CBCI for the Thinking Classroom

Selling CBCI & CBCI Influence

• CBCI pushes for ownership of one’s own thoughts.

            It’s important to note that intellect as well as the presence of imagination don’t ignite when teaching is being done to you but rather with you. As educators, we are to advocate for our student’s understanding of concepts and materials to be more in-depth so that the big ideas, as well as the critical thinking component behind those ideas, are being cultivated by the students themselves. We are to challenge our student’s thinking by “teaching inductively” and setting the stage so that our kids can make meaning on their own based upon their interpretations and experiences of life (Erickson et al. 44). Teachers should not be the end all be all for students. We cannot perpetuate the idea that teachers must think for their students and that the learning stops once the speaking or delivering of lessons ends. The idea of CBCI is to keep our children guessing and to keep them curious so that they have the motivation and the why to want to make critical sense of the knowledge they are gaining. Even if what we do teach is 100% in its validity, we can’t halt one’s learning by being satisfied that the students know information just because it was told to them. However, the influence of knowledge and the sources that lend to these educational understandings, our kids have, must be self-discovered so that students now have something to show for what they learned as well as what they know to be true.

• CBCI is three-dimensional.

CBCI does not advocate for material that lacks substance. Lessons embedded with CBCI practices and strategies have an end goal in mind that is going to allow students to showcase their knowledge in comprehensive yet creative ways. Teaching within CBCI means that the work has intention, not only providing students the opportunity to know and understand information but to also have the chance to utilize it in their future educational or personal careers. CBCI designs are applicable to educational matters but also the matters of life as text-to-world and text-to-self connections are being made. The three-dimensional aspect of this curriculum includes “knowing the facts, understanding the concepts, and executing the skill” accompanied by the learning process which shows that designs within CBCI should never have kids leaving the classroom with hollow brains (Erickson et al.7). CBCI helps to eliminate the questions, “Why is this important?” and “When will we ever use this?” because it guarantees information that is relevant to what our students believe matters. Because the objectives of CBCI are not surface level, our students will be more readily prepared to execute diverse abilities such as problem solving, research, and critical thinking.

• CBCI encourages the permanency of understanding.

CBCI isn’t a “just to get by” kind of curriculum. It doesn’t believe that learning comes solely by way of memorization but through an actual intake and understanding of knowledge that resides permanently in the minds of students. Because the idea of education is ever changing, our students need curriculums that show them learning will always be a continuous process. They also need to know how subject matters intersect, in the real world, utilizing skills from science, math, and even literacy to approach complex problems which CBCI does well through “the transfer of learning and interplay or lower- and higher-order thinking” (Erickson et al. 17). Because content within CBCI pushes for active engagement, mobility, and multimodal platforms/resources, the capabilities of understanding and retaining the information is more heightened than it would be when learning from traditional curricula.

Unit Plan

• For my unit plan, I want to teach the concept of understanding “Identity”. Working with kids from middle to high school, much of who they are has probably been determined for them leaving them unsure of who they would define themselves to be or even who they desire to be. Our students go through pivotal times of identity crisis, questioning of self-worth, and self-esteem issues that if unacknowledged or unattended can lead them astray. Knowing what my students struggle with/through most, at this age, and doing work that brings awareness to that will make them feel seen and heard which are two of my greatest values in the classroom. I am using the text, “The House on Mango Street”, to convey what understanding Identity means and how to navigate it through the aspects of family, relationships, and other communities. I plan to do a lot of supplemental work such as journal entries, poetry, and Identity charts that revolve around self-reflection and the utilization of student voice so that who the students are is on display.
• Challenges
  • Eliminating a lot of written-based work and using a variety of technological resources in addition to pen and paper
  • Students being shy, resistant, or afraid to open up about who/how they identify
  • Honesty, vulnerability, and transparency from the students in a way that will be impactful for other students as well
  • Having activities that aren’t sad and somber but that make the students excited about learning

TCE Threshold Concepts

• “The curriculum is more than standards, textbooks, and courses of study.”

            CBCI fosters a meaningful curriculum that extends beyond just using standards as goals, reading from literary professionals, and learning in which cases you use “your” versus “you’re”. CBCI was created with inclusiveness of all learning types, people, subject matters, and skill sets. CBCI is more invested in students and teachers understanding why they are learning what they’re learning as well as teaching what is being taught so that both parties have a substantial relationship between themselves and the material. If what you’re teaching doesn’t have purpose nor do you see the need in learning what you are, you then separate yourself from the potential of connecting with your work to then make meaning and sense of the knowledge further in a way that resonates with you. Imagine being in school and having the capability to not only comprehend facts and concepts but to simultaneously perceive the world around you too. CBCI makes certain that the knowledge you gain isn’t only beneficial for the classroom environment but that you can take what you’ve learned out and apply that scholarship into problems/situations within your jobs, homes, and other communities you’re a part of. In my school community, especially, my students don’t see the need to invest in their learning unless they’re convinced, they will reap a benefit. As challenging as it may seem, this motivates me not to view my kids as students but as humans, first, and teach material that is tangible while making it possible for them to understand how their realities and education intersect.

• “Both teachers and students have empowerment/agency.”

I believe it’s more commonly understood that teachers hold a lot of power and agency in the classroom; but it’s not as common that students and teachers hold these assets equally. Traditional educational environments make students have a heavy dependency on educators and that the extent of what they know is all of what the teacher says, does, or shows. How often do we see students advocating for their own learning? Is it even encouraged? CBCI engages and motivates our students to become thinkers therefore mandating that, yes, a percentage of the work comes from the teacher but the act of transforming that thinking to be more in-depth and putting the brain at work is the responsibility of the student. As a student, I desired to have the opportunity to think for myself. I wanted to ultimately define what education meant to me and have the freedom to be creative and critical stemming from within my experiences as a person of color. Granted, the demographic of my school reflected the lack of diversity in the surrounding community, but there was still rarely ever a time where I was able to see myself in my work. Had I had the chance to correlate what I learned with what I knew the world around me to be, I would have been more engaged in lessons and courses of study. We often neglect the strengths of the bodies sitting right in our rooms and rob them of the opportunity to provide perspective based on their perceptions of knowledge. Because CBCI is proactive and considers the students and teachers to be at more of an equilibrium, it will prompt our students to voluntarily take their learning a step further.

Links to Blogs

Identity-Based: https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2021/05/27/creating-space-to-explore-identity-with-students/

CBCI in the Classroom: https://www.thinkconceptually.com/blog/exploring-cbci-in-the-classroom

Links to Social Media

Twitter: https://x.com/jsimonee023/status/1708198415476093190?s=20

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