My most recent subscription of Education Week talks about depth and breath......it appears that they were talking about two different things.....are they? When we discuss depth and breath in terms of insruction---are they different? I put this out there b/c I want to read the thoughts of those patient souls who take the time to check my blog....and to keep me inspired to continue blogging.....
So what do you think? Depth and breath...one in the same or different?
Uncertainty
14 years ago
Posts
For me they’re different. I think breadth focuses more on hitting all the objectives and getting a general overview of the lessons vs. depth which concentrates more on deep learning. I personally think it is important to cover a lot of topics, especially when you want to lay out the foundation (especially in elementary) but if we really want our students to understand how all these lessons fit together, teachers should spend more time building on specific skills and knowledge. As the saying goes, quality over quantity.
ReplyDeleteThey are definitely different. Breadth is the vast number of topics that are covered. Depth takes us beyond the surface knowledge to the real meat and meaning behind the topics. Most experts say that depth is most important, and I agree. While breadth may work in some instances, there are other topics that require deeper digging for real understanding. Teaching things in depth requires a different and more challenging approach to instruction, but depth (if done correctly) engages, motivates, and promotes learning.
ReplyDeletei guess you wouldn't always want to sacrifice one for the other, there certainly needs to be the presence of both in any educational setting. a mile deep and an inch wide isn't a whole lot worse than an inch deep and a mile wide. moderation in all things.
ReplyDeleteBreadth is typically done well because it's at the lowest level of the structure of knowledge. Depth may be problematic since it requires thinking and struggling to learn.
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