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Inventors embrace ambiguity and complexity by building theories, taking risks, and viewing setbacks as opportunities for learning.
It’s OK, we all make mistakes. The important part is fixing it.Lydia, age 4
Children will learn to embrace ambiguity and complexity when adults…
- invite children to create, revisit, and reinvent rules and problem-solving strategies
- ask children to reflect on experiences and learning processes individually and in groups
- model and encourage repairing mistakes and taking risks
- ask unanswerable questions so that children can practice theory-building and risk-taking with ideas
Teachers will learn to embrace ambiguity and complexity when they…
- have regular opportunities to reflect on setbacks and develop plans to move forward
- make public documentation that relates learning experiences to practices that inspire inventiveness
- use the principles of inspiring inventiveness to reflect on classroom experiences and to plan for more
- develop and share theories of learning based on experiences with children in the classroom
Related Tools
Letters of Intent
Use this tool to prepare yourself to guide a learning community in a year of big questions and significant and surprising connections.
Do-Over
Use this tool when the impact of children’s words or actions does not reflect their intentions.
Windows into Practice
Supporting Children to See Each Other as Resources
Kindergarten and first-grade children struggle to compose together a piece of writing for publication, and come to value each other’s contributions.
Classroom Video
Stuck Machine
When 1st- and 2nd-graders work to invent a machine that will help people when they get stuck, the class finds that it, too, gets stuck and reflects on the experience.
Presentation Video
This Practice is guided by Principles