The PBL Movement!

From our collective experiences of teaching in primary and secondary schools,  teaching through projects (project-based learning -PBL) provides students with a dynamic way of engaging with the world and the materials around them as opposed to a 45 mins lecture where the teach talks to the students, and them provides a task or home home. PBL unlike traditional forms of teaching also fosters critical thinking in children and helps them build confidence in self-driven inquiry, as well as their capacity to collaborate with others to tackle and solve real-world problems. Through hands-on projects, learners can connect theory to practice in a meaningful way, enhancing their retention and understanding capacity of curricular content and how it applies to the real world. This approach not only ignites curiosity but also prepares students for future challenges and teaches them how to work independently or in groups to, design, execute, and manage projects, with the ability to embrace and address failures and challenges effectively.

However, despite these benefits with research evidence of its impact, each time we deliver a session on PBL to encourage schools to adopt it, we get these recurring concerns and scepticism about its validity as a pedagogical approach in the form of questions or justifications why PBL isn’t a possible and safe option in our schools today.

The first is time Management- teachers fear they do not have enough time to teach through projects. They also do not feel comfortable that the allocated time is sufficient to cover the lesson, syllabus, or curriculum, through a project-based approach.  To their defence, time would always be a critical resource- one that is never sufficient. However, this concern also reveal a deep misconception and misuse of instructional time- time to teach, time to engage and time to guide and observe authentic learning. Good mastery of time management and the application of a student-centered pedagogical approach can be rewarding. Teachers can use very clear structural and creative approaches in designing their projects and lessons, that are engaging to incorporate short-term (daily) and long-term tasks that fit within the standard schedule of the school while also covering the curricular content and objectives for the day/week/months or terms.

This brings us to the second most cited concern- coverage or completion of the curriculum or syllabus. Apparently, some teachers hold an underlying assumption that PBL wouldn't deliver on the requirements of the system- the grades particularly, which appears to be the only gateway for success in educational systems. This resistance always shows up when teachers only see teaching and learning as a linear activity that requires them to lecture, dictate notes, and occasionally ask questions that are on the script. Yet, the requirements for survival and the ability to thrive in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) demand a holistic approach. To make matters worse, the world doesn't offer us challenges that are scripted or predictable. 

Most importantly, the absence of the appropriate knowledge and capacity to develop and align project ideas that reflect and absorb the curricular objectives and goals sits as one of the main factors suffocating any attempt of the teacher to be creative and to trust that students have the ability to explore, experiment, communicate and work with others to solve problem we see today. Yet, through play, this is what children do unconsciously. With diligent planning, teachers can design projects carefully that assimilates the curricular content using curriculum maps.

Curriculum maps can help teachers visualise how projects capture and fit into specific learning objectives that align with the learning experience and desired student outcomes, providing scope for depth of knowledge, immersive learning and skill acquisition. This is also a good way to capture the relevance and responsiveness of the curriculum to the local needs. To achieve this, teachers will need to possess a willingness to adopt PBL and a sound mastery of their subject content, with pedagogical fluency to effectively map what is taught, how it is taught and how learning is assessed. Using mini-projects, and a wide range of tools, teachers can promote students' agency through inquiry-based learning techniques that make learning engaging, manageable, and practical while covering curricular content. Our Excel model encourages these different frames of pedagogy that can be delivered through projects pushing students to explore, experiment, conceptualise, evaluate and reflect.

Thirdly, the absence of support and limited resources, is usually the next card to defend inaction. True, projects require some additional planning and resources that are usually off the annual budget of the teacher or school. In some cases, even well-intentioned projects can add additional stress to the already strained financial resources available.  Schools in resource-constrained settings, particularly in rural settings, would struggle to pull this off. Yet, if we are to play the devil's advocate, this is just an invitation for innovation.  But how can we innovate when schools actually frown at innovations and ensure everything is controlled to the letters for conformity, compliance and easy measurements.

To the absence of resources, we see no reason why teachers can't use everyday local materials or recycled materials to foster creativity and resourcefulness in children through PBL lessons. Additionally,  teachers or schools can form engaging cross-partnerships with the community (social enterprises, other institutions, and businesses) to gain access to some of the materials needed for projects, also enhancing the real-world connection of projects.

We think and believe PBL offers both teachers and students the opportunity to gain the skills that matter and are needed for today's world, and appreciate school authorities, administrators and teacher pushing through with this agenda and making the leap.

While change is not always easy and linear in nature, we are committed to supporting schools making this leap and would continue to address common concerns to empower teachers who seek to create a more authentic and enriching learning environment.

If you are wondering how you can successfully adopt this in your class or school with clear learning goals and objectives that align with the national curriculum and confidently navigate the constraints of time, systemic bottlenecks and limited resources, make sure you crap a copy of our manual once its release!