What students say about LiD

"I wish that every Wednesday would come really fast so that LiD day would come sooner. And that the days of the week would only slow down when I was having a really good time or on LiD day."

“I think LiD is very interesting because you are the only one that is doing a topic about something. In the class you are able to tell your classmates about your topic. The best thing about learning in depth is that you’re a professional at that topic.”

“Learning in Depth is definitely something I’m going to be doing for the rest of my life. It’s so exciting because you never know what you will learn. It’s always surprising.”

“My topic for LiD is sea life. I think Learning in Depth is fun and interesting. You draw pictures and learn facts. It teaches you a lot. Learning in Depth is my favorite subject.”

NEW

LiDKiT Ready!

“LiDKiT: Resources for Implementing the Learning in Depth Program.”
The LiDKiT has all the resources we provide for implementing Learning in Depth in a classroom or school. You can order it from Pacific Educational Press.

Check out the additions to:

● Teacher/School Resources pages, where we have added examples of the questions or interesting statements that can be given to students with their topics at the opening ceremony. Also some pictures of students with their portfolios—some in folders, some in boxes.

Now Available!

"This is a fascinating, provocative, utterly visionary and courageously speculative imagining of an educational future that is simultaneously elite and egalitarian, deeply intellectual yet utterly connected to passion and identity. A most audacious proposal from one of education's most audacious thinkers . . . an inspiring challenge to those who aspire to deep understanding for their students.”—Lee S. Shulman, President Emeritus, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

"The Learning in Depth project has brought to our students a completely new relationship to learning that has been surprising in its depth and quality. After seeing Learning in Depth at work in our school community, I know this has been a critical, missing element. It has proven to be everything we imagined (and much more we didn't) when we heard about Kieran Egan's remarkable vision.”—Sheri Dunton, K-3 Teacher, Corbett Charter School.

“Learning in Depth outlines a bold and stimulating curricular innovation designed to improve the quality of schooling from kindergarten through high school. The book’s key idea is certainly worthy of serious debate and continued experimentation. For that reason alone, I commend its suggestive proposal to the attention of thoughtful educators everywhere.”—Philip W. Jackson, David Lee Shillinglaw Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus University of Chicago.

For orders in the US and other countries: Click here.

For orders in Canada: Click here.

The Learning in Depth project

FAQ

Q. Won’t students become bored with the same topic for twelve years?

A. Boredom is a product of ignorance; generally, the more we know about something, the more interesting it becomes. An underlying principle of the LiD project is that “everything is wonderful, if only we know enough about it.”

Q. The random assignment of topics is absurd. Why not let students choose their topic?

A. Children’s interests at age five tend to change quite often. A particular topic may be stimulated by a recent movie and change in a week; even the dinosaurs so loved by typical five year olds commonly lose their appeal after a few years. There are a number of reasons to hold to the random assignment, though it isn’t some dogma for LiD.

Q. Wouldn’t this be too complicated to organize?

A. Certainly it will be a challenge. If we are more committed to an educational system than a schooling system, then we can make it work. It will cost something, of course. Even if each student meets a supervisor for only half an hour per month, that becomes a significant time requirement. But the cost will be tiny compared to educational budgets. Teacher-librarians, parents, and older students studying the same topic in depth can mitigate the costs.

Q. What is the research basis for this project?

A. Nearly all questions of educational importance are matters of value and meaning, and these are beyond the reach of the dominant forms of research methods we currently have available. What research basis is there for including Social Studies in the curriculum?

Q. Aren’t many of these topics developmentally inappropriate for the ages at which they are to begin?

A. We have always liked, and agreed with, Jerome Bruner’s argument that “any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to a child at any stage of development” (1966, p. 33).

Q. Will the “depth” knowledge transfer to other curriculum areas?

A. We suspect that it will transfer unstoppably. The kind of expert knowledge and layered understanding, and the skills developed in learning, that will be built up over the years cannot fail to affect how students deal with other subjects and topics in the curriculum. Remember, we have never had anyone—anyone—go through such a program. Our suspicion, and hope, is that it will transform students’ experience of schooling and our sense of what schooling can be.

Q. This project isn’t going anywhere without teacher buy-in—why do you imagine it will get it?

A. Administrators commonly respond that they think it would be a great addition to what the schools can offer, but, they say, teachers will never go for it. Teachers commonly respond that it is a great addition to what schools can offer and that they would love to be involved in ungraded exploration of topics with their students on an individual basis, if we can find the time –“This is exactly what I got into teaching for!” one teacher put it recently—but, they commonly conclude, administrators will never go for it. We think both groups will go for it when they understand it.