support for the notion that human
beings are motivated by autonomy,
mastery, and purpose. Pink shows
how these forces drive both indi
viduals and companies to high levels
of achievement—how, for example,
Google’s practice of “ 20 percent time,”
which gives employees the equivalent
of one day each week to spend on
projects of their choice, has led to some
of Google’s most successful products. If
they choose and control their projects,
and are driven by a sense of purpose,
people will, Pink asserts, dedicate tre
mendous time and effort to mastering a
task.
What’s true in the real world is,
of course, also true in the classroom.
When offered degrees of autonomy,
mastery, and purpose, students will
engage more fully with their learning.
Yet let’s be truthful: All too frequently,
we ask students to learn without
autonomy, without opportunity for
mastery, and without purpose. So how
can we use these forces to create more
meaningful learning experiences for our
students?
Four years ago, I attended a lecture
by Peter Senge, a major figure in orga
nizational thinking and the developer of
the notion of the learning organization.
1
Senge challenged an audience of edu
cators to think about how we could shift
from a 20th century industrial model of
education to a 21st century model that
engages students with solving world
problems.
Senge’s challenge encouraged me to
think about how I could make such a
shift in teaching English. Before then,
I had thought little about problem
solving in the English classroom, and I
wasn’t very involved in conversations
about 21st century skills or multi
disciplinary learning. Senge helped me
become a 21st century teacher—that is,
a teacher of 21st century learners in a
21st century world in which powerful
new technologies support collaboration,
provide a venue where students have
a voice, and enable increased access to
information.
In the Tenafly High School library media center, students and teachers make
final preparations for their inquiry and action fair.
Setting the Stage
for Inquiry and Action
I set the stage for this work by exposing
students to 21st century thinkers, such
as Thomas Friedman (author of The
World Is Flat) and Daniel Pink; to the
big ideas of the likes of Albert Einstein,
Thomas Edison, Maxine Greene, and
Margaret Mead; and to theories of
intelligence and of self from such well
known thinkers as Howard Gardner,
Carl Jung, and Sigmund Freud. We
also view inspirational TED talks (www
. ted.com), which feature experts from
a wide range of disciplines sharing
groundbreaking ideas and research.
This year, my advanced placement
(AP) literature and composition stu
dents added another important element
to this foundational work to spur on
their sense of agency: They read Tracy
Kidder’s creative nonfiction book,
Mountains Beyond Mountains, which
focuses on humanitarian Dr. Paul
Farmer and his health care work in
Haiti. The students read the book soon
after Haiti’s January 2010 earthquake.
In Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder
beautifully paints a portrait of how one
human being can contribute to solving
problems in the world. Such a book can
be a powerful springboard into student
inquiry and action.
