The Seven C's of Learning Breadth and Depth Matrix
If you dropped an anchor and dove to the bottom of the sea, would you be able to say that you understood the ocean?
How about if you sailed across all the oceans of the world but only stayed on the surface; would you be able to say you understood the ocean?
In each of these instances, something is missing. If we go deep but not wide, we have no breadth of understanding. And if we go wide but not deep, we have no depth of understanding.
More than a sailboat, we need submersibles to understand the ocean. We need to be able to cross multiple axes. We need to be able to work together and hear what our peers are learning.
What The Seven C’s of Learning framework does better than other pedagogical approaches is that it recognizes the importance of depth and breadth in the learning process. It clearly and concisely breaks down the essential building blocks of an education that is wide and deep and makes different types of learning activities accessible to all subjects, all grades, and all levels.
For many teachers, presenting students with the content and then assessing their understanding of this content via quizzes and tests constitutes their primary approach to the curriculum. Indeed, this has been the educational norm for decades. But how can we go wider? Deeper? Perhaps an activity researching and role playing the author to develop some understanding of context? Maybe a homework assignment asking the students to interview their family members or post a poll on social media and build connections? How about a creative summative project that invites students to reflect on their learning through a podcast, a video, a graphic novel, etc.?
For years, this breadth and depth matrix (displayed below) has been helping teachers to rethink how learning is occurring in their classrooms. It specifically shows them how to address areas that are lacking by adding variety or going deeper. Conveniently designed to show three levels of complexity, teachers utilizing this matrix can easily add activities and assessments that will engage, challenge, and inspire their students in diverse ways.
During our PD workshops, these activities are introduced with greater detail through sample assignments, student exemplars, and editable Google Docs. To learn more about how our innovative Seven C’s framework can broaden and deepen the learning happening at your school, reach out here.