This post was sparked by an article that I read from Theatrefolk called "Encouraging Process over Product: The 90/10 Idea" by Kerry Hishon. You can click to read the full article if you like. The article specifically talks about rehearsing a theatre production vs the actual performance. In educational theatre, we spend 90% of our time in theatre rehearsing and only 10% performing. We are working with the performance in mind, but we need to keep in mind that the process that we take to get there is far more important to our students and their learning.
This analogy holds true to other areas of teaching, as well. We live in a culture where the product is so important! We need to find ways to show our students that the journey that we take to create that product is just as important as the product itself. This goes hand in hand with Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset ideas (see previous blog post) because she teaches that it is important to value your growth and constantly evaluate where you still have room to grow. If we only look at a product, we may miss a lot of our student's growth. We all know that a bad mood or a hot classroom can skew a standardized test score. It stands to reason that outside influences can change a teacher made test, quiz, project or essay as well.
So how to we work on emphasizing the process? First, we should talk about the process with our students in a vocabulary that suits their grade level. Make connections to previous learning and show how that knowledge can be used to help us with this new task. Make a connection to something in current events or everyday life. In theatre, we talk about practicing how you want to perform and performing the way we practiced. This means that every time we practice, we treat it like it's the "real thing" and when we perform, we do it the way we rehearsed. This can also be used in other classrooms. If students treat every assignment like it's the big product, teachers have a better idea of what they have mastered and where they still need help. If students get used to doing this, then when it is time to test, present, or perform, it can help their nerves to know that they have been through this before and they have the skills they need to succeed.
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