Hello again I am back for another week to talk
to you about education. Through my years of being a student in the education
program I have come to realize teachers believe a lot needs to change for optimal
student success in the school system. Many of my courses have suggested that as
an educator I should take action to change the way the classroom is run. They
say students
should be seen as important as the teacher. Student voices should be heard in
decisions, they should help decide how they are evaluated and they should choose
in what they learn. Basically, students decide how the class is run. I'm sure to
the average student today, this would sound like a dream come true, but even though these ideas have been shoved down my throat for about three years now, I cannot
help but to be skeptical. Today I am going to focus on children choosing what they
learn in the classroom.
There are four factors as to why I'm skeptical to this method.
1. How can we ensure students are learning the things they need to be successful in their future?
2. How can we monitor what students know or what they don't know if they are all learning different things?
3. Students searching for answers takes a lot longer than traditional learning so how do students have time to learn enough things?
4. How do we know students are even coming across the right answers?
I am mainly going to focus on number one, but I will also briefly touch on the other points as well.
My idea for this blog hit me when I was reading chapter four in Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner by Susan Drake, Joanne Reid and Wendy Kolohon. The authors in this book were telling me that student should be learning in an inquiry learning setting. This means students would have control of what they are learning. They suggest schools move away from the mandatory credits required for high school students, rather they would like to enforce only two mandatory programs. One called digital literacy and the other inquiry learning. As you can imagine these programs would be vastly different from the regular math, science, physical education and art that are currently required. They would like to move towards courses that emphasize inquiry where students explore their own questions and having a student voice, students sharing what they learn with each other in the classroom, online and with the community. Students are expected to show their findings to an audience that is targeted. Students gain community involvement by working with other students from other schools to find solutions. Students are given chances to be leaders by working with younger students. Inquiry learning suggests that play can lead to learning also if their personal interests are being learned about students will pay attention. Finally, students are expected to show what they have learned in the classroom and outside the classroom by networking.
Before we all go crazy thinking that this is going to revolutionize how we learn and is going to be beneficial for future students, I think we need to answer a few questions. First of all, when do we get to learn the real stuff? I mean, when do we learn Pythagorean theorem?When do I learn important dates of our history? When do I learn how to write an essay or how to properly communicate ideas? With inquiry learning we are not forced to learn anything. Rather students get to choose topics that they are interested and then explore them. How are the students going to know how to pay their taxes if they do not know proper math skills? How will doctors know how to fix us if they never have learn anatomy, physiology or even memorize the diseases and illnesses we could have. If students don't wonder the right questions they will never learn how to do some of the things that we are required to learn today. I am in school right now with the idea that if I work very hard I will get to do what I want I like later in life. However, inquiry based learning seems like the opposite; the students get to do what they want as students then are hopeless later in life.
Yes, inquiry methods of learning seem great for the time being but will students be lost in their future? As a future physical education teacher, I believe that learning through doing can be one of the most beneficial methods of learning for students. Also, I have agreed with many of my education courses that students need the freedom to explore and learn about what they're interested in. on the other hand, I have also come to realize how important the fundamentals, we are forced to learn, really are. This realization came to me my first lecture of my mandatory biomechanics course. I mentioned before in my other blog post I have known from a very young age that I want to be a physical education teacher so, in high school when I was required to take math, history, etc. I would often get frustrated because I would feel it had no purpose to my future. However, who knew that my math skills would need to be re-learned in University. In my class, I am forced to use Pythagorean theorem, re-visit SOH CAH TOA, and use basic algebra skills to solve biomechanical situations. This made me think, if I learned in an inquiry learning space I never would have chosen to learn about these math skills. Therefore, in this class I would have no chance of passing the course. This biomechanics course is making me dig up many skills I have long forgotten but I know this course is going to be extremely beneficial to my knowledge in the future. It will help me analyze student’s movements to help them achieve the best results in my gym class and it is great for preventative measures because with this knowledge I can analyze student movement and know if it is safe or not.
What will kids do in the future? If they do not wonder some of the very important things that I, as a student, learned will they be behind in life? What will happen to them in university? Or will they have the opportunity for self-directed learning in university? The major issue is, what will happen to these students in the real world? Growing up, every student would have learned entirely different things from one another based on their individual wonders. What will happen when they hit the real world? If they have not wondered the right things they will not have the proper skills to be successful in their jobs or even day-to-day activities.
Also, inquiry based learning takes a lot of
time. For example, in the textbook it stated students went on a hike up a
mountain to see what the conditions were like. This would have taken multiple
classes to gather enough information to answer the things that were “wondered”.
If students learned this the “old fashion” way, they could have opened a
textbook and within minutes the students would have the answers. Yes, I agree
this is not as fun but it is definitely a faster way of gaining information. In my experiences in labs,
I have learned things rarely go to plan. One time in my zoology lab, needed to
determine if a turtle male or female. After two and a half hours of the class, I
had no luck understanding where my turtle’s reproductive organs were. I asked the teaching assistant who told me
this animal was missing male and female reproductive organs. In cases like
this, students can search and search for an answer but this doesn't mean the
correct answer will be available to them and this also wasted a lot of my time
by searching for something that wasn't physically present in my circumstance.
