In this week's readings from Pedagogy
of Freedom, The Culture of Education, and
the article Theories of
Learning and Teaching What do they mean for Educators, I was both
reaffirmed in many teaching and learning theories I believe in and at the same
time I was completely shocked by ideas that I have rarely if ever pondered. In
my reading of the article Theories
of Learning and Teaching, I
found the new term to me "constructivist approach." While I fully
believe that unknowingly to the term I am an activist of constructive learning.
In my years of teaching I have found that it is near impossible to
"teach" a student with out their active participation and buy in. I
love teaching mathematics in an inquiry based way and having the student come
to their own ideas about formulas or the way numbers work together. However I
find this a daunting task especially the higher the grade of the learner. I
have heard too many times from older students "why are you making us do
this can't you just give us the formula." The funny thing is my college
age students are making the same complaints and in fact in most cases they have
been "taught/given" the formula several times over their math career
and yet they still haven't "learned" it. Does this seem to be the
trend in all subject areas? Science, Language? It has been my belief and I feel
almost reaffirmed after the article that if students take more responsibility
for their own learning then they are a bigger stake holder in their own
education, thus processing information on a deeper more meaningful level. Do
you feel I am way off in this assumption?
One of the main ideas from all the combined readings that really
hit me and made me take a serious look at my own self as a teacher was the
complete value of the students culture. I have to admit that this is an area
that I am completely lacking in. I would like to make an accuse for my self and
say well when I taught public school it was in a mostly white, high economic,
non urban school so pretty much every student had the same background. When in
fact whether this is mostly true or not, my eyes have been opened to taking in
the VALUE of the students culture, life experiences, and even their
differences. In the article I was taken back by the idea not to treat students
differences as being a negative but instead look into their lives a little more and see
what they can bring to the table to increase not only their learning but their
peers as well. The preface of The
Culture of Education, I found
the idea of learning communities as awe inspiring. I have always had students
"work together" because I had been told in previous education classes
that this was so important, but until the preface in Bruner's book I didn't
realize that the community of learning which goes way beyond "group
work" is so vital. In Pedagogy
of Freedom I feel that the value of culture was brought to the
forefront in ways I had never thought of. I have to admit that after reading
the foreword I was almost embarrassed by my own thinking. I have so often fallen
into a pattern of "wanting to help" but Freire's book really let me
see that the way we think we are helping is so often not "perceived"
as help at all. I personally think this all ties back to the students
background and culture. Maybe I shouldn't "try to help" until I
actually know the students background and what they truly need help with. All
these readings bring me to a circumstance that happened this past fall in one
of my college classes. I had a student "Joe" who came to class
everyday, would answer direct questions but never really seem involved. My
homework, with online book is done through an online program and at the
beginning of every semester I have to hound students to purchase the program
and begin their homework. By the first quiz Joe still did not have the homework
program, so he like a few others received a big bright post-it stapled to the
top with a reminder to get the program and how he needed the practice to do
better on quizzes. etc. So by the 2nd quiz everyone but Joe had the program,
Joe received another note and email a little harsher than the first stating
without the homework he would likely not pass. Joe kept coming to class every
day but by the first exam, that he failed, he still did not have the homework.
So at this time I though well I check to see if I can call him and figure
out why he will not get this taken care of. While looking up his number I ran
across his address, his permanent address was a Plot in Botswana. I had no idea
that he was from a different country. I immediately felt like an idiot for all
my notes and basically threats and I was so happy he had not dropped because of
my stupidity. After the next class I asked if I could talk to him... you could
see the worried look in his face. I simply told him that I knew the homework
program could be a burden and asked him if using a borrowed book might be
easier for him, because I really wanted him to practice and do well. A total
look of relief passed over him. He overly expressed how great that would be and
that he promised he would do all of it. He then told me he had just arrived in
America the week classes started and everything here was more than his family
thought it would be. He said his family was already sacrificing to send him
here and he couldn't ask for more money that is why he never bought the online
program. Joe did do all the book work I gave him and he passed with a B. He was
over grateful to me which really makes me feel even worse. I am sure that
Freire and Bruner would like to shake me really hard and say "SEE THIS IS
WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT." The readings brought back this story to my
mind and made me realized that if I wasn't so worried about teaching the
distance formula, which most students in reality will never use, then maybe I could have learned more about my students and where to meet them at the level they are at so that they can learn.
Through the readings I already felt a huge challenge to open my eyes more to the individual cultures and past experiences that my students bring with them everyday. I hope this is only the beginning of my transformation into a better educator. Did you happen to feel the same way or was there another issue that really stood out in your minds. I am excited to read more about the Bruner's ideas on culture and relation to education and how these ideas can influence me to be a more interactive teacher and reach more students. As Stanley Aronowitz states in the introduction in the Pedagogy of Freedom, "if students perceive that the teacher is pro-student there are few limits to possible manipulation."
