Teaching and Learning: Dumbing Us Down

 

 Part I

 

WARM UP

 

Activity

Class begins with music and warm up. Students are invited to get on their feet, get away from their desks and follow the professor's muscle groups - isolation warm up. 

In previous classes, we added conscious breathing at the end of the warm up,  self-affirmations and meditation.

 Question 1

Is this warm up useful? Post your answer on Discussion Board.

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Part II 

 

BOOK REVIEW

 Today we will introduce Jon Taylor Gato's work on education. Please, watch the video below and move the discussion forward by answering to  the following questions:

Book Review: Dumbing Us Down

Question 2

What do you think about Gato's ideas as expressed  in this review?

 

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Part III

Educational Article

 Teaching and Learning: Lost in a Buzzword Wasteland

Question 2

Reflect on this article. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

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Part IV

 

 STUDENTS' WORK

 

 Katie Goldstein

Article Response

I agree with the article. There needs to be research and innovation in any field so why should education be any different. There needs to be more research to create a system that responds to the individual needs of the students. Buzzwords mean nothing when there is nothing to them, they don't mean anything. Innovation can not happen without evidence of how to best conduct the education system, which will never be known without extensive research performed on the subject. The education system is not "one size fits all," and not all students will respond to traditional learning environments the same way. The article brings up really important points and I think there needs to be a change in educational research. 

 

  Karli Feinstein

Book/Article Review - Karli Feinstein

Book response:

I thought what the author said was very interesting. I believe what she stated about confusion in the classroom is very true. In todays world, the schooling system is all by curriculum. Very little creativity is pushed on students, some teachers can even take away a students creative mind fully by not letting one express themselves. A teacher and student need to work together and feel comfortable with each other in order to excel in the classroom.

Article review: 

I though the concept of pedagogy was super interesting. I completely agree with the concept and believe every child learns differently, therefore having one teaching curriculum In the classroom does not allow for every student to learn in their preferred way. School systems need to start taking personal approaches to teaching students. Teachers should be educating students in way they will comfortably understand.

Jason Inerarity

I definitely enjoyed watching the video and see her make claims, and then proceed to explain them in detail. What mostly stood out to me was when she called out the parents. She said that they need to read and analyze the type of literature that they are exposing to their children. I liked the concept of not being able to divorce parenting from education. She mentioned how it part of your job and I definitely agree, it is very easy to get comfortable when kids can seek out answers from web services or if not ask educators such as their teachers. However, parents should always be the first line of defense, and It should be discussed more. 

 

Basically what I understood from this article is that there is still a lot of generalizations being made in education which is very dangerous. Not every student functions or thinks the same, which is why adopting one specific teaching style and not shying away from that can be an injustice to the students. 

 

  Zalikha Gowon

Dumbing Us Down

My takeaway from this review was to find or create communities rather than networks for children to promote the highest quality of life. Also to provide freedom, privacy, and resources so that children can learn in their own ways. 

 I think pedagogy is extremely beneficial for the classroom and all teachers should have a good pedagogy for their classroom. Pedagogy increases a culture of learning or community of learners, openness and trust, innovation and creativity, sharing ideas, student engagement, and peer review.