Last week I was revisiting the teachings of Sir Ken Robinson (check out the link if you are not familiar with him!), particularly thinking about creativity and how our students will be living and working in a future we can neither see nor imagine, yet we are responsible for training them now. Technology is already an integral part of our daily activities and social lives. No matter how tricky it may be to incorporate it meaningfully into the classroom, we would be doing our students a disservice by failing to do so. Essentially, we would be denying them tools for a successful future of their own. I hope we will use our training and creativity to make public education everything we wish it had been for us.
Some of us have come to support and/or respect each other's ideas, and I've started a blog so we can share student teaching experiences, remain networked for the job hunt, and generally help each other out.... keep in touch and good luck!
I think it is interesting how you worded the following: "Thinking about..how our students will be living and working in a future we can neither see nor imagine, yet we are responsible for training them now." This statement really sums up this CURR 316 course and our methods course AND our READ 411 course. As future educators, we are being educating about educating in the future- where the methods we are learning now might not even apply then. I think that it is important to gain a thorough understanding of what our courses are truly about, so in case there is a dramatic change from now to the time we are in the classroom, we will be educated enough to apply the basics of what we learned to these new situations. I know I promised myself to always keep up with the latest gadgets and technologies to ensure I can relate to my students and even use these technologies educationally and supportively.
ReplyDeleteLiana, the statement you pulled out was paraphrased from Ken Robinson's theories on education, which I find to be both innovative and realistic. YOU said some things that are interesting to me, "we are being educated about educating in the future" - yes, but we are being educated based on what is known now, because humans have trouble thinking ahead, and "in case there is a dramatic change" which of course there should be, and hopefully will be, and we will have to function in the midst of it.
ReplyDeleteI believe we will be able to function in the midst of any change. I think we are prepared. And as you said, I have worked with you for quite some time now- and I have learned much from you. Working with someone who cares about education and art and children, as much as I do, is what pushes me beyond what I thought I could do. Knowing you want what I want, and just being able to share thoughts, concerns and ideas with you has helped me grow as a person and teacher. It has been a great experience I have learned more than just what was taught in our classes. I hope I find a colleague in my future career to bounce ideas off of and share innovative classroom ideas with just as we have, because if I can take away one thing that I didn't learn in the classroom, it was sometimes peer work and reflection truly is a greater form of increasing understanding (even for educators).
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