I think it is great that students are gaining a voice in the classroom. I feel this movement encourages students to gain a better sense of belonging and a stronger connection to the classroom. However, I believe too much freedom, like students choosing what they are going learn, is something students cannot handle because there is no way they will be prepared for their real life experiences if they get to pick and choose things that they want to learn. If someone can prove inquiry style learning can allow for success in the real world, I will consider it as a possible delivery method of information for my students. Without solid evidence comparing the traditional way of learning and the inquiry way of learning and proof that the inquiry way of learning is better, I simply do not believe it is a step in the right direction.
There are four factors as to why I'm skeptical to this method.
1. How can we ensure students are learning the things they need to be successful in their future?
2. How can we monitor what students know or what they don't know if they are all learning different things?
3. Students searching for answers takes a lot longer than traditional learning so how do students have time to learn enough things?
4. How do we know students are even coming across the right answers?
I am mainly going to focus on number one, but I will also briefly touch on the other points as well.
My idea for this blog hit me when I was reading chapter four in Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st century learner by Susan Drake, Joanne Reid and Wendy Kolohon. The authors in this book were telling me that student should be learning in an inquiry learning setting. This means students would have control of what they are learning. They suggest schools move away from the mandatory credits required for high school students, rather they would like to enforce only two mandatory programs. One called digital literacy and the other inquiry learning. As you can imagine these programs would be vastly different from the regular math, science, physical education and art that are currently required. They would like to move towards courses that emphasize inquiry where students explore their own questions and having a student voice, students sharing what they learn with each other in the classroom, online and with the community. Students are expected to show their findings to an audience that is targeted. Students gain community involvement by working with other students from other schools to find solutions. Students are given chances to be leaders by working with younger students. Inquiry learning suggests that play can lead to learning also if their personal interests are being learned about students will pay attention. Finally, students are expected to show what they have learned in the classroom and outside the classroom by networking.
Before we all go crazy thinking that this is going to revolutionize how we learn and is going to be beneficial for future students, I think we need to answer a few questions. First of all, when do we get to learn the real stuff? I mean, when do we learn Pythagorean theorem?When do I learn important dates of our history? When do I learn how to write an essay or how to properly communicate ideas? With inquiry learning we are not forced to learn anything. Rather students get to choose topics that they are interested and then explore them. How are the students going to know how to pay their taxes if they do not know proper math skills? How will doctors know how to fix us if they never have learn anatomy, physiology or even memorize the diseases and illnesses we could have. If students don't wonder the right questions they will never learn how to do some of the things that we are required to learn today. I am in school right now with the idea that if I work very hard I will get to do what I want I like later in life. However, inquiry based learning seems like the opposite; the students get to do what they want as students then are hopeless later in life.
Yes, inquiry methods of learning seem great for the time being but will students be lost in their future? As a future physical education teacher, I believe that learning through doing can be one of the most beneficial methods of learning for students. Also, I have agreed with many of my education courses that students need the freedom to explore and learn about what they're interested in. on the other hand, I have also come to realize how important the fundamentals, we are forced to learn, really are. This realization came to me my first lecture of my mandatory biomechanics course. I mentioned before in my other blog post I have known from a very young age that I want to be a physical education teacher so, in high school when I was required to take math, history, etc. I would often get frustrated because I would feel it had no purpose to my future. However, who knew that my math skills would need to be re-learned in University. In my class, I am forced to use Pythagorean theorem, re-visit SOH CAH TOA, and use basic algebra skills to solve biomechanical situations. This made me think, if I learned in an inquiry learning space I never would have chosen to learn about these math skills. Therefore, in this class I would have no chance of passing the course. This biomechanics course is making me dig up many skills I have long forgotten but I know this course is going to be extremely beneficial to my knowledge in the future. It will help me analyze student’s movements to help them achieve the best results in my gym class and it is great for preventative measures because with this knowledge I can analyze student movement and know if it is safe or not.
What will kids do in the future? If they do not wonder some of the very important things that I, as a student, learned will they be behind in life? What will happen to them in university? Or will they have the opportunity for self-directed learning in university? The major issue is, what will happen to these students in the real world? Growing up, every student would have learned entirely different things from one another based on their individual wonders. What will happen when they hit the real world? If they have not wondered the right things they will not have the proper skills to be successful in their jobs or even day-to-day activities.
I think it is great that students are gaining a voice in the classroom. I feel this movement encourages students to gain a better sense of belonging and a stronger connection to the classroom. However, I believe too much freedom, like students choosing what they are going learn, is something students cannot handle because there is no way they will be prepared for their real life experiences if they get to pick and choose things that they want to learn. If someone can prove inquiry style learning can allow for success in the real world, I will consider it as a possible delivery method of information for my students. Without solid evidence comparing the traditional way of learning and the inquiry way of learning and proof that the inquiry way of learning is better, I simply do not believe it is a step in the right direction.
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