Making Learning Whole

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Using his memories and love of playing baseball as a kid, David Perkins, co-director of Harvard's Project Zero, describes how teaching all subjects at all levels can be made more effective through teaching the "whole game." Perkins presents the 7 principles of teaching the whole game. Here are the main ideas of the book:

1. "Play the Whole Game" explains how complete treatments of even more complex subjects can be presented in junior versions.
2. "Make the Game Worth Playing" understanding the whole game makes the game worth playing because students get the point of why they need to know what they're learning.
3. "Work on the Hard Parts" shows how teaching the whole game reveals gaps in knowledge that can then be addressed and focused on.
   
4. "Play Out of Town" challenges learners by taking them out of their comfort zones in a subject. Train them to be able to transfer their learning to related subjects.
5. "Find the Hidden Game" goes beyond the obvious to teach the rules, tricks, and strategies that are often hidden to students, but essential in the real world.
6. "Learn from the Team" encourages students to communicate and work with one another to improve learning, even in areas where collaboration is does not come naturally.
7. "Learn the Game of Learning" makes sure students are taught and given practice in how to learn. Help them become self-managed learners who will continue to learn even when you the teacher are gone.
   

The principles are universals of learning, applicable to any age from kindergarten through college.