Week 4

Time may change me (but I can't trace time): 
 
Pedagogical ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I enjoyed reading about the core ideas for the postindustrial paradigm of instruction (in chapter 8) and hadn't previously considered the role that industrialism played in shaping educational theory.  I think I'd like to print out Mr. Reigeluth's list to use as I get further into teaching, because even though it's more "both-and" than "neither-nor," I think one side of each dichotomy represents the old way and should be moved away from.  Here I'll briefly discuss the first five (out of eight).

1.  Learning-focused vs. Sorting-focused:  This is something we still see quite a lot, but it occurred because students needed to be shaped into either manual laborers or the people who employed them.  Now, especially in urban areas, students are still sorted where they can't reach the same levels of success as their counterparts in more affluent areas.   I've tried to correct this, when working with students who expressed interest in a life of labor, by introducing them to college study plans and various forms of literacy--this way, even those students who might sort themselves suddenly have similar opportunities as the rest of their learning community.

2.  Learner-centered vs. Teacher-centered Instruction:  This hearkens back to the teacher writing Latin phrases on the chalkboard for his or her students to copy down.  Students had no freedom or control (and thereby much less chance of internalized motivation) over their own education.  I went to a professional development meeting where strategies for teaching gifted students were given, and I learned about a bingo-like chart of options for students to learn by doing in regards to a common topic.  This gives students a chance to plot their own course based on their own experiences, talents and needs.

3.  Learning by doing vs. Teacher presenting:  I've encountered many teachers so far whose singular objective is to stand up and talk every day for 45 minutes to an hour (including most of my high school teachers, which is why this is difficult to break away from).  The key term here is student self-direction, which involves cultivating motivation and student interest as well as developing assessments that are authentic and performance-based, giving students a real chance to "show what they know."

4. Attainment-based vs. Time-based progress

and

5.  Customized vs. Standardized instruction:  These are very similar (even though #5 goes beyond #4) in the sense that the old-time half of the dichotomy means that everyone learns the same thing at the same time (again, like when I was in school).  The opposite of this situation presents a very different idea of education than the one that I'm used to experiencing, where students learn at their own pace and continue until they understand the content (as opposed to being left behind if they don't) and also have activities that are geared specifically towards them and how they learn.

As I get closer to being a teacher, I want to be able to integrate these forward-facing ideas into my curriculum so as to give each student a chance to succeed (as opposed to continuing the old ways where some students are groomed for jobs that entail a life of wealth and some students are almost guaranteed a continuation of poverty and hard labor).