A look at the Independent Project

I've watched the Independent Project before. At the time I was either in High School or just into University. I remember feeling conflicted after watching the clip. Self teaching sounds fantastic, but how do you monitor it? How do you ensure that the learners pass and that by giving them independence in learning, you aren't robbing them of access to higher education?

I remember being one of those kids who 'hated' school. Thinking back, I would rephrase that to say I disliked school...a lot. One of the reasons for that being that I felt like I was learning useless information. I was learning information that didn't interest me. Thankfully some of my teachers fostered in me an inquisitive mind and a search for knowledge in their specific subjects, but I know that wasn't the case for everyone. Often in the subjects I disliked the most, I would learn what I knew I had to in order to pass (and do well) and there I would stop. The thought of learning and discovering more on my own seemed useless to me. I was not going to spend extra time on a subject that I already disliked, especially if the extra effort was not going to result in extra marks.

This is where the Independent project is so fantastic! All school subjects are covered, yet each individual has the opportunity to learn about what fascinates them. This teaches them that when they are curious about something, they have the potential in them to figure it out or learn about it themselves. It reminded me that a teacher should simply be the facilitator of learning and not the sole source of all knowledge. Having the students teach their classmates under no pressure is also a really effective method of teaching. You always learn more when you teach someone else, and since each learner chooses a topic they are interested in, you are left with knowledgeable and enthusiastic teacher-students.

The questions I raised in the first paragraph, however, still remain. How do you monitor independent teaching and learning? I think perhaps the most effective way of monitoring, would be to assess the effort put in by the students. Learning should remain independent, the level of learning or mastery should not be measured, but I do think it is important to monitor effort. By monitoring this aspect of independent learning, I think that it can be effectively implemented in schools as a 'subject'. By adding it as an extra in addition to the existing school curriculum, there is no fear of students missing out on vital information, and by monitoring one aspect, you ensure that the children have reason to be invested in the subject and reason to make an effort to explore knowledge.