PBL and authentic questions

Early in the school year, I worked with a group of earnest, professionally focused, K-5 teachers who had received three days of PBL training during the summer from a highly reputable PBL organization. They could recite the basics of PBL: Design a problem around standards; put student in groups; and plan an exhibition. But they left the training believing that the underlying goal is to cover standards by cleverly posing a problem for students that teachers can already answer [italics mine]. How to Make Sure That Project-based Learning is Applied Well in Schools by Tom Markham

What is the fundamental goal of education? To help students learn the right answer or to help students formulate a personal, creative response to questions, problems, and challenges?

I would say yes - to both. The trick lies in how these types of learning integrate. My definition of creativity is not particularly original: something creative has elements of both originality and effectiveness. But I have added that in order for the originality to be effective, a student must have factual knowledge, concrete skills, and what, in my book I call "craftsmanship."

But I would strongly agree with Mr. Markham in the article quoted above. Projects that are worth doing need to solve problems and answer questions for which the teacher does not already know the answer.  See "What's an Authentic Question?"

This is a fundamental shift in many teachers' thinking about the "why" of education. Far tougher than learning how to use technology. As Markham states:

To get at the depth of purpose and engagement necessary for learners today, there’s work to do in PBL. The way out of the box is to encourage teachers to let go, take risks, live with uncertain outcomes—and design projects that matter. Enter the world as it is at this time—as a place of wide open spaces and immense needs. Invent and deliver projects that retain the full power of PBL and, in the process, push education forward to meet its mid-century destiny.