" Authentic achievement involves the challenge of producing, rather than reproducing, " knowledge."
Fred M.Newmann,professor,
University of wisconsin

After reading this quote, you are probably asking yourself what you have achieved in your life or what authentic achievement really means to you. Well, this quote reminded me of my university teacher when she asked each of us to draw a sketch of a house. Unfortunately, almost all of us drew a triangle attached to a square below it. This proved her point of how our teachers limited our imagination and creativity by telling us how to do things rather than helping us discover and bring out our own unique ideas and creations.

Some people say " start from scratch ". Can one really produce something out of nothing without having acquired at least a bit of knowledge? Think about it. God gave babies the ability to suck and swallow. Without this capability, babies would die and probably not exist. Children are also born to be very curious and have the will to learn which motivates them to acquire and absorb information from their surroundings. As you can see, we did not start as an empty slate.

Now comes the challenge! How can we help our children develop their natural talents and bring out the uniqueness of each and every one of them?
We as teachers can start by cutting loose from the traditional spoon feeding and drilling of information and head towards teaching and developing the skills children need to produce new ideas and their own inventions that can benefit them and other people all around the world.

Here are some examples of what children do in our classrooms that show a glow of light shining upon authentic achievement. There came a time when toy tops were a hit. Most of the children had at least two tops in their hands which they played with during recess time. However, in the classroom, children had to keep them in their bags. During center time, some children were playing with interlocking blocks in the table toy center. Now guess what they did! Some highly motivated and determined students formed fully structured and well balanced tops with their interlocking blocks. There I could see four student made spinning tops in the middle of the classroom floor rotating in unison. I found it fascinating how the students have acquired the suitable structure of an actual top and integrated this knowledge into creating tops out of their own classroom resources.

Another example is when children learn something new in school and come back the next day with more information about what they have learned. When children were learning about various transportation systems, one of the means of transportation they learned about was the canoe. The next day, some children came forward with pictures of canoes from books and the internet showing how they are used to transport fruits and vegetables to the market across the river. The interesting and impressing part is that children learn to become independent inquirers and attain the skills to extract appropriate information from various sources.
Educators can aid in teaching children and guiding them through the roads of independence and direct them towards discovery learning. Upon following this approach of teaching and learning, we can optimistically look forward to a generation of students holding on to a future of new discoveries and innovations.

All in all, authentic achievement is not how much knowledge you have acquired but what you yourself can do with that knowledge that others have never done before. When you have the will, find your own way.

Citation of the quote:
Shalaway.L,Learning to Teach (not just for beginners). Scholastic Inc,.New York.

Maya Barbir