In Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Education Are Everywhere Will Richardson points out the elephant in the chat room, which is that the Internet is not a hobby anymore. It has become part of our DNA. Our smart phone might as well be another limb extending from our hand. It has drastically affected how we communicate and how we operate on a daily basis.
The one type of school reform that I support is “Rethink teaching.” I appreciated the comparison to a physician and how you would expect someone in that field to be engaged in learning/unlearning. Teaching should not be exempt from reevaluation and educators and administration should always be asking if there is better way, or if something can be improved. As technology changes, so should the view on how to best educate students.
One of the six learning/unlearning ideas that I will commit to is “Discover, don’t deliver, the curriculum.” Learning is the ability to think and create independently. I would not be an effective educator if the only thing I had students do was take notes of what I said and had them memorize it for the test. I would encourage group discussion, and ask my students for elaboration. This gets them thinking about where their answer is coming from and why they feel a certain way about something. It’s developing their ability to inquire, question, and think critically. The books states, “teachers must inspire students to pursue their own interests in the context of the subject matter (Richardson, 2012).
After reading this book one learning/unlearning idea that I thought would be a struggle is “Talk to strangers.” I understand the benefit of sharing ideas and getting resources from other educators, but I didn’t know how willing people would actually be to share. My initial belief was that people hoard their ideas, and are not inclined to share with other people. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I have found that people want to help others as much as possible. Networking, building communities, and establishing connections are highly encouraged because educators have the same goal, whether they are consciously aware or not. That is to help students learn by any means necessary.
Richardson. W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Education Are Everywhere . Kindle Edition. [Retrieved from Amazon].
The one type of school reform that I support is “Rethink teaching.” I appreciated the comparison to a physician and how you would expect someone in that field to be engaged in learning/unlearning. Teaching should not be exempt from reevaluation and educators and administration should always be asking if there is better way, or if something can be improved. As technology changes, so should the view on how to best educate students.
One of the six learning/unlearning ideas that I will commit to is “Discover, don’t deliver, the curriculum.” Learning is the ability to think and create independently. I would not be an effective educator if the only thing I had students do was take notes of what I said and had them memorize it for the test. I would encourage group discussion, and ask my students for elaboration. This gets them thinking about where their answer is coming from and why they feel a certain way about something. It’s developing their ability to inquire, question, and think critically. The books states, “teachers must inspire students to pursue their own interests in the context of the subject matter (Richardson, 2012).
After reading this book one learning/unlearning idea that I thought would be a struggle is “Talk to strangers.” I understand the benefit of sharing ideas and getting resources from other educators, but I didn’t know how willing people would actually be to share. My initial belief was that people hoard their ideas, and are not inclined to share with other people. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I have found that people want to help others as much as possible. Networking, building communities, and establishing connections are highly encouraged because educators have the same goal, whether they are consciously aware or not. That is to help students learn by any means necessary.
Richardson. W. (2012). Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Education Are Everywhere . Kindle Edition. [Retrieved from Amazon].