My teacher brought up a beautiful concept this past week called teaching in the margins, as introduced in an excerpt by Ann E. Haley-Oliphant. In order to explain this concept to you, I want you to first imagine a mowed pasture or tilled farmland. Everything within the center of that field is identical-- row by row of the same corn or grass, but if you travel to the edge of that same field, a diversity of wildlife appears. There may be wildflowers, weeds, trees, and birds. This is the margin. The margin is special because of its wild, untamed, and untouched nature, and the same can be said for teaching in the margin, which aims to bring about an unsystematic outcome. To understand this, imagine the cornfields to be minute-by-minute structured lesson plans and the margins to have the freedom to meander through a topic, or sprint to the next (student dependent). Teaching in the margins can be uncomfortable and scary for both the students and the teacher because there are unexpected turns, but it is in those times of uncertainty that curiosity, wonderment, and learning flourish. Teaching in the margins may sound very similar to a teachable moment, but there is an important difference between these teaching methods. Teaching in the margins is typically a planned lesson, which aims to promote exploration and inquiry, while a teachable moment is a spontaneous decision to deviate from a lesson plan.
5 Comments
Greg Hubbard
9/9/2015 08:54:46 am
I think that teaching in the margins can be a spontaneous exercise as well. For example, what if a student sees something happening in nature that he/she wants to explore in greater depth. I believe that an exemplary science teacher should stop what was planned for the day and have the student(s) come up with an experiment or set of experiments to answer the posed questions.
Reply
Anna Capre
9/9/2015 04:51:43 pm
I see where Greg is coming from but I think that is more of a teachable moment and teaching in the margins is something that is planned. Teaching in the margins is planned so students come up with the answer together. Teachable moments you might tell them the answer or have them observe something like Dr. Ann Mackenzie's example of your class animal having babies. Teachable moments don't have to (but can) involve ownership or wonder like teaching in the margins does.
Reply
Mary Beth
9/10/2015 09:34:27 am
I loved your comment about how going to the margins can be scary for everyone involved. It is a place many students haven't been before in their learning and it is hard for many teachers to relinquish some of their control to their students.
Reply
Devon Smith
9/13/2015 08:52:25 am
To answer you question Mary Beth,
Reply
Nick Robinson
9/13/2015 10:39:10 pm
The idea of teaching in the margins is difficult to realize at first; I know that my blog discussions have cleared thing up, and it definitely does seem a bit like "going out on a limb" at first. Leave a Reply. |
Categories
All
|