“Simply put, we have fallen in love with the illusory certainty of making a choice, and abandoned any shared commitment to investing in the long and careful deliberative process that is necessary to ensure that the decisions we do make are both well informed and thoughtfully constructed.”
These sentiments came from: the Education Week article In Modern School Reform is it We the People or Me the Individual?
I agree whole-heartedly, I just haven’t articulated it the way they have. As a middle school teacher, this is what you lose when you create “zero-tolerance” policies. This is what you lose when you evaluate instruction with selected response assessments. There’s no wiggle room, no second chances, no mercy and no grace. We are teaching our children that making “good” decisions is a natural innate ability. We give little room for growth to reflect that one’s ability to make the right decision comes more easily over time and maturity, or that decision making is more like a muscle and only gets better with exercising. When an adolescent makes a mistake now-a-days, they are severely punished …imagine how this discourages their faith in their ability to make good choices throughout life?
I know that is not the central thesis of this of this article, but I couldn’t help but pull it out. It is definitely a problem in our schools.
Time is a major factor. So much as to get done in a certain amount of time, and we simply ignore the differences in time it takes different individuals to process information.
How can teachers and parents help students flex their decision making muscles?
How do you feel about “zero-tolerance”?
In what ways can we teach children to enjoy the process instead of focusing solely on the product?
Teach a (wo)man to fish…
Oftentimes we assume that people without resources can’t learn or have too many obstacles standing in their way to find success and happiness. Below is truly a story of teaching “a man how to fish.” How often do we as teachers and parents control the learning environment instead of facilitating it? This really is a matter of trust. Do you trust your children/students to accomplish the task you set forth without your constant help? They will have to eventually. we perhaps too impatient when it comes to our expectations of not what they learn but when? Ask yourselves this as teachers and parents. I certainly have and sometimes I didn’t like my answer. Sometimes you feel pressured by administrators, pacing guides, other parents, heck even society to get your child/student “there” where ever there is in a short amount of time. Everyone learns at his/her own pace. Instead of pressuring them to retain the lesson, instill the value of it. Why should they learn this? Of what significance to their lives is this lesson? If you teach that, the learner will be more motivated to step up to the challenge. Watch the video below and see how a group of impoverished mothers went from not knowing how to read or write to becoming solar engineers in 6 months! The work that they trained for, helped them sustain their villages and empower other women. We are always trying to swoop in and save people when they are very well capable of saving themselves. If we don’t TEACH people and we do the learning for them, what will they do when we leave?
Sir Ken Robinson: Changing the Education Paradigms
In English
In Spanish
What Does School Really Teach Children?
What can we do to change this senario? At home, at school and in the community? What is your role in educating the children in your community? What are some more unintended lessons children are learning in school?
Count Your Lessons 