What if our standards for education included love, freedom, and joy?
Zusho et al. (2023) argued that educational standards should not only include rigor, and I agree.
Holding students to high standards is important, because I don’t want to unintentionally send the message to students that I think they can’t do great work. But, it’s not enough to have rigorous standards - you have to help students reach them. And helping students reach rigorous standards takes more than just stating expectations and great teaching. As Zusho and colleagues argue so well in this new paper, maintaining rigor also requires educational standards for love, freedom, and joy. All four of those standards mutually support one another, as Zusho et al describe. It’s a fantastic read that I highly recommend. And/or, if you’re so inclined, you can listen to the authors discuss this work on the latest episode of the American Psychological Association Division 15 podcast on Emerging Research in Educational Psychology, hosted by your truly: