I want to start by saying that I am really missing being with you guys in Moscow this week. I have enjoyed all of your company and feel that the real discussions we have cannot sufficiently be substituted for.
As I read part two, I kept thinking about how familiar some of the ideas sounded. In the MTI class I am taking, I have to sit and listen to people talk nostalgically about the glory days when we used to "hold kids accountable by killing and drilling." I wonder if teachers during other generations held the same nostalgia that many teachers do today. What is it that makes us yearn for the ways we or even our parents were taught rather than what current research shows we should be doing? I guess that there was a time that our educational system was the envy of the world, but I don't see how we have ended up where we are today.
There are times when thinking about education in the United States can be depressing. So much to do, so little time and resources, so many mistakes...etc. However, I really am proud what we have accomplished. It is not perfect, and moves albeit slow moves are being made in the right direction. Because of educational opportunities changes are happening and things are progressing. As more of our population has more educational opportunities and experiences there is no way that we cannot develop and improve. I think the struggle between socialism and common school/commercialism has made us better - not perfect - but better.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteWe are really missing your insight this week in class. It is interesting to look at "tried and true" methods of teaching versus "research based". Many times these methodologies cross paths but there are always outliers that are research and are not practiced, and vice versa. What makes our jobs great is that we can blend the two because if we continue "tried and true" maybe someone will publish an Action Research project on it so that we might know that it does work and can now be part of research. In my research I thought I would find out that traditional lecture is horribly bad to use in classes, but instead if done is short segments, it is shown to get information across to students in a quick and basic manner. If all you do is lecture then it is not good practice. This idea holds true for many of our traditional teaching practices. We can't just throw it out because research isn't there, instead we need to look at its effect on our kids and see where it does work and where it does not.