The term going to the margins is an expression used to describe exploration inside the classroom. The best way to think about this concept is like a cornfield. The cornfield acts as a home base for standard teaching methods like lectures and cookbook labs. Then when venturing out, there is a curiosity of what is on the other side. That unknown inquiry is going to the margins. For example in the forces unit of a physics class, a student asks “how does aerodynamics affect the force of a ball?” Teaching in the margins enables exploration into their question. Let questions flow naturally as you explore the topic and explain. Sometimes, the instructor might not know the answer to a question, so it is fair to save it for later and reproach it with more information. For a teacher, it is acceptable to not know a concept, but ignoring it means you are going “back to the cornfield” and returning to your comfort zone. Going to the margins means that you can be uncomfortable while expressing new ideas. If going to the margins is forced, then it does not occur naturally. Having patience and letting the topic develop naturally allows the students to have more agency over the direction of the conversation.
Common Myth Between Teachable Moment and Teaching to the Margins
A teachable moment is a teacher driven event where the teacher provides the resources for the student to grow. It is up to the student to have the lightbulb moment to connect the pieces together. There are times when it turns on and students get it, but sometimes a student will not understand the content at hand and miss out on the event. Meanwhile, teaching to the margins is more about exploring the unknown and being okay with not knowing every answer. Going back to aerodynamics, a teachable moment looks more like drawing the force diagram (an explanation to the forces acted on an object) and then explaining that aerodynamics is involved. Yet, teachers will not elaborate in class because it is too difficult, thus making it irrelevant.
Instead of that, consider having the students explore what aerodynamics is and how it can be applied. Make a demonstration out of the concept using a Frisbee™, or hold a contest for who can make the best paper airplane. Then explore what is happening and have the students recognize that it is not just forward force coming into play, but aerodynamics helping keep the object in the air. This is where a teachable moment ends, but teaching at the margins begins. Go deeper and have the students explore different ways to use aerodynamics in a class discussion to further their understanding of the topic. The key word here is explore: both you as the teacher and the students further the understanding of the topic. Teachable moments can define a baseline concept, but do not challenge students. Teaching to the margins explores outside of the classroom comfort zone and allows students to find new discoveries.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/increasing-student-interest-learning
Within the edutopia article, piquing students’ interests will make it easier to go to the margins. They set up 4 key points.
- Set up clear expectations in the course structure: ensure that students understand that they can ask questions to understand the deeper side of the subject.
- Showing enthusiasm and humor: being relatable enables students to feel they can talk to you, and allows conversation to flow.
- Sharing and respecting personhood: know when to draw the line on certain topics based on the identities of students in the classroom.
- Inviting Communication: allowing students to ask questions and generate discussion
These methods will help explore those outer depths of content to truly explore what students are intrigued in.
Application
Thinking in realistic terms, there will be times when an instructor has to go back to the margins. There has to be some concrete method to instruction and a home base to come back to. In my teaching experience, I have tried to adopt the idea of letting us go to the margins and it works, but cannot get through all of the content. A similar idea can happen when teaching where there is a concrete style that will be utilized and occasionally venture out to the margins. Yet, it is still valuable to have those experiences as it generates new ideas and strengthens core concepts for the students. Having intrinsic motivation to learn something ultimately leads to better comprehension of the material.
Following the diagram above will help keep the class engaged in discussion without being too obstructive. When in the margins, you need to explore the questions that students are asking while still being timely with the instruction. Having a balance of the three categories (behavioral, cognitive, and social emotional) will aid the class to contribute more substance to the content. Therefore, when it is time to go back to home base, there is a methodical way of doing so without wasting time transitioning.
In conclusion, remember these points about teaching to the margins in the classroom.
- Teaching to the margins does not teach to the test: having deeper understanding about a concept while not lecturing.
- It is necessary to teach those testing standards and leave the margins: there are times to leave the margins to go back to home base so that there is a foundation the next time you go to the margins.
- Margins can be a great way to promote deep learning and promote exploration: they generate questions and allow lightbulb moments to occur.
- Find the balance between these two tactics: there is a happy medium with the concepts as instruction should not be in margins or lecture, but a mix of both.
I believe that to me you have clearly put a lot of thought into your post and your examples of margin usage in activities. As someone who plans to be a physics teacher, they will undoubtably be helpful. In your 4 key points from the edutopia article you list being relatable to students as one of the main ways to build a positive environment and I was wondering how you would potentially boost your relatability to students in the classroom.
Great post Caleb! In the aerodynamics example, going into the margins sounded very involved, and possibly as a multi-day excursion. How might you facilitate going into the margins on a smaller scale, for example during a lecture or activity?
With physics, it can be difficult to into the margins as there is so much math involved, but I feel like there are plenty of labs that can be incorporated into an activity rather than a lab. Especially when doing classwork, like Gauss’s Law, where they just get so lecture heavy. Having an activity where the kids explore to find what it is and how to utilize it without giving them zero resources to learn the content.
I really value your three categories for engagement. How would you utilize behavioral, cognitive, and social-emotional engagement for a standard science lesson?
Behavioral is more just making sure the class is on task, and when they are not a simple push in the right direction will help the students.
Cognitive is reflection on the work and utilizing the correct resources to help them reach the right answer. It is also where you can evaluate what the student did with a classwork grade to view the quality of the assignment.
Social-emotional engagement can be used like listed above. Having a knowledge check or an in depth conversation about the content where then can lead into the margins if enough students are engaged.