The Power of Desirable Difficulties and Deeper Learning

In my previous post, I explored how history moves in cycles, and how those cycles directly impact K-12 education. According to Strauss and Howe’s generational theory, we are currently navigating a “Winter” season, which they describe as a period of crisis where institutions crumble and tribalism takes root. We see this “Winter” reflected in the global disruption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a pervasive sense of institutional decay. In this cycle of significant disruption, the “punch in; punch out” rhythms of the factory model are no longer a source of security in K-12 education; they are emblematic of a dying era.

At Mid-Pacific, we believe that navigating this era of disruption requires a fundamental shift in how we approach teaching and learning. To that end, we are intentionally moving away from the old standardized efficiency model, and moving toward cultivating world-ready learners through Deeper Learning.

The Architecture of Deeper Learning: Mastery, Creativity, and Identity

Deeper Learning is a method that transforms students from passive participants into engaged learners who become capable of thriving in multiple contexts. In their research, Jal Mehta (Harvard) and Sarah M. Fine (UC San Diego) argue that powerful education must integrate three core pillars: Mastery, Creativity, and Identity.

• Mastery builds on traditional academic standards, leading to a robust foundation of knowledge to solve real-world challenges.
• Creativity transforms the traditional view of “mistakes” into stepping stones, encouraging students to explore multiple approaches to complex problems.
• Identity provides students with a compass to discover their passions, ultimately leading to a life with purpose.

As Mehta and Fine noted in this 2019 Harvard EdCast, “Powerful learning experiences integrate seemingly opposing virtues: mastery, identity, and creativity.”

More importantly, Mehta alluded to the way Deeper Learning aligned with what Robert Bjork referred to as “desirable difficulties” when he said, “Powerful learning can happen in an hour, deep learning happens over time.”

What are “Desirable Difficulties”?

For generations, the factory model of education sought to make learning as efficient as possible because an “assembly line” across grades and subjects reflected the automated world of industrial efficiency. However, cognitive science tells us that lifelong learning actually requires challenging tasks that can be overcome over a period of time and after multiple attempts. This is the concept of “desirable difficulties,” a term coined by UCLA psychologist Robert Bjork.

Desirable difficulties are learning tasks that require effort, which may slow down apparent performance in the short term but significantly improve long-term retention and the ability to transfer knowledge to new situations. By introducing challenges like retrieval practice and interleaving, we can actively begin strengthening the cognitive depth and diversity required for lifelong learning.

As Bjork explained on his Learning and Forgetting Lab site:

“Conditions of learning that make performance improve rapidly often fail to support long-term retention and transfer, whereas conditions that create challenges and slow the rate of apparent learning often optimize long-term retention and transfer.”

In other words: Deeper Learning.

Deeper Learning: The Mid-Pacific Framework

As a core foundation of Aspirations 2035, Mid-Pacific is committed to developing and integrating Deeper Learning practices across campus. In order to align the synergistic components of Deeper Learning and “desirable difficulties,” we have already begun the instructional design process in conjunction with our partners at the Deeper Learning Institute (DLI) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Our Deeper Learning Teaching & Classroom Framework is built on a specific Theory of Action: When we hold the conviction that every student can actively embrace challenging work that reflects the real world within a culture of belonging, students will ultimately thrive with confidence, adaptability, and integrity.

This framework shifts the focus from what the teacher is doing to what the student is experiencing. It highlights three critical pillars:

1. Culture & Connection: We create a community of belonging in classrooms because brain science tells us that emotion drives attention, and that attention drives learning. By fostering trust and risk-taking, we create the safety necessary for students to lean into the difficulties of deeper learning.
    
2. Designing for Challenge: Using academic standards as a baseline, we design a series of lower stakes “productive struggles” in order to ensure that the difficulty of the academic work or long-term projects are also desirable.
    
3. Outcomes that Matter: We measure what we value. In particular, we value student learning and assessments that align with the traits, habits, and dispositions articulated in the Mid-Pacific Learner Profile.

Our Strategic Roadmap: Aspirations 2035

Through our Aspirations 2035 strategic plan, we are translating this vision into action, setting specific goals that decisively move us beyond the factory models that developed in the 19th and 20th centuries. For example, three important goals are:

• Student-Centered Schedule: A newly designed bell schedule that supports interdisciplinary learning and the “slow” time required for deep engagement will go into effect August 2026.
   
• Aligned PS-12 Program: Our long-term goal is to design and integrate consistent Deeper Learning objectives and assessments of desirable difficulties from preschool through graduation.
   
• Community Partnerships: In order to consistently open doors of opportunity for our students, we are actively cultivating internships and partnerships with businesses, nonprofits, and higher education partners locally and nationally.

As we navigate this “Winter” season, embracing the desirable difficulties of Deeper Learning allows us to cultivate world-ready learners equipped to usher in a new, much-anticipated “Spring”.