Well it is unanimous we have to change schools but while everyone agrees that schools are becoming outdated in their traditional form nobody wants to set forth how to change them. One article I read said that schools are building student for an industrial world and we need to make them more adaptable to students like keeping them open 24 hours a day.
Based on those thought I began to think about how we are already changing:
Virtual HS which is in reality a 24 hour a day school
Co-op which is working with professionals at a job you might like to have in the future along with Tech schools for training.
Standards based education where students decide what classes to take to achieve the standards thus developing their own curriculum.
So with all these new options for education are we really that far behind the eight ball of change. There is something to be said for traditional schooling and that interaction with a class that is engaged in learning. Being in a class that is making connections with what you are teaching and then inspiring others in the class to make more connections is an awesome feeling. I think the trick is going to be how do we combine the two ideas. Using the skills that work from a traditional class and integrate them with the new ideas from an ever changing reality.
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The social aspect of the public education system as we know it, is an important aspect which should not be eliminated from the experience of students. That being said, there is plenty of room for change within this system. Change is often retarded by adherence to local, state and national standards which at times has led to the creation of a stagnant curriculum which has no room for flexibility. Perhaps taking the core set of skills and information which we value and allowing students to have input in building the curriculum around them would be a start. Each tear we are entrusted with a new group of students; shouldn't the curriculum be built around their personalities?
ReplyDelete"There is something to be said for traditional schooling and that interaction with a class that is engaged in learning. Being in a class that is making connections with what you are teaching and then inspiring others in the class to make more connections is an awesome feeling."
ReplyDeleteFor me, your key words here are "...a class that is engaged in learning." If that is happening then that is the key. But, for too many kids, that rarely or never happens.
You obviously work very hard to make this happen and the relationships between and among you and your students are essential.