Are You Suffering from Sage on the Stage Syndrome??

Hello All,

I recently had two students working on independent projects that were not turning out quite the way they were expecting. I was especially delighted about one not working out so well.  It excited me to be able to respond that sometimes one can learn just as much or more from something not working as it should as something that works out perfectly.  Happily, I could have probably typed out two pages of many ‘great scientists’ who made a mistake that led to a discovery or who while working on one thing changed direction in order to address another issue with the unexpected way the research had gone. With that tucked away somewhere in my mind, the title “How to Learn? From Mistakes” caught my attention.  As Dianne Laufenberg shares in her talk, the reminder is there sometimes the greatest way to learn is through mistakes.  Students need to fail some. I could relate to information she presented regarding the educational system and where the access to information has been located over the years.   I had to admit I had grown up in a culture where the teacher was usually the sage on the stage, the great dispenser of knowledge.  As a teacher, I continue the battle of transitioning away from becoming a sage on the stage teacher to more of a teacher that guides students to do, find, and explore on their own...'guide on the side' seems to be the current catch phrase. I find for some students that have been in the system of the teacher as the great dispenser of information, this can be a challenging transition.  Other students, it seems to open up a wonderful freeing creative process. I too agree with the speaker that often when I allow students to generate their own projects with minimal guidelines, much of the work I receive exceeds what I would have received with an extremely detailed rubric and exemplar. Students simply sometimes use resources and applications I am not up on.  Not only is there ownership and learning of content knowledge for the student, I often am able to learn from my students as well. Let’s face it, there is so much available in our digital age, it is impossible to be a true sage anymore.  In the present journey, I rather be a part of a community of learners where we are all learning from one another than one where I am a potential limit to who those in my classroom can become.

Happy to share the stage,

Mrs. A