This week’s questions for #rhizo14:

How do we embrace uncertainty in learning? How do we teach when there are no answers, but only more questions?

Uncertainty in learning is a wonderful opportunity for the teacher. Eleanor Duckworth (2006) uses the powerful metaphor of the construction of a tower. A tall tower can be built quickly, but one built on a broad base or with deep foundations takes longer to construct. Students who come to depend on narrow, easy success will struggle to learn. To learn is to be confused, to fail frequently and to try again until success occurs. Confusion and conflict are needed in order to learn, and failure is a necessary building block for ultimate success. Thinking is difficult and doubt is the basis of all good thinking. Exploring wrong ideas is always productive. A wrong idea corrected provides far more depth than if one never had a wrong idea to begin with. By considering alternatives and working through them, learners come to master the idea much more thoroughly.

“Teachers are often…impatient for their students to develop clear and adequate ideas. But putting ideas in relation to each other is not a simple job. It is confusing; and that confusion does take time. All of us need time for our confusion if we are to build the breadth and depth that give significance to our knowledge.” (Duckworth, 2006, p. 81)

Duckworth, E. (2006). “The having of wonderful ideas” and other essays on teaching and learning. New York: Teachers College Press.