Connections > Collections
The Big Hairy Audacious Goal, BHAG, is very similar to the Wildly Important Goal, WIG. Both demand action and lead to change as they focus on the big picture. The BHAG is the ultimate destination of learning, a declaration of a goal, a vision. Teachers can use the BHAG to create a purpose for a unit of study because it focuses the learning on one main goal. The BHAG is similar to essential questions, which some teachers use to guide teaching and learning in their classrooms, but it is a statement of action rather than a question of discovery. Big Hairy Audacious Goals are crucial to creating significant learning environments. Sometimes, though, the big picture gets lost in the content. We get caught up collecting the dots, gathering all of the content knowledge, rather than connecting the dots, making sense of it all through meaningful connections. As teachers, we spend time encouraging learners to collect the dots because that is what our standards and curriculum lead us to believe is necessary. The standards and curriculum come with an answer key and a way to teach concepts; connecting the dots has no answer key because there is no one answer that works for everyone. It requires being put in an authentic situation to apply the knowledge and think deeply about the learning. We also spend more time collecting because there are many concepts that need to be learned in a short school year, so many teachers feel pressed for time. We know that connecting the dots is important, but we are continually collecting instead. What can we do?
Teachers need to recognize that they have an expert’s bias, create independent learners, and create effective learning outcomes that focus on making meaningful connections. As teachers, we sometimes forget or miscalculate the prior knowledge that students have and what misconceptions they enter our classrooms with. It is our responsibility to help the students pull out their prior knowledge and uncover these misconceptions so that we can turn them into meaningful connections rather than missed connections. This is where creating independent learners is helpful. Students should not rely on the teacher to tell them what they learned; the students should be able to tell the teacher what they learned. I am an independent learner that likes to collaborate and talk about my learning. I’m independent in that I take ownership of my learning and don’t need a teacher to tell me what I learned, but I’m dependent in that I need to work with peers to discuss and see connections. I am taking my learners on that same learning journey with me as we are building their novice-level conceptual framework while we work towards being experts. We’re collaborating and making connections to construct our knowledge to instill a love of learning.
References
Godin, S. [TEDxYouth]. (2012, October 16). Stop stealing dreams [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXpbONjV1Jc
Harapnuik, D. (2015, August 15). Connecting the dots vs. collecting the dots [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=85XpexQy68g
