Schools suited for the 21st century do not ask students to regurgitate content, but, instead, to transform it.

What exactly does this mean?

It means that students combine what they learn with their perspective, or their personality, or their aesthetics, or their creativity, or all of these, to produce something that has not existed before.

Instead of being asked to define an atom in two sentences, students create a 3-D atomic model of an element of their choosing, then film themselves describing the model, naming its parts, and raising questions they have about the basic building blocks of the universe.

Instead of being asked to rotely recall historical events, they create an attractive timeline that brings life to the classroom walls.

Instead of (or in addition to) finding the right answer to a math question, they work in groups to effectively communicate the problem’s key concepts, the connections they can make to previous learnings, and the questions they have about what their solutions might make possible.

Instead of writing generic arguments about topics like the death penalty and gun control, which are easily copied, they situate these topics within the particularities of their own experiences, (or they choose different topics!) and make concrete arguments to specific audiences.

Instead of writing a paper on the theme of race in Othello, they perform the opening scene at a school gathering to provoke a conversation in advisory about race at their school.

By transforming, students have the chance to learn more deeply, creating lasting understandings about both the content and themselves.

Transformation also transforms their relationship with the world. The power imbalance implied by the old model–the existence of mountains of things they should know–is tipped on its head, and the students become worthy, equal, empowered, and curious to learn more.

Asking students to regurgitate and reorder is to prepare them (un-joyfully, by the way) for a world that no longer exists. Reordering and regurgitating are the domain of machines. Leave that to them.

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In the event of further interest: Changing the Subject, by Larry Rosenstock and Rob Riordan. 4 Things Transformational Teachers Do, via Edutopia.