Kim's Question

Kim's Question: How important is it that students enjoy their education and should this be the goal in teaching?

I believe that teachers should try to make their lessons enjoyable, and encourage their students to enjoy learning. Although the material may not always be enjoyable to all students, the learning experience and the time they spend in the classroom can be made enjoyable, therefore increasing their desire to learn. I think the more enjoyable a student finds a class, the more likely they will grasp the concepts because they will probably be actively engaged int he experience. Unfortunately, teachers do not have the authority to change their curricula to make the subjects more enjoyable, but they can try to select material and activities that the students will like. When students become bored or disinterested in the classroom material, they often become disengaged and will not perform as well on exams and quizzes. By keeping students of all intelligence levels interested in the classroom, a teacher may find that he/she can successfully connect to the students.

My question: Have you ever had a teacher who took a active role in trying to make your education enjoyable?

Constructivism vs. Realism in the Classroom

In class today, we discussed the differences between radical constructivism and realism in evaluating and observing the characteristics of an apple. How do these differences relate to teaching in a classroom? Let's look at the example from Dewey Dykstra's article on the tests of physics students. Teachers who chose the realist approach to teaching expressed the "facts" as they are, while the students memorized these "facts" as truths, and regurgitated the information on an exam. After the test was taken, the students showed no real understanding of the material. However, had these students questioned what they were learning and had their teachers encouraged them to draw from their past experiences, these students may have left the course with a comprehensive understanding of the material. In class, we decided that constructivist teaching emphasizes understanding over simply knowing. Constructivism also allows us to keep in mind that there exists information about everyday objects that we can never truly know. This relates back to Korzybski's idea that you can never know "all" about something. We can only know what our perceptions tell us. So, my question is: Do you believe that the constructivist philosophy should be introduced in the classroom, and if so, at what age is most appropriate for handling this higher-order thinking?

Education and the Open Mind (or Closed Mind)

In class last week, we discussed the adoption of learning preferences in the classroom. Today, many teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching material to suit students' various learning preferences. This strategy creates variety and diversity in the classroom, as well as presenting material in exciting new ways. However, no matter how hard a teacher works to engage her students, at the end of the day, the student's attitude in the classroom determines the success of the teacher's efforts. In class we asked the question: Do students make the choice about whether or not they're going to learn? In my opinion, many students do enter their classrooms with a pre-conceived assumption in their heads that they do not care to learn that particular subject, and as a result, they will avoid doing the work and actively "not-learn". These students do make a conscious choice whether to begin each lesson with a closed or open mind, just as dedicated students choose to focus and participate. Having said that, I also believe that some teachers can break these students out of their shells and show them the value of education and how interesting some subjects really can be. My question is this: Do you remember any teachers who were able to engage even the toughest kids in the class?