>find out what kids think. Though, here again, there is likely to be a
>link: if you really listen to what the kids have to say, you are likely to
>make some changes in your practices in response.
>
Thank you for the clarification, it makes a lot of sense. I had realized
after posing the question that many teachers might feel that they listen to
their students, but I have not seen many acting on those ideas - changing
the direction the class was pursuing as a result of what students said,
wrote, built etc. I do not mean this to point a finger at teachers -
careful observation and thought leads to the conclusion that reductionism
doesn't work here.
I also don't wish to say that teachers should always act upon their
students expressions. I have observed some excellent teaching/learning
that never seems to reach this state. Yet there seems to be powerful
motivation when the class becomes relevant to the students because the
questions that emerge in their activity are being addressed.
Many students alone (up to grade 12) do not have the abilities to answer
the questions they ask, at least in science. I come to this conclusion
after judging science fairs at local and regional levels (the kids who make
it to the regional levels do seem to 'have the ability', but I have often
detected strong apprenticeship in those projects) and by participating in
high school and middle school classrooms. I think as a result some
teachers' experiments into more student-centered learning often fail,
especially first attempts. But this is not the students fault either -
many have never had the chance to exercise inquiry skills.
And neither have teachers. Action research is very attractive as a process
to help bootstrap the system to a new set of norms, yet it would appear
that the mentor in the action research process must possess both a strong
understanding of the content area and have some good models of the
teaching/learning process. Especially if the teacher has not participated
in educational research. What do you think? Does this make sense?
Bill Barowy, Associate Professor
Technology in Education
Lesley College, 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA 02138-2790
Phone: 617-349-8168 / Fax: 617-349-8169
_______________________
"One of life's quiet excitements is to stand somewhat apart from yourself
and watch yourself softly become the author of something beautiful."
[Norman Maclean in "A river runs through it."]