What Can a GPS Teach Us about Learning & Leadership?
Have you ever had the experience where you use GPS to drive to a new destination, and once you arrive, you have no memory of how you got there?
As someone who loves thinking about learning and memory, this experience confuses and fascinates me. Why is it that we can’t remember something we just did? We physically drove the car from Point A to Point B, didn’t we? How is it possible that we don’t remember the steps we took to get there?
Part of the reason for this phenomenon is that we are using the “GPS’s brain”, or the navigation satellite technology used in the global positioning system, to figure out how to get where we’re going, rather than using our own brain. The GPS that is feeding directions to our Google Maps or Apple Maps app is doing the heavy lifting of figuring out roadways, traffic patterns, and tolls, while we just sit back and obey directions.
Obeying directions from someone else removes the need for us to critically think on our own. As a result, we don’t have to deeply process what it is we’re doing, and we don’t create strong memories from those experiences.
Alternatively, if you choose to turn off your GPS and navigate on your own, suddenly you need to recall your previous memories about roadways, think about which streets connect to others, and make a mental map in your head. You become cognitively engaged in every step of your journey, utilizing more of your mental resources and creating a stronger memory for the process of navigating from one place to another.
What does this look like in teaching?
When designing effective learning experiences, we are trying to make the learning as memorable as possible so students understand the concepts and find it meaningful. However when we feel pressed for time or have too much curricula to cover, we are often tempted to teach more like a GPS because it feels more efficient, reliable, and safer. We feel like we can “get it all in” if we tell students exactly what to do every step along the way. Yet the tradeoff with teaching like a GPS generally is that it is forgettable and unmotivating for our students.
How can we avoid the temptation to teach like a GPS when it feels more direct and efficient? Let’s keep going with this analogy of teaching a lesson like enabling someone to drive a car from Point A to Point B. As the teacher, it is your job to set the destination for “Point B”. You know where you want the students to end up in their learning, as different from where they are beginning. You may also have to teach them a bit about the “car they’re driving”, and the “rules of the road”, etc. so they understand the tools available to them on their journey toward the destination. But once they have enough information to “drive the car”, let them drive and navigate to the end of the journey! Hitting “dead ends” will provide natural feedback to them that they have to change direction in order to make it to their destination. When they feel in charge of decisions they make in their learning, even if it takes longer or they encounter more bumps, they will be more motivated and remember more of what they are learning.
What does this look like in leadership?
As leaders, when we feel pressure to produce outcomes, it’s natural to pass down that pressure and ask our staff to perform in prescribed ways that we think will lead to the outcomes that are expected of our team. Leading like a GPS, giving step by step guidance to competent and motivated staff, makes people feel micromanaged and even demeaned.
Educators spend years honing their craft to be excellent at what they do. Professionals at any level want to feel trusted to use their talent and skills to navigate toward an end goal.
So instead of prescribing the steps needed to get somewhere, consider putting more energy into clearly describing the “destination” of where you want your team to navigate. These might be data-driven academic outcomes, building culture among students and staff, social-emotional indicators, etc. Explain what success looks like from every angle you can think of, so your team knows the direction they are working toward and what evidence to look for so that they know they have reached the “destination”. Then provide the tools your team needs to navigate this journey, which could include time, curricular resources, relevant research, opportunities to collaborate with peers, taking responsibilities off their plate so they have more mental and physical capability to reach your destination.
Check in with staff to see if they feel equipped to begin the “trip”, and let them drive their car! Find mid-journey “pit-stop” opportunities to check-in about their work so far and discuss if they’re heading in the right direction, or maybe have gotten “lost”, and provide guidance that helps them navigate back toward the destination. Inquire about obstacles that may have “blocked roads” for them in navigating toward the destination, and find ways to help clear those barriers for them so they can continue smoothly. Celebrate their strengths in knowing how to “drive the car”, and continue to give them the direction for where it is they are “driving to”.
What could this look like in your personal life?
There is truth in the phrase “use it or lose it” when it comes to connectivity in our brains. The more we exercise and build our mental connections, the stronger our knowledge and skills become. So the next time you have the choice to have technology give you the answers, or come up with it on your own, consider the value of using your most valuable tool instead - your brain!
About the Author
Julia Skolnik is the CEO and Founder of Professional Learning Partnerships. With over 20 years of experience in the fields of education, neuroscience, and learning sciences, her passion to connect research and practice motivates her work daily. She creates the overarching vision for PLP, designs innovative and research-based professional learning programs that transforms both individual practice and educational systems, and cultivates long-term partnerships with leaders across our network.
