Response to Kellie's Elaboration

Hi Kellie--and Everyone!, 

    Thank you for spending the time to write more about your ideas, Kellie.  I think your experiences with your son and with your FIRST teams informs us greatly about how project-based learning engages the learner in so many positive ways. Your mention of the school systems of Germany and France reminds me of an article about Finland that Rachel brought to us in EDE 504.  Finland is said to have one of the best public education systems.  We are wise to look around.  
    When you mention that PBL could be organized around "big ideas" it reminds me of my undergrad when much of the focus in our training was on thematic units, cooperative learning, service learning, differentiated learning, and humanity-based.  My undergraduate school of ed had all of the "right ideas" and "best practices" and I was able to freely use a lot of it in practice for many years. Things changed, and now it's as if we as teachers in individual classrooms are expected to "put on" or "inject" education into our students, like we would put a coat on them or shoot medicine into them.  We know this is impossible without the learner's intrinsic motivation.  Even if we could "inject" them or "put a coat on them" everyone is unique! They are not car parts on a factory line.  I can see why there are researchers and educators investing time in game-based learning.  It seems like a logical means to individual student motivation, especially through the use of technology.
I also spoke with Eric from France and found his perspective very interesting.  I am glad you had a chance to converse with him, too.  
    It takes enormous effort and determination for classroom teachers to keep the creativity in their teaching and learning--and I am sad that it can't be as joyful as it once was.  Many teachers I know keep fighting to make their work creative despite the intense pressure to conform to a cookie-cutter regiment, and where most of the required professional development time is spent teaming to "align curriculum." Many do service learning within their curricula, paying with their own money to support project-based learning within their classrooms--and in many cases by creating clubs that are solely volunteered time in efforts to give students learning beyond walls.   Many of us are not supported by our districts as we try to do these types of environments for our students.  Yet we persist.  I am in awe of these heroic efforts by teachers.  
    I appreciate, too, being back in grad school, especially at UM, where we are immersed in activity that encourages and supports the creative development of pedagogy. I think ideals like game-based, collaborative, crowd-sourced, and place-based learning are great ways to engage intrinsic motivation.  In a perfect world every individual could have public education this way.  
    Your idea of area schools working together (Ann Arbor example) is a good one, and I think districts are doing this to some degree.  In our district, which serves a large rural area and where our students are deemed an "underserved population" our high school has been a hub for several surrounding districts for many years.  We have a college (Montcalm Community College) and a vocational school (Heartlands Institute) attached to our high school.  Students are bussed in from five other districts, and have been, for at least 20 years.  Though we have had this type of education available for students in our area for a long time, we still do not have the same rich opportunities "down the street" from us like urban places--and money just keeps getting tighter--so there have been drastic cuts everywhere. 
   For example: if I want to take my students to the art museum I have to pay for it myself, or raise money to take them AND pay for my own sub AND district transportation--or private transportation-- in order for this to happen.  The closest art museum is 45 miles from us.  I have taken students there under these conditions, but it ends up costing me money each time.  The larger cities/affiliated museums will often provide financial support, but it's limited to schools in their cities.  They do not grant travel money or fees to students and teachers outside of their cities.  I can understand.  Still, trying to give my students education beyond our walls is a major task due to lack of support by the district.  I can write grants from places like the MCACA for trips like these, but the amount of work it takes to manage a grant application and facilitation is more than I have room for in my overwhelming job--not to mention that with constant cuts and shuffling of teachers we never know where we may end up in the next year, and grants have to be written far in advance of the activity.  I teach so many classes and so many levels that it's a tremendous challenge just to stay on top of the paperwork and documentation I have to do in order to comply with our district's expectations.  I'm not making an excuse.  This is my reality.
I am frustrated by the monied and legally powerful forces that say they want creativity and innovation at the top of educational outcomes in the US, and at the same time they chain (short chain) teachers and students to false measures of achievement.  Why, if we all know that everyone is not the same, and we all know that creative learning is the best, do we crush and flatten everything so it stores more neatly, like they do in scrap heaps?
Thank you again, Kellie, for elaborating.  I appreciate hearing more about your thoughts and the opportunity to interact some more... ~Danna