It seems like our schools are so afraid of failure that they refuse to try anything new. We all know that there are serious discrepancies in how students should be taught, but we are also at a loss as to how to rectify the situation. According to King & O’Brien, teachers are so afraid of losing “control” (i.e. power over students), that they are shying away from anything that is unfamiliar. Rather than seizing the opportunity to learn something new from their students, teachers find student knowledge threatening. Aren’t we supposed to embrace new knowledge, especially that of our students?
I have to empathize with teachers who are willing to reject the notion of technological advances as play and who are willing to incorporate technology into the classroom, yet are unable to do so because they lack support from their superiors. King and O’Brien hit the nail on the head when they discuss the school system’s resistance towards accountability, in other words, "not in my backyard." If more schools aren’t willing to venture outside the traditionalist mindset regarding education, it will be virtually impossible to both help and entice our students in the area of academia.
Aside from sounding like a broken record, teachers need to recreate the English classroom according to changes in society. With that being said, finding out student interests and skills as well as honing in on our own skills, will create a rich environment to learn.
Chrissy G
Education in Motion
Reading is Fundamental
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2 comments:
I totally agree with you, Chrissy. I think one of the most important jobs of teachers is to remember that we don't know everything and that we should be open to our students teaching us. This is especially true now because our students are the ones who are the natives in this technology-rich world, so we need to allow them to teach us a thing or two about how we can motivate them by utilizing their interests in the classroom. It is a shame that an overwhelming number of schools don't support the technology like they should. Perhaps we can hope for improvements in the near future.
YOU are the next generation of teachers. It will be up to you to change the paradigms. I think you're up to it. What do you think?
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