I was invited to a wedding reception last week where I had the opportunity to interact with a father whose son I taught some years ago. He was an affectionate and enlightened father who cared deeply about his son. The son had difficulty in the straight-jacketed approach to learning in school and was faring miserably in the standardized tests. On inquiring, the father proudly announced that his son had discovered the joy of learning at a School of Liberal Studies. The father's eyes said it all!
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| Do standardized tests do more harm than good? |
I came back home happy and excited, lapping up almost everything there was on Liberal Arts education. The person whose work left an impact on me was Ken Robinson. A British-born Educator, based in the U.S., Ken has some very deep, incisive points to make on why modern education is a mess today.
I have attached a video of the animated version of his famous TED-2006 talk on Education - Changing Paradigms.
Absolutely riveting stuff! A must watch...
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| Ken Robinson |
I agree with you that the video is really interesting throwing some up important questions about the whole education system.It also takes me back to the movie I saw 'Waiting for superman'which brought out the troubles besieging American education system.The westerners are open to accept the truth about the state of education ,willing to discuss ,analyse and propose new methods .There is an atmosphere of healthy debate about the teaching learning process.
ReplyDeleteSo what can we do, at our individual level, to create an atmosphere where there is more exchange of ideas, sharing of experiences and healthy feedback.This blog , is a step towards that and I really do appreciate it.
Going back to one of your initial renderings,I would like to discuss what exactly would you define as 'class control'.Is it when there is silence in the class and the students are intently listening to the teacher ...or when the students are free to move around, be their own masters, free to self learn resulting in lot of noise in the bargain ....or.......
It is a difficult situation because I feel while I would want to give more freedom to the students to explore and self learn ,the fear of noise level created stops me from doing just that ,as also the feeling that the resultant chaos may not be conducive to learning ........how much freedom to be given and at what point should the teacher intervene to take complete charge ....we have to strike a balance between complete compliance and extreme freedom to make sure the class doesn't end up in anarchy.In my experience when I am doing an activity with them ,they usually have fun but only associate it as a game and not something to be thought about or taken as part of learning.For most of them learning only takes place in a very prescribed and structured form of questions and answers.Activity based learning for them is only fun which doesn't help as it also ends up creating so much noise that it is, in normal parlance considered having no 'class control'
Dear Archana Ma'am,
DeleteIt was wonderful to hear from you and the fact that we are discussing issues that concern us as teachers enthuses me even more.
Thank you for the appreciation. I'm honoured.
To respond to your query on 'class control', I think the phrase is rather unfortunate but we are stuck with it for now. I feel when there is a genuine connect between the teacher and her class then all noise become meaningful sounds, there is perfect pitch and resonance. But when the connectedness is lost, all interaction simply degenerates to 'static' as dissonance sets in. Meaning is lost...
I suspect the teacher's state of mind plays a major role. Open to discussions...
It is indeed a reflection on the state of education today. I think we as 'educated' adults would score minus in divergent thinking.
DeleteI would cite Mr.TA Edison and an example who had 1000 inventions to his name without a formal education as an example of the process Ken describes.
So what is the alternative? Maybe a radical one divorced from the "assembly line" method. I see children learn more when they are playing especially in group games/activities
But then should one do away with the tyranny of the syllabus or telling the student that he should be learning so and so subject to make grade. Instead group them in diverse age groups and let them make their choices.
The teacher's role would then be only a guide and friend to the student in his quest for his niche. I hope I make sense.
Dear Anna,
DeleteI am simply bowled over by your thoughtful observations and practical solutions to current problems.
You could have made a great teacher! Your daughter is one lucky girl.
Thank you for your comments. Looking forward to more contributions to this blog.