Striving for Confusion

In recent months, I have realized more and more the idea that learners should struggle.  In the past, I have described it as wrestling with the material (and with each other).  I've always seen this as crucial, but it seems like I read more and more that affirms that concept.

This week, John Spencer asked the question, "Should school be more confusing?"  A headline like that piques my interest.  John is a former middle school teacher, and he currently teaches college classes.  He is a sought-after expert in design thinking, and he promote creativity in the classroom.  I see in John, like myself, the development of an education philosophy that is based on experience.  We both value research, but firsthand experience with kids in classroom makes all the difference.

Spencer sees confusion as a pathway to deeper learning, citing Annie Murphy Paul along the way.  Paul wrote, in a separate piece:

We all know that confusion doesn’t feel good. Because it seems like an obstacle to learning, we try to arrange educational experiences and training sessions so that learners will encounter as little confusion as possible. But as is so often the case when it comes to learning, our intuitions here are exactly wrong. Scientists have been building a body of evidence over the past few years demonstrating that confusion can lead us to learn more efficiently, more deeply, more lastingly—as long as it’s properly managed.

If you think about it, your biggest moments of epiphany have probably occurred following a period of confusion.  It is the working out of problems, the mulling over of confusing issues, and tripping over our own feet that teaches us, and makes us stronger - provided we don't get discouraged.  Paul further explains:

First, not knowing the single correct way to resolve a problem allows us to explore a wide variety of potential explanations, thereby giving us a deeper and broader sense of the issues involved. Second, the feeling of being confused, of not knowing what’s up, creates a powerful drive to figure it out. We’re motivated to look more deeply, search more vigorously for a solution, and in so doing we see and understand things we would not have, had we simply been handed the answer at the outset.

I like that.  It makes sense.  And it is encouraging for those times of struggle that we all experience.  John Spencer connects confusion with deeper learning.  I've written about those things, mostly in reflections about my own teaching, but I am more and more eager to embrace confusion in my classroom.  I want to present more creative, open-ended experiences, and then guide students through confusion and resolution.  Read what ​John Spencer wrote:

Confusion can actually lead to deeper learning. It forces students to make hypotheses and test things out. It pushes them beyond the superficial. Confusion can be frustrating, but it can also be the mystery that creates suspense. These are the moments of excitement when the class feels most alive.
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Confusion pushes you to slow down and think deeper. The struggle to figure things out means it sticks. It’s why I forget entire sections of textbooks but it’s really hard to forget a confusing parable. It’s why I can’t remember how to solve a matrix but I am forever shaped by that confusing, perplexing debate we had about the 4th Amendment when I was a senior in high school.

I won't copy and paste all of Spencer's post - you should read it and other articles from his blog - but I am tempted to do so.  Pay particular to his Ten Ways Teachers Can Embrace Confusion.  Each of these has its own explanation, but I will copy the basic list here.

1. Present mysteries.
2. Allow for mistakes.
3. Embrace student inquiry.
4. Don’t shy away from confusing material. 
5. Avoid simplistic explanations. 

1. Be careful with visuals.
2. Encourage dialogue.
3. Test your answers.
4. Identify what you don’t know.
5. Give students the permission to struggle.

It is important that we, adults, hold ourselves to the same challenges.  We should subject ourselves to the same mysteries, questions, dialogues, and struggles that we expect our children to experience.  Further, they should see us working through those same problems.

Beware, teachers and parents.  When we take the confusing approach, we must also be prepared for students' reactions.

When we use confusion strategically, students will be frustrated. Some of them will get angry. But they will also be engaged. More importantly, they will be empowered. They will slow down and think deeper about the content. The end result is a more humble, nuanced, and ultimately deeper learning of the subject.

It's not a tradeoff; it's an investment that makes sense.