Sunday, January 15, 2012
Amie Adams- responding to Sugata Mitra: the chld driven education
The seventeen minute TED talk on Suguta Mitra: The Child driven education was brilliant eye-opening. As a teacher, you come across all different types of students with different learning styles, educational and economic backgrounds that may or may not have an effect on learning. The results of the experiments talked about in this session were amazing to listen to. I do believe that if kids have interest in something education will happen. We as teachers have an important job to keep our students' curiosity flowing. I do feel at times that "we" lack confidence in our students and their ability to learn. I do believe that students of all ages and areas of the world want to learn. The Italian experiment at the end of talk interested me the most. Those students to me, felt like that were empowered to learn because they did it on their own. Education has come a long way over the years. I believe in having outstanding teachers in the classroom but at the same time, giving ownership to the students figuring things out on their own makes learning real to them.
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Hello Amie, (Anne Johnson responding)
ReplyDeleteI have felt that same sense of "we lack confidence in our students and their ability to learn". I would say that "we" extends to their parents as well. Accountability has created some misdirection in this area. There is no doubt in my mind that I (as teacher and administrator) am fully accountable for my students' learning opportunities. But, I'm just one part of that. I just finished a conversation with my math students about this. I told them that if they waited for their teacher (in this case me) or any teacher for that matter to challenge them or find their area of interest - they would not reach their highest level of learning. I think we have inadvertently taught children to wait on us and not to depend on themselves. We might do better to invest in nurturing their curiousity and facilitating their ability to learn independently.
Anne
Hi Anne
DeleteYou were right on with your choice of words. Stepping out of the teacher role, as a parent, I can also relate to my kids being so dependent on me for everything. I know I am to blame for them being spoiled. :) I teach math to high school students and a big majority of students already hate math, so its a huge deal to me to present the material as best as I can, the easiest way I can for them to understand but also to challenge those more confident math students. I agree with you, that we have always taught our students to wait on us, to wait for the next set of directions, etc..Its a hard job to find that balance of making them feel confident enough and interested enough to explore, be inquisitive, and to ask questions.
Amie