Rigour

As a principal, I’m on a journey. I am eager to learn how our school can continue to meet the academic, social, emotional, physical and spiritual needs of all our "21st century students".  

Let me openly declare that   I am not an expert in “21st Century Learning” (I am excited about this topic and I recently ordered the book 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times by Bernie Trilling).

As we engage in conversations around topics like personalized learning, 21st Century skills, learning for all,  etc – I am, at times, confronted with the concept of “academic rigour” as not being inclusive or supportive of the aforementioned.

I have heard comments and questions like:

“Can we personalize learning and still maintain academic rigor?”
 or 

“It seems that academic rigor no longer exists - no more Provincial Exams, assessment polices that “ban zero’s, etc.) 

These are questions and comments that need to be addressed. I certainly invite the dialogue. However before we go further, we need to have a firm handle of what we mean when we use the term “academic rigor”.

Given my own lack clarity around the idea of  “rigor” I decided to do some reading and reflecting  on the topic. Here is what has out stood for me: 

Rigour is not synonymous with More:

• content 
• worksheets 
• homework 
• lectures 
• tests
• high stakes exams 
• learning outcomes 

Rigour is not synonymous with Faster:

• Pacing 
• Lectures/Talking 
• Covering of curriculum

Rigour is not synonymous with Uniform: 

• Instruction 
• Delivery 
• Assessment 
• Classes (Honours Classes, AP Classes, etc.) 

I have come across a number of good working definitions of rigour for the 21st Century, including:

“Rigor is the goal of helping students develop the capacity to understand content that is complex, ambiguous, provocative, and personally or emotionally challenging.”

Teaching What Matters Most: Standards and Strategies for Raising Student Achievement 

R. W. Strong, Harvey F. Silver and Matthew J. Perini, 

ASCD, 2001. 

“…in a rigorous school, students not only learn, do, and reflect, they also master such twenty-first-century skills as critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, collaboration, project management, and written and oral communication”

 Bob Lenz

At this time, for me, rigour is about challenging and supporting students to be “deep thinking” (i.e. critical thinkers) and reflective learners in an environment that is passion driven, motivating, collaborative, accountable and maintains a climate of high expectations for individual learners.

It might be more constructive, when we talk about “rigor” in school, to consider that we are not talking about More, Faster, and Uniform! 

Still figuring it out...