Education is Politics

Education is Politics by: Ira Shor

Talking Points #11

Reflection:

In the article we read this week we learned about our educational system, and can we develop our students into critical thinkers? I agree with a lot of the points this article makes we need to ask the students to question their experience.  They need to tell us how they learned about something. It isn't good for students just to regurgitate  information, and then spill it out on a test.  They will never learn that way because once they do that they will just forget about everything that they have learned.  Students need to challenge their education, and make sure they are actually learning something.  Their teachers have a big part to do with this if they aren't doing their job these students will never get the education they need. In our FNED class we are learning to think critically every time we participate in class.  Whenever Dr. Bogad asks us, "Was that your opinion, his opinion, or both?" She is making us think, and she won't just give us notes and expect us to memorize them because that won't do anything for us.  The exercise we did in class with the worksheet, and the extremely easy questions is a good example of this I think because that worksheet was so simple that we should've been offended.  That is why we crumpled it up, and threw it on the ground afterwards.  We were just pretty much copying and pasting from that article and writing it on a piece of paper.  We weren't learning anything.  She was trying to make that point clear to us, and that's not how we should learn or teach students in the future since we are all going to become teachers. 

I definitely think this article connects to the article we read on tracking by Jeannie Oakes.  I think it connects because some students won't get the same education as other students because they are placed in classrooms based on their ability.  They will get the type of learning where they will just have to memorize things, and take notes from a teacher lecturing.  They won't get the same education as some of the higher level students.  That is why tracking can be very controversial.  From this article I also learned that students need to not just learn from the classroom.  They need to learn from outside the classroom, and bring their own way of learning to the classroom.  All students have different ways of learning, and it is the teachers job to make sure that the student gets to use their own way of learning, and not just the same thing every class.  By doing the same typical thing taking notes and memorizing them, and then regurgitating them onto a piece of paper for a test, and then forgetting about it all.  No one can ever learn from that.

My placement teacher at Roger Williams Middle School does a great job with her students in my opinion.  I think that because she is not that typical teacher who just has students memorize everything from her notes.  She wants them to become critical thinkers.  So, on most math tests, quizzes, worksheets, etc... she has them do math problems, and she has them explain everything that they do in a couple of sentences.  This makes them try to have an understanding of what they are doing, and so they can explain it to the teacher.  I like this method because most math teachers wouldn't have them write explanations they would just have them do the math problems, and they would either get it right or wrong.  I am definitely going to incorporate this method into my class, so I know they students will have the knowledge of what they are doing, and so they will be able to explain it in words, and that will help them become critical thinkers.  This may be tough for students because math is a tough subject for students to become critical thinkers. 
Again from this article I learned that students education needs to be taken beyond the classroom.  From our Promising Practices Event I learned from Dr. Dana Fusco's Keynote Address that after school activities can be very important in youth development.  This connects to this article in my opinion because doing after school activities takes learning beyond the classroom, and it is a fun more hands-on way that students can learn.  Its great to have after school programs at all schools.  I worked in an after school program before its called PASA which stands for Providence After School Alliance. It is a great program to get students involved with many different things.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading this article I learned a lot about how students need to be critical thinkers, and it has to do with the teachers.  "Whether teachers deviate from the official syllabus, teachers make numerous decisions- themes, texts, tests, seating arrangements, rules for speaking, grading systems, learning process, and so on."  This was an important quote I thought from our article.  From these choices teachers make it shows how things can be defined as critical or uncritical.  Again teaching needs to go beyond the classroom, and there are many factors that go into making sure students become critical thinkers.  That website I put there talks about critical thinking for higher education, and I found it very interesting.  There are different workshops, and courses you can look at that can help you in the future! Here is a video of a man Dr. Richard Paul who talks about critical thinking. 


Comments:  I know that I have not become a critical thinker throughout most of my high school and college experience so far.  This is the first class that I actually feel like I am.  High school never prepared me for this I feel.  I always had to take notes, and memorize everything.  In college I am still doing this. Professors just lecture, and we just take notes as quickly as we can.  I don't learn from that! It is very hard for me to learn from a professor who just stands there and talks for the whole two hours.  At least in this class we are getting involved and actually learning something.  A lot of professors I have taken don't care about our education they make as easy as possible.  But, we don't learn anything.  We should feel offended by this because we want to make sure we get the educations we need since we are going to become teachers.  It is OK to have a very easy class once in a while, who doesn't like easy once in a while?  When it comes down to it we want to learn everything we can especially if you are becoming a teacher in a designated area like math, English, science... etc.  That's why I always try to get good professors for math classes that I know I can learn well from.  At this point I know my way of learning, and I like how I figure things out and problem solve.  I am learning to become a good critical thinker and that is all I can ask for.  What does everyone think about some of the professors at RIC that are so easy that we don't learn anything? Do you think it is good or bad? How can we change this? Comment and let me know what you think!