2. Chekhov's smoking gun

Photo from Pxhere

Anton Chekhov didn't muck about. He was a serious writer who never wasted his words. He expected the same from every other writer.

He couldn't stand waste. So when he read something that he didn't think had a place in a storyline, he called it out. Chekhov once wrote to a friend: ".... never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn't going to go off. It's wrong to make promises you don't mean to keep." 

There you go. If it's there, you should use it. It's no good introducing a green-faced wombat into auntie's lounge, if it's not going to vomit all over her carpet. Red herrings are not welcome - they are simply false promises to the reader and audience, and should be removed from the net before the catch is landed. Shaggy dog stories don't cut it either, because rambling narratives just take up space. In fact, don't use any animals that double as metaphors. Anton Chekhov hated false promises, so I bet he'd froth at the mouth at the current political shenanigans.

And he'd probably be spitting lead at the wasted resources we see in education. He would insist on parsimony, because Chekhov's gun is all about minimising redundancy.

So just how can parsimony be applied in education? Think of it this way: Just as every element in a story must be essential, so everything that happens in the classroom should be necessary. What is present, but shouldn't be because it never gets used? Or, what is there but gets overlooked in favour of something less effective? Don't get me started, because we'll be here all day. I'll restrict myself to just three things:

Firstly, get rid of testing. There are a shedload of better ways to measure student progress without putting the little chaps through purgatory. See for example, my post on assessment without torture. Many teachers would also be thankful if they weren't forced to mark so many exercise books.

Secondly, we should only use technology in the classroom if it adds something to learning. If it can extend, enrich or enhance learning, or if it engages students more, then use it. If not, ditch it and try something else. Seriously.

Thirdly, don't just use the classroom. Use the entire school. Better still, get out and about, use the whole world. Leave the school and take the children on a field trip if you can. Call on your entire community to support learning. Bring people in from outside to talk about their lives, their history, their culture. If you have it, or can gain access, use it.

Previous post in this series:
1. Pavlov's drooling dog

Next time: 3. Occam's bloody razor


Chekhov's smoking gun by Steve Wheeler was written in Plymouth, England and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Posted by Steve Wheeler from Learning with e's