One of the readings for this week spoke about the way that schools should work towards creating not only intelligent individuals, but knowledgeable citizens as well. I believe that this is a very important aspect of education as long as it does not try to mold the career paths that the students are aspiring for. I cannot recollect any time during my educational life where I was told to understand my governmental policies or officials, analyze the laws or Constitution, or perform any type of community service to give back to the community. I went to a Catholic grammar and high school and only remember History class being the “normal” and robotic type of classroom that is known as the traditional method of education. I would have greatly appreciated having this opportunity because they would have opened up a new world to me that I feel was only found after I left that type of environment.
The schools in my neighborhood have changed, for the better, since the time that I graduated high school. My brother is in sixth grade and advised me a couple of month’s back that he has to do 100 hours of community service in order to graduate from grammar school. I really think that this is a great way for the students to experience how their community actually functions without being shielded from the “real world” around them. The schools are preparing the students to be more involved in their communities while also being able to comprehend the operations of the United States government. I believe that this is the best way to “wake up” our nation and get people to be more active and involved in their communities and, most importantly, their own lives.
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"I ... and only remember History class being the “normal” and robotic type of classroom that is known as the traditional method of education."
ReplyDeleteDitto! After teaching for 9 years and working with many great and wise educators who - despite different teaching methods being available to them - I think I'm coming to the conclusion that they like the subject matter so much that they like tellings its story. There's that saying that goes something like the only thing better than learning by doing is learning by teaching, and maybe that's part of the reason why so many of us have had those robotic, lecture-driven classes: Some teachers like talking about it so much they've never stopped to think about and/or find new and more engaging ways to teach it (for the students, that is).
Again, great post!
Regan.
http://www.action-ed.com/blog/