School of Rock: PBL In Pop Culture

With a Tomatometer score of 92%, obviously School of Rock was well received by critics back in 2003, but was it more than just a hilarious and entertaining popcorn flick? Jack Black is well known for his off-the-wall physical comedy and in School of Rock he thoroughly delivered his trademark brand. Indeed, who could ever take this movie seriously? Surprisingly, underneath all of the silliness, School of Rock is actually a pretty good glimpse of problem based learning (PBL) in action. I recently revisited this movie and looked for examples of constructivist pedagogy and PBL. Not only did I find those, I also found a whole host of good teaching strategies. Perhaps the most puzzling thing about all of this is that Jack Black's character, Dewey Finn, isn't a real teacher. He has no training at all. In fact, he's pretty much a failure at everything. He can barely manage his own life, and when he ends up in the classroom he just makes things up as he goes. So, how can anyone seriously learn anything about teaching from Dewey? Before that though, a brief overview of PBL.

PBL is a constructivist teaching method where students collaborate in an effort to solve a problem. Learning is achieved through the experience of problem solving. Students often start off with what they already know about a given problem, then they find out what they need to know in order to solve it. They then do any necessary research and finally they attempt to solve the problem. The teacher acts mostly as a facilitator or guide to this student centred process. 

In School of Rock, the problem Dewey presented his class was: to prepare a song for a state-wide rock and roll competition and keep it a secret from the rest of the school and parents. He quickly found out that the students didn't know a lot about rock and roll, but he learned that they did have some training in classical music. Next, they brainstormed what will be needed in order to both create a rock performance, but also, keep it a secret. Students began to take on various specialty positions based on their own interests and knowledge. For example, the band needed musicians and singers, but they also needed security personnel, stylists, and choreographers. They needed technology specialists to set up lighting, smoke machines, amplifiers, and to oversee the logistics of transporting all the equipment. They also needed someone to create posters, graphics, and merchandise. Dewey even assigned a committee to come up with the band name, and picked one student to be the band manager. While Dewey was only doing this for his own selfish reasons and his use of PBL was completely unintentional, it is still a remarkable example. 

Dewey then set up a curriculum including rock history, rock appreciation, and rock theory. In his estimation, these were things the students were not well versed in, and would be required to create a truly effective performance. To deliver his lessons he used a mixture of lecture and hands on methods. He used video presentations and even arranged a field trip. All of these techniques are not only part of PBL but also just good teaching practices. 

Dewey's approach was constructivist in nature and extremely student-centred. If students weren't happy with their assigned duties they were given a chance to change. One girl was initially designated as a "groupie" but she wanted to sing. So, Dewey let her try out for the position and decided to give her a chance. Instead of just dictating which song would be played, he encouraged students to write their own song. He asked them what made them mad, in this case it was bullies, and he used that as the theme for the song they would then write. Ultimately, he employed a democratic process to decide which of the songs would be used at the competition. 

During class exercises Dewey used formative assessments and gave feedback via learning cues. For example, the students were talented musicians but lacked a stage presence. So, Dewey told one boy he was too "robotronic" that he needed to loosen up. Another student was playing a bit sloppily and Dewey asked him to tighten up a bit. He then demonstrated the rock and roll "power stance" to give the lead guitarist the appearance of a rock and roll attitude. Dewey also embedded structure and routine when necessary. The class security officers had surveillance cameras set up and whenever the principal was nearby, the class had a strict routine for hiding their rock and roll project from her.

In terms of motivation, Dewey managed to engage the students through their own intrinsic drive. Right off the bat he stated there would be: "no grades, gold stars, or demerits in this class." Later, the band manager got them out of a jam and Dewey praised her accomplishment. She responded saying, "I didn't do it for the grade." Researchers and educators are still exploring the potential benefits of a "no grades" approach to education, and here, School of Rock was advocating it back in 2003. 

Watching School of Rock again, in the context of PBL was very interesting. It just shows that sometimes true learning occurs under the most bizarre circumstances. Just like the students in School of Rock, I too, learned a lot from the most unlikeliest of sources.