structures, resources, timetabling, standardized test demands, administration directives and the plethora of curriculum expectations as they are it’s almost impossible to do. If, however, an educator can attempt one or two authentic learning events in a school year then that’s a fantastic start. At year’s end you and your students won’t regret it and it won’t be long until you’re looking forward to starting your next. There are different degrees of authentic learning events from simulations shared with your community to complete, real world integrations. Start small, then develop your authentic learning undertakings over the years to come.
Let’s get real! It’s time to go authentic!
Excerpt from Steve Revington OCT, B.Ed., B.A
Steve has been teaching for 30 years. His education passion has been to develop authentic learning events for his students and to provide support to colleagues, student teachers and boards by assisting them with implementing this optimal learning model. Steve’s first authentic learning event was at Exeter Public School in 1985 when his grade eight class tested their egg protecting capsules off of the school’s roof. Since that time he has successfully designed and implemented a vast range of events including Roman and Medieval Dinner Theatres, Claymation movies, Egyptian and Roman Living Museums, Recycling Car Challenges, Bridge Building Challenges, Good Earth CD Projects and The Great London Challenge.
By: Ma. Gemma C. Dela Fuente | Teacher III | Limay Elementary School | Limay, Bataan
