Powerful learning experiences have much in common. They are highly challenging for learners, even at the risk of failing. They allow learners to explore and build upon their own, nascent ideas and knowledge. Powerful learning is an expedition, a journey conducted for a definite purpose by individuals employing a range of skills and talents. A team of Red Cross doctors and nurses aiding in a disaster relief effort, an oceanographer charting undersea mountains, or a group of Peace Corps volunteers teaching in a village are all involved in physical expeditions that demand qualities and skills of intellect and character.
Teachers guide students on expeditions of learning.
If first-grade students bring in a toad on the first day of class, for example, a teacher sees an opportunity for a new expedition. Second, the teacher also understands that children can raise the right question for themselves if the instruction stimulates multiple learning possibilities. Once the right question is raised, students are moved to tax themselves to the fullest to find answers. Noticing how observant and curious her students are about the live toad, the first-grade teacher encourages each one of them to generate questions about all the things they want to know about toads. With the questions placed all around the room as sign posts, the children set out on their investigations.