Productive Struggle for All

Every student deserves challenging and thought-provoking work. Productive struggle helps students persevere in their learning even when easy answers fail to emerge. But in a digital age where information is at our fingertips, students' expectations about the ease with which their own minds should retrieve knowledge may contribute to a fear of failure.

In this issue, educators offer tips to orchestrate learning environments that challenge all students, whether it's a keen eye for differentiation or the trust to let students climb into the driver's seat. Learning to step back as a teacher can be, as Barbara R. Blackburn calls it, the "sweet spot" that allows students to own their expertise.

Features

The Struggle Is Real: How Difficult Work Strengthens Student Achievement

Matt Johnson

When students have the knowledge to overcome mental hurdles, they will learn and grow in more meaningful ways, writes Matt Johnson. Teachers can use mistakes and failures as a feedback loop to improve students' thinking over time.

You Do, We Do, I Do: A Strategy for Productive Struggle

Katie J. Waddell

Set the stage for learning where students, not teachers, drive effort and exploration. Learn how to flip the traditional gradual release model to start with "you do" rather than a teacher-centered "I do."

Productive Struggle Is a Learner's Sweet Spot

Barbara R. Blackburn

Meaningful challenge requires more than simply giving students "hard work" and leaving them alone. Teachers must create, facilitate, and monitor the process and expectations, especially as students learn how to struggle in productive ways.

Goals Worth Struggling For

William G. McCallum and Kristin Gray

Struggle is productive when it is related to the goal of the activity. Use these five reflection steps to create a clear plan that supports self-directed learning.

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