I could watch these video clips (also here) all day. You may have learned about Doug Lemov from this NY Times Magazine article. The quote “without great teachers, nothing else matters” is from the website of the organization (Uncommon Schools) that Lemov founded. The clips show techniques he has isolated that great teachers use in elementary school.
My research is fundamentally about deficiency diseases. I find things present in Stone Age life but absent now whose absence causes problems. Sometimes I work backwards (from present to past): why am I not sleeping well? This turned out to have a Stone-Age-related answer. Sometimes I work forwards: I study something present in Stone-Age life but not now and learn it makes things better: standing (better sleep), morning faces (better mood).
So I know a lot about deficiency diseases. One curious thing about them is the opportunity they present. Without scurvy, we wouldn’t have discovered Vitamin C. Once we’ve discovered Vitamin C, we can figure out the optimal amount, possibly leaving us better off than before scurvy became a problem.
This is what I thought as I watched these clips. Formal education is unnatural. No wonder it’s so hard. These clips, however, show that with considerable understanding of psychology you can solve the problems it presents. And perhaps leave us better off than before formal schooling began.
While the techniques themselves are neutral, people often use them to manipulate students and rob them of choices. Consider views by Alfie Kohn about the techniques of praise and reward, for example.
I think Lemov and Kohn are compatible — the danger Kohn and others identify with praise is related to its extrinsic focus, but Lemov’s techniques are respectful and promote intrinsic sources of motivation. They focus on behaviours rather than on global characteristics of the child for instance.
Alfie Kohn’s work is fantastic. So is Lemov’s. The more widely read they are the better the world will be.
Teacher and educators aspiring to becoming great teachers and educators may find this useful: https://www.geocities.ws/greatteachersari/index.html