The main theme of my first two weeks- Question Reality.
I also am intrigued by the imaginative and energetic populous of this group. They question and they seem excited as a whole, with a small group uncomfortable with the lack of structure.
In a film of old Up the Down Staircase, there is a portrayal of a new teacher in a school of chaos and lethargic teachers who finds a means to interact, find like thinking teachers and struggle with being inventive in a world of mediocrity. I am reminded of this in the passion of the class, we will to not allow hindrance of growth of our passions...
And the cycles of learning are expressed easily in the ideas coming from peers that I have seen tried in days of old. Nothing is truly new, yet the additions and revisions are a sign of a purposeful drive to be the best. For that I find the class look forward to this class weekly.
My only frustration- Blackboard required 24 hours of tech support to get going. C'est la vie.
Y'all are awesome. But then altruism is at the top of Kohlberg's hierarchy of moral values (ladder).
As a teacher I hope to be the visual and experiential instructor.
Oh. the questions. 1. Imparting the lust to learn, 2. Schooling is regimentation and structured to meet a purpose (keep kids off the streets)... pardon the satire. 3. Education seeks to teach the person to fish, schooling provides fish. 4. Fundamental purpose of teaching is to produce thinkers with a basis for questioning reality. 5. Learning is to provide a method and basis to think.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education. Martin Luther King.
I'm not sure that anything or anyone can replace Piaget haha. He is my favorite developmental theorist. Even though opinionated blogs are becoming more prevalent, there is still a need for scholarly journals and research articles. There needs to be some sort of accountability of what is accepted practice in education. In the article we read about blogs and wikis, I found that they serve to give teachers a voice and enable them to be connected to each other. It's a great way to share ideas or even share the latest research and how they put it into practice. I personally use a website call Perpetual Preschool for many of my ideas, but nothing can beat the foundation of Piaget, Erikson, Kholberg, etc.
ReplyDelete"Never trust a book in its First Edition" This is a good point and, succinctly how i would define this new adventure of teaching. A challenge that i am prepared to take but a bit frightening given how i have spent the last two decades. I concur about the diversity and free thinking spirit of the class, however unlike my prior desire to express my thoughts verbally in class (two decades ago) I am now more inclined to listen more and enjoy the roller coaster of thought in the classroom and on these blogs. Good work carry on.
ReplyDeleteI love your answer to number 3 ". Education seeks to teach the person to fish, schooling provides fish." That's a great way to think about education vs. schooling.
ReplyDeleteI am really enjoying the dynamics of our class also, it's so much fun going back to school when you really want to be there. I had a much better time in college when I realized why I was going. That it wasn't for my family or for who I thought I should be, but who I wanted to become.
I am also really enjoying our diverse class. I love hearing everyone’s very different experiences from when they were in school. It is exciting to realize how schooling has changed over the years. From the stories I have heard so far the biggest changes over the years have been disciple and of course technology. However, I am surprised that we all seem to share many similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Esther that blogs may be popular, interesting, and helpful, but they cannot totally replace peer reviewed journals. In any subject, whether it is education, science, or the arts, there needs to be an accepted standard to base further growth in that subject.
In response to John’s statement on using the Internet as an academic resource. I think that the internet can be a very valuable resource for research and scholastic purposes; you just have to know where to look, what you are looking at and, where it comes from. I don’t think that the true scholarly resources are being replaced; I think they are unfortunately being buried underneath a lot of low quality, inaccurate misinformation. Most academic peer reviewed journals and articles are on the internet, and with a little effort they can be made available perhaps even easier than they were twenty years ago. I think that with so the vast amount of facts, lies, misinformation, and inaccuracies on the web, it is imperative to teach people what is and what is not considered scholarly and academic, and what will be accepted as such.
ReplyDeleteBy the way I loved the video clip of “The Argument Clinic” by Monty Python