Annelle Keller responding to Bunker Roy - Learning from a barefoot movement
As I watched this TED, I was fascinated by the way Bunker Roy started his Barefoot Colleges. Based on the qualifications to teach at the college, there is no need for a degree to teach, the teacher only has to provide service to the community. The professional in the barefoot college movement needs to be competent, has to show confidence and belief. Professionals that are employed by the college also shows that the knowledge and skills they have is relevant and universal and can be used and applied in the outside world. Teachers are the learners and the learner is the teacher. Students of the barefoot college are given “responsibility and with it comes confidence and from confidence comes power”. The Barefoot Movement is really learning by doing. Students find the solutions looking within and collaborate and listen to each other in order to find the solution together. According to Bunker Roy, if students are given that responsibility, with the responsibility comes confidence and from that comes power. I think that power is what helps the student become the teacher. As teachers, we sometimes don’t realize that teaching can also mean that we can be taught. Letting our students educate each other and us through collaborative grouping will increase student interest and participation. Having students figure “why or how” themselves rather than teachers giving them the “who or what” will allow students to become better higher order thinkers by being able to apply, evaluate, infer, and/or interpret what they are learning.
Your post called to mind Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. While it does not share the cooperative learning model that Bunker Roy describes, students at Berea pay no tuition. All students are employed by the university, and many of them are trained by local artisans to hand-make everything from salad bowls to quilts to furniture. Others work on the grounds, serve in the dining halls, or man the bookstore. The result is a student body with a healthy work ethic, a sense of community, and a respect for the education that takes place in the classroom. Each student graduates with at least four years of work experience that serves them well in a competitive job market.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Stephanie, for responding! My aunt & uncle actually lived in Lexington. My mother reminded that on many of our visits, we visted Berea College, toured the campus, bought crafts at the Log House Craft Gallery, and ate at Boone Tavern located on campus. I think that the common goal that each school has is to educate the whole student. Learning a skill and giving them the experience they need in order to succeed in their communities.
ReplyDelete