Please go to the link below and view the short video
of Dan Brown’s Open Letter to Educators:
You will have students like Dan Brown (perhaps many of
them).
How does this attitude/philosophy/belief about
education inform you as a prospective teacher?
What does it mean for your actions, reactions, and
pedagogical deployment as you anticipate dealing with some “Dan Browns”?
Dan makes some excellent points. Society is changing, and large parts of the education system have become a bastion of (dramatically underfunded) traditional values in a contemporary world. I don't think Dan says that facts aren't important, and if he did, I would disagree. Facts lose relevance when delivered in an antiquated way, BUT, teaching students how to think, how to analyze, how to synthesize, are skills that would benefit them long after their use of school facts has waned.
ReplyDeleteThis really makes me agree all the more with the theory assigned to me for this weeks research: constructivism. Using methods which truly engage students, and using scaffolding techniques, which both allow the teacher the chance to impart knowledge, and the students opportunity to build on that knowledge and make their own, is very important.
Ahh the Dan Browns of the world! Yes, the education system does in some aspects "need a face lift" to meet the needs of the world changing around us. But there is something to be said about sticking to the basics. In order to truly understand certain subjects, it is a much better learning process to start at the beginning instead of just looking it up on the internet.
ReplyDeleteI would view a student like Dan Brown as one that would need to be the leader in group activities or just the class in general. They are not the type of students that have great active listening skills. Instead they are great problem solvers and tend to try and have the answer before anyone else, or even before you finish your statement. They tend to challenge the system at any means possible at times just to get a reaction. Group activities may not be the best plan of action because they may not let anyone else participate.
I don't know - group tasks might be a place where the Dan Browns can really shine. People like Dan don't suffer fools lightly, so the assignments would definitely need relevance, but I wouldn't be surprised if the properly structured group assignment wouldn't just allow the Dans to lead, and maybe wake up a few other students, too?
DeleteAs a prospective teacher I think it is very important to prepare out students for the real world. We can do this in the classroom but teaching them about technology. Students still need to have classical learning but also embrace the new world also. I think it is important to show students that you need to learn facts but also encourage them to think outside the box, have creativity and have technology. I think it is possible to have all these things in the classroom. We have to show them that learning can happen with technology. Students do need to be taught to be able to adapt to new changes. Learning is still very important.
ReplyDeleteI like how you phrased "classical learning." I think a big thing that a lot of teachers are doing that lose those students teetering on motivation is fail to establish a real world context in which the subject matter has relevancy. And when that is absent, then establish for the student how working through this content and the process of learning is relevant to real world success, etc.
DeleteI think that understanding his attitude and beliefs is good in that it helps me to understand the current student populations way of thinking and will help me to develop and integrate teaching strategies that will allow the students to use technology in this information age. This type of student would strike me as a know it all and it would be difficult to relate to them and keep them interested. One thing I think is that I would need to point out that there are some skills that really can't be learned simply by searching the internet. Students will not develop social skills or job skills by simply relying on the information they read. They need to participate in activities in order to build these skills. I think I would need to set a foundation for basic learning and then incorporate technology into students everyday lessons.
ReplyDeleteThis type of student is more common nowdays than what we think. After you get over the initial reaction of wanting to choke him because it has annoyed you not only as a teacher but as individual due to his display of arrogance, I need to understand he is a student and he still can learn. As a propective teacher, I need to be aware that I am going to be challanged by this type of student. I not afraid of this type of student because they are just entering into the "real world" and their perspective on life will change with experience. My role as a teacher is to get the "facts" as he mentioned and make it relevant to the student's life. I might have do a project that tie the facts with current issues, for example.
ReplyDeleteChoking students is not allowed in most schools, MM. ;-)
Delete(But most teachers entertain that fantasy from time to time).
Yup!
DeleteDan Brown's attitude, "know it all", just google it and you'll have all the knowledge you need to get by.
ReplyDeleteToday's youth has no concept of long term needs just what they need at this moment. Students need a solid foundation in education, learning will empower them to control their future and their success.