Re: coercion/education
Kathleen A. Falconer (falconer who-is-at physics.purdue.edu)
Sun, 21 Apr 1996 20:00:56 -0500 (EST)
Hello,
I usually lurk but something Jay Lemke said about
"I've always found it very _hard_ to advocate this freedom,
because adults really don't want to think about the possibility
that the practices necessary to reproduce their values and
culture may be morally unjustifiable in terms of those very
values and culture."
really touched a chord in me. When I did my B.Ed. at a small
Canadian university about 1986, I took a general methods of
education class. The professor in charge of the class advocated
giving students choices in the curriculum, how it was taught,
methods of evaluation, etc. The only problem was that we as
students in the education program, who had already completed
on Bachlors degree, were given no choice in the curriculum,
no choice in how it was taught, and certianly no choice in
methods of evaluation. I pointed out this difference between
what was being said, and what was actually being done. To make
the story short, I did very poorly grade wise in that class.
I argreed with the need to take the course and curriculum,
but probably would have made different choices if I had of had
the freedom.
If student teachers can not be given the freedom, who do expect
the students to be given freedom?
-Kathleen Falconer
falconer who-is-at physics.purdue.edu