For class tomorrow we were instructed to read two articles, one about John Dewey's influences in the field of Educational Technology and the other was written by John Dewey in 1897 and titled My Pedagogic Creed. The Ed Tech article focused on how Dewey advocated for a classroom where students learned by doing because "experience is central to learning". He also advocated that the classroom needed to be a community and not a rigid teacher-student scenario. The Pedagogic Creed article took these ideas even further stating that education needs to be focused on making students effective social beings because they live in a world of social connections.
These ideas in the articles sounded great so I had no wonder why they aren't put to use in our schools today? I realize that some teachers do present the information to you in new and interesting ways but being lectured to while there was a power point behind the teacher and you had a worksheet to do by the end of class was a pretty typical teaching style while I was in high school. If we know from Dewey's teachings that students learn better in community centered classrooms where they learn interactively why are the experiences that I described from my high school considered the norm? I never had a teacher care about my ability to socialize, but why not, isn't that just as important for me to know to be a functioning adult as reading Shakespeare is?
These readings reminded me of the CPRs that they do at Scarlet Middle School to build community, while I often wish that my school had that I also wonder if this is something that will be allowed to grow to all schools. Because if I learned anything from these readings it is that our school systems are slow to change even in the face of evidence that could make them better.
I also wonder why the old methods are still so much the norm. I hope that we'll be a part of a positive change in the school system!
ReplyDeleteI really like your title, too. It echos/reverses the line in "Teachers and Machines" about "constancy amidst change." Was that on purpose?
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ReplyDelete"I never had a teacher care about my ability to socialize, but why not, isn't that just as important for me to know to be a functioning adult as reading Shakespeare is?" I'd suggest that learning Shakespeare IS learning to socialize: literature is the laboratory of the human condition, and the place where our social and personal dynamics are put to the test. If your teachers were unable to communicate that notion, they may not have understood why you needed to know Shakespeare.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the CPR's used at Scarlett are a small step along the path to creating a classroom like the one Dewey envisioned. They set a standard for community learning as opposed to the "teacher as lecturer" and "student as sponge" that are so often typical of the American classroom. They also help develop the students' social skills, both student-to-student and student-to-teacher. It's sad to me that I can't really remember doing any activities like this during my K-12 education.
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