What is school the place for? If I saw a half torn away bumper sticker with the words given in the title, how would I imagine that it ended? I would like to imagine that it said, "SCHOOL: The place for discovery."
I say discovery because it implies more than just leaning things and being educated. Discovery implies some sort of interest and interaction -- when a person leans something new and is interested in this new concept, or even amazed by it. That is what it really means to be engaged in learning as well -- to be involved and interested in one's own education.
Thursday, September 29, 2016
Wednesday, September 14, 2016
How Much *Do* I Know About the History of Education?
Truth be told, I don't in fact know all that much about the history of the education disciplines. While I took this quiz, and still managed to get most of the answers right, with exception to a few that I actually knew, most of my answers were only, as they put it, "intuition." Since intuition in this case is a fancy word for guessing, what I am trying to say here is that it is a shame that prospective teachers don't know more about the history of their future careers.
At this point, I am learning much about education through my graduate courses, but it seems like much could have come earlier. It would've been nice to learn about much of this stuff back in high school, when it also would have been relevant to my personal and fellow students' education.
At this point, I am learning much about education through my graduate courses, but it seems like much could have come earlier. It would've been nice to learn about much of this stuff back in high school, when it also would have been relevant to my personal and fellow students' education.
Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Chapter 1: What are We Doing? How Should We Feel About This?
I find after reading, that I actually have more feelings about the Change article than the chapter in general.
In terms of the chapter, most of the talk was about pay. It would seem that there is more than a little bit of discouragement thrown towards potential teachers in the form of low wages. An overwhelming majority teachers responding to the surveys said that they teach because it is what calls to them and what they enjoy. They take pride and joy from educating the nation's youth, and in some cases were even influenced to become a teacher by one of their own teachers earlier in life. Not one of these responses included anything about pay-satisfaction, and perhaps with good reason. The national average teacher salary is around fifty thousand dollars a year, but from state to state, the average varies wildly. By state, this number may vary anywhere from sixty thousand, to as low as thirty seven thousand. I don't know much about cost of living expenses in many other states, but enough on this list fell right at below the forty thousand mark that perhaps an important question is in order: How much do we really value the education of our children?
The Change article talked about a vastly different issue in american society as a whole, that also applies well to education specifically. It discussed issues with valuing professionalism over feelings, and letting dread of repercussions get in the way of inciting needed change. While true, there is maybe a bit of heroic recklessness to what was being suggested. It is of course important to be careful to establish a good report with administration and other teachers. What I mean to say is that it is important to ensure that doing the right thing isn't a decision that will result in one's firing and removal from said position where they can help.
If I were to sum up two of the most significant good/bad aspects of the american school system, it would be related to both teacher impact, and the administrative system behind it all. I find it wonderful that here in America, teachers have the opportunity to make such a difference for their students. These educators spend large portions of each day with their students over the course of the year, and in some cases, even spend multiple school years teaching the same children. On the flip side of things, one of the biggest roadblocks to much improvement in the field of education can often be the impenetrable bureaucracy that is embedded in the administrative aspect of the american education system. There can be quite the perplexing amount of paperwork, even for something as simple as having class outdoors one day, and quite often when there is a question that needs to be posed to administration with regards to proper procedure, the average teacher doesn't even know which administrator they should be asking.
All of these different pros and cons come together to create a dream job for some, the perfect storm for others, and for some people, both at once. Being a teacher can be the most rewarding and/or the most frustrating job out there for a person, but given the experience all of us have in this class, it's safe to say that the rewarding part is the deciding factor in each of our minds.
I know that my feelings aren't quite in line with public perception however, as I have experienced the career from behind the teacher's desk, and find myself quite often disagreeing with many of the misconceptions that I hear.
Questions
For each of my fellow students, which of the pros stood out to you the most?
Which is the worst con in your opinion?
What do you feel gets in the way most when it comes to teachers being able to help their students in need?
In terms of the chapter, most of the talk was about pay. It would seem that there is more than a little bit of discouragement thrown towards potential teachers in the form of low wages. An overwhelming majority teachers responding to the surveys said that they teach because it is what calls to them and what they enjoy. They take pride and joy from educating the nation's youth, and in some cases were even influenced to become a teacher by one of their own teachers earlier in life. Not one of these responses included anything about pay-satisfaction, and perhaps with good reason. The national average teacher salary is around fifty thousand dollars a year, but from state to state, the average varies wildly. By state, this number may vary anywhere from sixty thousand, to as low as thirty seven thousand. I don't know much about cost of living expenses in many other states, but enough on this list fell right at below the forty thousand mark that perhaps an important question is in order: How much do we really value the education of our children?
The Change article talked about a vastly different issue in american society as a whole, that also applies well to education specifically. It discussed issues with valuing professionalism over feelings, and letting dread of repercussions get in the way of inciting needed change. While true, there is maybe a bit of heroic recklessness to what was being suggested. It is of course important to be careful to establish a good report with administration and other teachers. What I mean to say is that it is important to ensure that doing the right thing isn't a decision that will result in one's firing and removal from said position where they can help.
If I were to sum up two of the most significant good/bad aspects of the american school system, it would be related to both teacher impact, and the administrative system behind it all. I find it wonderful that here in America, teachers have the opportunity to make such a difference for their students. These educators spend large portions of each day with their students over the course of the year, and in some cases, even spend multiple school years teaching the same children. On the flip side of things, one of the biggest roadblocks to much improvement in the field of education can often be the impenetrable bureaucracy that is embedded in the administrative aspect of the american education system. There can be quite the perplexing amount of paperwork, even for something as simple as having class outdoors one day, and quite often when there is a question that needs to be posed to administration with regards to proper procedure, the average teacher doesn't even know which administrator they should be asking.
All of these different pros and cons come together to create a dream job for some, the perfect storm for others, and for some people, both at once. Being a teacher can be the most rewarding and/or the most frustrating job out there for a person, but given the experience all of us have in this class, it's safe to say that the rewarding part is the deciding factor in each of our minds.
I know that my feelings aren't quite in line with public perception however, as I have experienced the career from behind the teacher's desk, and find myself quite often disagreeing with many of the misconceptions that I hear.
Questions
For each of my fellow students, which of the pros stood out to you the most?
Which is the worst con in your opinion?
What do you feel gets in the way most when it comes to teachers being able to help their students in need?
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Nature of Schools, The -- Post One: I Begin to Catalog My Journey
This title is sort of a work in progress. It's just an attempt to put two words together, from someone who doesn't yet know what the course is truly about. I did this to reflect a fumbling un-sureness as to what lies ahead in this course's content, but he titles of the blog posts and the content will, I am sure, come to reflect a more clear image as the course continues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)