The Power of "I Don't Know"

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/power-i-dont-know-heather-wolpert-gawron


Heather Wolpert-Gawron is an English language arts teacher that has changed her classroom from a spoon-feeding lecture style to an environment that embraces the answer "I don't know."  Wolpert-Gawron substantiates that the role of the teacher in the classroom is changing, from information giver to information facilitator.  She feels that teachers need to embrace the concept of "I don't know" to push students to find information for themselves instead of relying on the teacher to provide it.

Wolpert-Gawron has decided to create an environment that forces her students to create the questions and search for answers.  Instead of copying notes, memorizing facts and vocabulary from handouts, and using fill-in-the-blank paragraphs, she teaches her students to develop questions that have the answer "I don't know."  In order to make this an effective strategy for learning, Wolpert-Gawron creates an atmosphere where "I don't know" is an acceptable response that leads to research and self-discovery; it is not a weakness, but should lead to finding the answer.

One way that Wolpert-Gawron uses this strategy is to model it through teaching digital literacy in the classroom.  Her first exercise to show students how to find the answer is to "make Google do the work."  Wolpert-Gawrom states that "Google doesn't make people stupid...", but instead a search engine only does what is asked of it, so to make it an effective tool, we need to teach students how to ask it the right questions and limit the information it provides.  This requires students to use the advanced search tools and focuses on providing key words.

Wolpert-Gawron also requires students to use the Internet in a timed scavenger hunt to promote more accurate searches for information.  This requires students to again use key word combinations that force Google to work for them.

Finally, Wolpert-Gawron incorporates activities that require students to verify the information.  She educates her students about how inaccurate or biased information can lead to inaccurate or biased answers. She requires students to verify answers, especially given by websites like Wikipedia, using the "triangulating the data" method to verify accuracy in their discovery.

I appreciate the revolutionary style of teaching that Wolpert-Gawron is promoting.  I can see the relevance and with the availability of the Internet in our pockets, we need to encourage students to become seekers of the answers.  Her suggestions about modeling this style in digital literacy lessons would easily be applicable in multiple classrooms, but it would require a teacher with the maturity to admit not knowing all the answers and capable of showing that vulnerability.