"Men must be taught as if you taught them not and things unknown revealed as things forgot." Alexander Pope
Ray Evans Harrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ed Weick" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 7:47 AM Subject: Re: [Futurework] TEACHING METHODS > > "The critics have come closer to the answer by suggesting that this > > style of teaching persists because it gives teachers power. With power > > comes security: the security of controlling the classroom agenda, of > > avoiding serious challenges to one's authority, of evading the > > embarrassment of getting lost in territory where one does not know the way > > home. Teachers are unlikely to relinquish such power even in the face of > > students who hunger for another way to learn. > > I don't think it's the teachers who decide this. It's the people who design > the curriculum. From the experience of my daughter, who has just finished > high school, the only options the teachers have is whether to be nice or > mean to their students. She's had both kinds, but has somehow managed to > find her way through the system. > > Ed Weick > > > > > From http://www.newsscan.com/ > > > > WORTH THINKING ABOUT: WHY DO TEACHING METHODS CHANGE SO SLOWLY? > > Wondering, "How can we account for the persistence of a mode of > > teaching that has so many critics, so many obvious faults?" author Parker > > J. Palmer explains: > > "Some say that lecturing, assigning readings, and giving tests is > > simply the easiest way to teach, and that teachers (like everyone else) > > will take the line of least resistance. Others argue that mass education > > has forced this method upon us: how else do you teach a class of two > > hundred except with managerial techniques? Still others blame educational > > economics, pointing out that our underfunded schools are unable to buy the > > time or staff necessary for more personal and interactive modes of > teaching > > and learning. > > "All of these explanations are factual and reasonable, but nothing > in > > history would ever have changed if facts and reasons could not be > overcome. > > Laziness, conceptions of efficiency, and budgets are not forced upon us by > > cosmic superpowers. They are all matters of choice, and we always have the > > freedom to choose otherwise. Why do we not choose otherwise? Why does this > > pedagogy persist? > > "The critics have come closer to the answer by suggesting that this > > style of teaching persists because it gives teachers power. With power > > comes security: the security of controlling the classroom agenda, of > > avoiding serious challenges to one's authority, of evading the > > embarrassment of getting lost in territory where one does not know the way > > home. Teachers are unlikely to relinquish such power even in the face of > > students who hunger for another way to learn. > > "But that is only half the story. Students themselves cling to the > > conventional pedagogy because it gives them security, too, a fact well > > known by teachers who have tried more participatory modes of teaching. > When > > a teacher tries to share the power, to give students more responsibility > > for their own education, students get skittish and cynical. They complain > > that the teacher is not earning his or her pay, and they subvert the > > experiment by noncooperation. Many students prefer to have their learning > > boxed and tied, and when they are invited into a more creative role they > > flee in fear. > > "The conventional pedagogy persists because it conveys a view of > > reality that simplifies our lives. By this view, we and our world become > > objects to be lined up, counted, organized and owned, rather than a > > community of selves and spirits related to each other in a complex web of > > accountability called 'truth.' The conventional pedagogy pretends to give > > us mastery over the world, relieving us of the need for mutual > > vulnerability that the new epistemologies, and truth itself, imply." > > *** > > See > http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060664517/newsscancom/ref=nosim > > for "To Know as We Are Known" by Parker J. Palmer -- or look for it in > > your favorite library. (We donate all revenue from our book > recommendations > > to adult literacy programs.) > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Futurework mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://scribe.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
