Beliefs shape reality.  If we are going to replace the Curriculum Transfer Model with the Student Agency Model, we must first challenge the unexamined beliefs that are the foundation for the old way of doing things.  We must replace them with new principles that will become the basis of the classrooms we want to have. At the end of this — and every — chapter, there will be a list of such tenets.

The purpose of school is to prepare students to lead satisfying, engaged, and productive lives.

Transforming schools begins with aligning everything we and our students do in the classroom with this central purpose. It must replace the Curriculum Transfer Model of education.

Who students become in school is as important as what they know.

To prepare them to live life well means to cultivate character traits that will serve them throughout their lives.

Genuine learning is the intellectual and personal growth that prepares students for living life well.

It is more than successfully mastering the curriculum. It is also how a student becomes a responsible, effective learner.

The Prime Directive of education:  Genuine learning is the ground on which all classroom decisions, large and small, must rest.

This rule, which guides everything described in this book, is similar to the Golden Rule in several ways;  it looks simple, possibly even simplistic; it is very difficult to hold true to it in the onslaught of real life in the classroom; and it could not be more important.

A student’s intrinsic motivation to learn must be consistently reinforced.

The use of carrots and sticks to externally motivate students is deeply counterproductive; it stifles creativity and independence. The use of grades must therefore be redefined to avoid their warping student motivation.

Doing school is a compelling but hollow simulation of genuine learning.

A student can do all her work, do well on tests, and get excellent grades, and still retain little of what she has “learned”. Doing school — gaming the system to accumulate points — looks just like learning, but is ultimately a meaningless activity.

Replacing a student’s bad habits of doing school with genuine learning is of the highest importance.

This transition requires unlearning years of training in superficial, meaningless behaviors. Successful students will be particularly resistant to giving up something they know how to do and have been rewarded for in the past.

The curriculum is the language being spoken while students grow.

As important as any curriculum may be, it is essential for teachers to always remember the true purpose of school: the personal and intellectual growth of every student. All aspects of self-directed learning serve that purpose. When a classroom culture based on that priority is well established, students are more apt to learn the curriculum, not less.  

School should not be in the business of sorting students into successes and failures.

It does untold damage to both successful and unsuccessful students. The bell curve is immoral, and it must be dismantled at every opportunity.