Consequential Learning: A Public Approach to Better Schools

In Consequential Learning, Jack Shelton speaks out about the disconnect between school systems and the communities around them. Today's students enter their classrooms from a variety of backgrounds and communities, but their classroom education has relevance only inside school walls. Teachers can no longer view their students' lives as beginning and ending with the school day. Shelton's concept of Consequential Learning recognizes that student's learning takes place both in the classroom and in the community, and therefore suggests the development of pedagogies with ties to both students' educations and the formation of their personal characters. By encouraging students to use classroom lessons to the benefit of their communities, the students learn critical thinking and judgement. Students become self-aware learners, a core value of Consequential Learning, developed by Shelton through work with the students, teachers, and community members of Alabama's schools and colleges, as well as communities nation- and world-wide. The book places emphasis on schools creating student work that is relevant to their communities, so as to encourage community involvement in schools. Shelton offers examples of consequential learning, as well as implementable strategies, demonstrating throughout how students gain civic as well as academic growth, becoming more fully able to join society as contributing, informed citizens.