Occasionally it is useful to look at your classes and ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?". Far too often the answer to that question is not sufficient. If the best response to that question is because it's on the test, or the scope and sequence says I have to cover it, we can't expect students or teachers to be engaged.
School should be a place where students learn to ask questions and explore interests. Instead it is too often a place where they are lead from class to class, dutifully following directions and doing assignments that are totally disconnected from their lives and interests. Students should have more say in the topics they want to study. They need guidance, not prescribed sets of curriculum.
When teachers ask the question, "Why am I doing this?", the answer needs to be because it will make the student's think and learn. We are here to teach students, not subjects. When the curriculum and assessment become more important than the students we have lost our way.
No comments:
Post a Comment