[MOSAIC] AR
elaine garan
egaran at mac.com
Fri Jun 29 23:37:17 EDT 2007
On Friday, June 29, 2007, at 06:35 PM, Joy wrote:
> I think this has much to do with your experiences in life, as a
> learner, your learning/teaching style, and your personal philosophy.
> Although I am an older "newer" teacher, I hold more progressive views
> than my team partner, who is 20 years my junior and holds more
> traditional views
I teach new teachers as well as older "newer" teachers in our reading
methods courses. Here's what I believe. I believe that when we as
university instructors present student- centered, interactive methods
rather than the more traditional, "stand and deliver", transmission
approaches, our students find the more progressive methods appealing
and those methods make sense to them. They understand the need for
student engagement and the need to have them interact with the material
through experience and questioning. In fact, when I ask audiences or
classes which teachers they remember, it is always the handful (usually
4 or 5 in their school careers) who went beyond the standardized
curriculum and brought learning to life for them. They don't recall
with affection or inspiration, sitting in their seats, listening to
lectures and completing worksheets.
The problem many university instructors face then, is not that more
progressive methods don't strike a chord and make sense to our
students. What I find amazing is how deeply ingrained traditional
education is. It is almost a knee jerk reaction -- skills first,
worksheets, teacher talking and testing, while students are the empty
vessels. That model is not just ingrained but it's extremely
comfortable for future teachers. It gives them a sense of control not
just of the curriculum but of the students because there's always the
fear that if we allow students to talk in literature groups things will
get out of hand. I feel the same way. It's really way more comfortable
even for me after 30 some years of teaching to keep things under
control. I have to force myself at times to take that leap and trust
the students. Furthermore, that model that has been the mainstay of the
education system for decades with a few pockets and periods of
exceptions, is what they see for the most part when they student-
teach, particularly now with Reading First and so many requirements and
so much testing tightening the curriculum..
If you ask an adult to draw a picture of a classroom, most will draw
the teacher at the front of the class, the students sitting in desks,
while the teacher "delivers" the material. It's very hard to get them
to take a risk beyond what they have experienced for most of their
education. I believe that for many of our future teachers, unless we
present them with alternatives to their deeply ingrained experiences,
they don't really have a choice because they only know one way
essentially. They know no alternatives. There is no little voice that
provokes them into considering whether what they are doing is working
or not, because they are doing what they have been taught to believe
teaching and learning are.
To bring this back to comprehension -- I think most would agree and
Elin and Steph Harvey maintain that the road to comprehension is not
through worksheets and regurgitation of right and wrong answers. Those
narrow methods are thin threads at the lower end of the comprehension
hierarchy (literal thinking, basic facts etc). True comprehension,
innovative, creative and critical thinking is indeed a mosaic and it
is a mosaic of thought in the deepest sense.
My university students believe this but it's hard to step off the path
they've been on for their entire educational careers. And I don't mean
to insult traditional teachers or older teachers or younger teachers
either! And in case I've offended anyone by discussing being text
bound-- what I've always believed is that a commercial reading series
is springboard, It has good ideas that can work.
But as so many of you have noted, it's all about the teacher. And it
can't be about the teacher if the teacher is forced to follow a script
or adhere religiously to a program. I would add to that a lot depends
on the definition of "traditional" and "transmission" model as well as
"progressive" which in all the literature involves student engagement
and inquiry and a true Mosaic of Thought.
Elaine
On Friday, June 29, 2007, at 06:35 PM, Joy wrote:
> I think this has much to do with your experiences in life, as a
> learner, your learning/teaching style, and your personal philosophy.
> Although I am an older "newer" teacher, I hold more progressive views
> than my team partner, who is 20 years my junior and holds more
> traditional views.
>
> I tend to listen to everything with an open mind and ask lots of
> questions, then after mulling it around for awhile and trying new
> things, I make my decision. She's not interested in anything
> different, or what she calls "kumbayah teaching." I escaped a very
> coercive school climate early on, my team partner worked under these
> conditions for 5 years. Maybe that has something to do with our
> different outlooks, because we both graduated from college the same
> year.
>
> Anyway, I think making assumptions about anyone is wrong, and only
> serves to divide. I like to think that I can learn from others, and
> maybe they can learn from me.
>
>
> ljackson at gwtc.net wrote:
> I work with new teachers and am finding this just as sadly true
> among the very young and especially among those with alternative
> certificates.
>
> Lori
>
>
> Joy/NC/4
> jwidmann at rocketmail.com
> How children learn is as important as what they learn: process and
> content go hand in hand. http://www.responsiveclassroom.org
>
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