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JAY MCTIGHE: Hi, I'm Jay
McTighe I'm an education
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author and consultant.
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And my main work is
around Understanding
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by Design, which is a framework
for curriculum planning,
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for assessment design, and
ultimately, for teaching,
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with a goal of teaching for
understanding and transfer.
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The key ideas in
Understanding by Design
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are contained in its
title, and thereto.
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Number one, we propose
that we teach and assess
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for understanding and transfer.
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And some people say,
well, of course,
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doesn't every teacher
want their students
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to understand what they teach?
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Well, perhaps, but the
devil's in the details.
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To say we're committed to
teaching for understanding
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raises an immediate question--
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what's worth understanding
in all of the content
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that we could teach?
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And this is a
challenge for teachers
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because every subject
area has so much content.
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And there are also
some things we
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value in school that transcend
subject or discipline
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areas, like critical
thinking, creativity,
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the ability to work with others.
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So the challenge of so
much that we could teach
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is addressed in part
by saying but what's
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most worth understanding.
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And we propose, in a
straightforward way,
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that what we want
students to understand
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are the larger
transferable concepts
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and processes within
and across subjects.
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If we're clear about
those big ideas
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that we want students
to understand,
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it gives us a way
prioritizing our teaching
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and focusing our curriculum.
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It also implies that we're going
to assess for understanding.
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Meaning, just because
a student knows things
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doesn't mean they understand it.
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So it suggests that
our assessments
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include not just tests
of facts or basic skills,
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but assessments
that have students
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to show their understanding
through transfer.
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Can you use what you've
learned in a new situation?
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Can you explain it
in your own words?
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Can you teach it
to someone else?
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So the first part of UBD
is teaching and assessing
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for understanding, ultimately,
with the goal of having
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kids transfer their learning.
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And our curriculum planning
is done accordingly.
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The second big idea in
Understanding by Design
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is by design.
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And we refer to a process
that we call it, quote,
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backward design, where we're
planning backward from the end.
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And the end is
understanding and transfer.
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Not covering content, not
marching through textbooks,
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not doing fun activities only.
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We're teaching and assessing
for understanding and transfer,
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and we plan backward for that.
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The idea of backward
design or backward planning
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is certainly not new.
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We do it when we
plan a vacation,
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we do it when we design a house.
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But in teaching, it's
sometimes the case
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that teachers tend
to get, perhaps,
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somewhat narrowly focused
on all the material
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they have to cover or
marching through a textbook,
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and that's not backward design.
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It's just covering things.
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So backward design is a way of
thinking, a way of planning,
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and in UBD we have a planning
template that guides teachers
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in this process.
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Those are the two big ideas
of Understanding by Design.
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People who've been introduced
to Understanding by Design
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and want to extend
it further, there
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are a few pieces of
advice I'd offer.
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I'm going to start
with teachers.
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Understanding by Design is, I
believe, a rich and effective
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planning framework for
planning from curriculum
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standards or national curriculum
or achievement outcomes.
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But it's not a simple
planning framework.
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And when people
get into it, they
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realized it's not
easy necessarily.
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So my advice, accordingly,
is for teachers
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to think big, start small,
and go for an early win.
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And by that, I mean, think big.
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If you like the Understanding
by Design framework,
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think about maybe
two or three years
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from now that you want most
of your teaching planned
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in this way.
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But start small.
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This is hard to do.
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It's hard to do well, and
so don't kill yourself.
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Start with maybe one
or two units a year.
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If possible, work with
a colleague or a team.
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Try your unit out, revise
it based on how it works
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and what didn't work, and you
will find that in so doing,
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you'll better
understand the process.
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The next unit you
develop will be easier,
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and over time, it will
become a way of thinking.
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The go for the early part
win part of my advice
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is to suggest that as a teacher,
don't pick your toughest unit
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or a brand one
you've never taught
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or one you really don't like.
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Pick your favorite, pick
a unit that has really
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worked for you of the past,
use Understanding by Design
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to embellish and enhance it.
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That's an early
win, and it's easier
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to build from that than
trying to do too much too soon
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and just overwhelming yourself.
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Now for school leaders,
the same maxim applies--
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think big.
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If you think the Understanding
by Design framework
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is important and useful, think
about how two, three, four
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years from now
you'd like to see it
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as the lingua franca in
your school, the framework
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that everyone knows
and works with.
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But that's a long term goal.
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Start small.
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So invite a small
group of teachers
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to try their hand at
planning a UBD unit.
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Let them do it in a
team if at all possible.
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Maybe you even get a substitute
or release day for them
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to work on it and
let them try it out.
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Having a small
number of teachers
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try out UBD and get comfortable
with it and see its value,
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will then help you sell
it to larger groups.
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So think big with a long
term goal for your school,
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start small.
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Start with volunteers or a small
group, and go for an early win.
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Invite the people who you think
will like this, who resonate
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with this kind of
teaching and planning,
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and who are open and interested
in trying new things.
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One of the best ways of
killing UBD at the school level
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is for a school leader to
mandate it for everyone
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without proper training,
support, or rationale
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of why we're doing this.
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Think big, start small, involve
a volunteer group of teachers,
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and build from there.
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