Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thoughts on New York Times Article
Unfortunately, due to class size, school size, an insanely complicated bureaucracy, a centuries old institutionalized way of thinking, along with a billion other complications, the model presented in the NYT article would never work in a large public school-at least in my lifetime that is. Of course the harsh reality is that at the moment, schools are in a physical and philosophical state of decline that seems to be getting worse and worse and worse every week. But, if we forget about reality for a moment and think reeaallyyy optimistically, there is a chance that if the masses start holding bankers accountable for the downfall of our economy rather than public employees and the economy somehow miraculously works itself out of a ditch, government and public opinion might begin to invest in progressive education programs. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe the ideas of people who want to bleed the life out of our schools and the Marlborough experiment are compatible. Why? They both get rid of teachers. Seriously though, this model of students creating their own curriculum sounds great. I can imagine I would have been a much better high school student if I were allowed to pick out my own literature. I know some small private colleges do this and from what I've heard from friends who have, it was a good experience. In reality the Marlborough experiment is much more aligned with the way things work in the real world and it gives students an opportunity to better discover their likes and dislikes, and strengths and weaknesses. Maybe if schools adopted similar programs on a small experimental level and monitored how they worked over a period of years they could slowly find ways in which to adopt them on a larger scale. Otherwise, it would be a logistical nightmare.
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I had the same feelings after reading the article: where, as teachers, are we in the equation? From the looks of it we are on the periphery or sidelines. Nonetheless, students having choice learn better when compared to students given required lessons. How as teachers do we give the students a sense of choice but a pathway to complete that choice? Students must understand independence and responsibility are interwoven.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read the article, I felt as if the teachers were not really needed in education any longer. Teachers are currently fighting to maintain the role of a professional, and in the public's eyes, many feel that teachers are overpaid babysitters already. I feel that this style of education just ads fuel to their cause. I do recognize that improvements must be made to the education system, but I hold strong that there must be core classes. Perhaps this style of education would be suited to electives?
ReplyDeleteI think that teachers are critical in this model but in a different capacity. The groups would probably be smaller and that is key. You take the large masses and break them into smaller parts that are more manageable. The teacher makes sure that are looking at challenging questions and teaching them the scientific method or the socratic method and providing that atmosphere and guidance to make it safe to learn in this manner. If you have a chance watch the video that John posted on his blog about the project and listen to the students. They are really learning how to research and they meet continually and refine their ideas and challenge themselves and part of that is the guidance of the academic advisors. Teaching takes on a different role in this type of environment and it can be very scary.
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