THE AUTHENTIC TASK

THERESA JOY M. MENDOZA

Any learning context that is not completely authentic is fraudulent. The truth is that lessons and units are neither completely authentic nor divorced from reality. The concept is relative. The more important point is that finding the small and most obvious ways to make learning more authentic is an excellent place to start. As educators gain experience mastering these skills with simple applications, it becomes easier to implement sophisticated authentic tasks. Many of us mistakenly believe that authentic learning is a completely new concept and that teachers must master the process— or get their license, so to speak— to use it in the classroom. Our perplexing vocabulary and intricate schemes for implementing authentic assessment may have inadvertently created this impression.

The prospect of making learning more authentic becomes less complicated if everyone recognizes that we already have some experience with the concept. In short, one can cook without a chef’s credentials, and one can begin to work with authentic tasks without months of training and years of planning. Of course, many examples of authentic tasks in the literaturearestimulating projects with immediate relevance to the lives of students. This is wonderful! Students need more of these opportunities. Unfortunately, educators sometimes confuse engaging tasks with authentic ones. Thus, they may become discouraged from trying authentic tasks with students because they lack the time and energy to create elaborate and creative tasks from scratch. The point of authentic learning is to let students encounter and master situations that resemble real life. These situations are often stimulating and engaging. It is a grave mistake, however, to shield students from the fact that some of life’s work is tedious and unimaginative but, nonetheless, absolutely necessary.

As a result, some educators who would start composing authentic tasks think they must begin with a sonata rather than a melody line. Many are intimidated by examples of authentic tasks in the literature that are so challenging they can only be taught by the most experienced educators and mastered by the most talented learners. All of us want our children to master rich, complex, and authentic challenges during their school careers. Fortunately, not everything we encounter in life is as complex and elaborate as some of the most ambitious of these tasks. Students frequently learn important skills by performing simple real-world tasks they might encounter in daily life.

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The author is Teacher III at San Matias High School, Sto. Tomas, Pampanga