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Katharine's Education Portfolio
Katharine's EDUC 200 Final Portfolio
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April 20, 2016
Apalled that MB touches the tombstone
½ Spoken Latin, ½ English
Asking girl about kpop-->she reacts say no (it is)--want to watch a new MV
I asked if there was something wrong w/ KPOP
They said no, maybe to get a reaction from her?
M student was incredibly dramatic
It’s an open house today, so only 7 students in class (out of 11)
Short sentences, repeating words/verbs so they understand
Deciding who reads first-->whose close relative lives the farthest
Saying something in Latin and then immediately saying the English?
Silently filling in vocab words, instructed to skip ones they don’t know
Going over hard vocab
Roman House video
They are on Ch. 5→ which is about the Roman house
As video plays, talks/stops to talk about the places in the house
Reading an article on Mary Beard and how she reacted to comments about her appearance
Watching meet the Romans, a documentary w/ Mary Beard
Students are commenting on Beard’s behavior→ a little mean
Students working on HW during the documentary
P saying “Awww… she’s so excited” in a kind of pitying, condescending voice
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April 15, 2016
Cede maiori: yield to the bigger thing (ancestors)
One of the girls actually won a prize @ the Philly Classical Society
A few others won cum laude/other certificates
Imperfect Day!!
Asks students to tell a story in English, uses past tense
“Was ___-ing” “used to _____”
“Did _____” “kept on _____-ing”
“Video word”/”video tense” used to describe the purpose of imperfect
The sign is “ba”-->students are life wtf?
Gives each student a word to translate into Imperfect
Encourages students to find own way to arrive at the answer
If students can’t remember vocab, uses cognates to get them to remember vocab
laudabam-> “sounds like loud a bomb”
3 students joking about bombs in the back of the class
Asks students to write down range of meanings @ bottom of verb chart
Students interrupting Mrs. M w/ sass/sarcasm, maybe thinks its amusing? It’s mostly just distracting
Passes out Telling Tales and its popcorn style translation
There are no bells to end class
Period 2
They had a test on Weds, everyone asks about the test again.
Lots of talking/gossiping before class officially starts
Much more scattered than the first class, taking longer to get the motto
Handing back kite projects and grades on binders
Much louder, more fooling around, general talking
Uses video metaphor again
Talking about opening their pools, someone is moving to a hour w/o a pool
M introduces the signal “ba” everyone says “ba” really loudly then asks what?
When they get really loud sometimes they self correct and sometimes they don’t
F has lots of random ?’s they always want to know about perfect tense
Second period has more issues forming the verbs
Interrupt M w/ lots of questions
Keep asking to sing Happy Birthday to a classmate
D+two friends near door fooling around, the third one in the row is actually trying, D+E are fooling around, don’t seem to be paying attention
B-Day girl keeps bugging about bathroom, b/c she didn’t go the first time
Once M tells them that they are about to learn 1st sg everyone starts shouting out what they think it is
Someone guessed right
When asked to form the same word she giggled and messed it up
“Ba” → when asked to write it on sheet, a few girls start singing barbara-ann by the Beach Boys
Helped class w/ vocab charts and fixing verbs
Only a few people are actually translating (popcorn style)
F+G are talking in the back
Everyone is looking at books though
G turns her entire body towards F and M tells her to face forwards (3 times)
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April 6, 2016
“Okay omnes”
Explaining Latin moods b/c students need to use imperatives
D raises hand
Writes verbs on board and students make them into an imperative
But doesn’t go over irregular imperatives like fero.
Power struggle before class→ B seems to be at the center
Checking in to see who’s done -->only one group is @ first check
Latin mad libs
Learned lots over past two weeks, but only done 1 chapter
Ability to apply Latin has increased
Magistra explains that the stories aren’t intriguing right now→ they get better after ch. 10 because right now it’s vocab.
Explaining vocative-->using suggestions of “nicknames” to explain the situation
Using computers to study vocab for last 10 mins on quizlet
Very competitive but no blaming for losing
Spoke too soon.. P gets blamed in Ostrich group.
Lots of yelling B screams a lot
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March 16, 2016
Amor metu vacat “love frees (you) from fear”
no mention that it’s ablative of sep
asking if everyone has their homework
going word by word through the motto->uses the picture that the motto is on to give clues
explaining declensions using categories/rows/columns when student presses her about metu
with lots of HW->make up own sentences
when smartboard was acting up, I typed HW answers on computer word by word
has students recite/tell her what grammar concepts they used in the HW
same student who left class last time is sleeping at their desk
has students look up English derivatives of latin words
has students split up into groups->most write a sentence w/ a specific grammatical thing
sellam->seat
work in groups w/ M checking
organized chaos->lots of talking/moving, but work gets done
two students in front bring out the books every time they’re done w/ the assignments
visiting student today sitting with her guide, sits in the back silently
2nd class:
as soon as they come in, vocalizing issues (whining) about HW
unlike first class they had a lot of issues, didn’t seem to be able to look up vocabs, they have vocab lists
start w/ same motto as before-> class comments on picture
only one student seems to be trying to work out motto-> comes up w/ “love”random anecdotes->arguing about whether cats and horses get along
unable to conjugate ambulo->comes up w/ ambulasum
side note about appearance or not of a classmate in class
despite saying they had issues they do well
have to be asked to stop talking multiple times
much louder than other class
Major sass “what’s Latin for not paying attention. That can be S’s middle name”has them list off the things they used in the sentences on the HW
this class works on assignments individually->not in groups
each student gets a grammar concept, has to create a sentence using it and then exchange English sentences and write the Latin
singing edited versions of rap/popular songs
different groups fooling around, two trying to push each other off their chairs, a few dancing, singing.So What:
I still feel like I don’t understand how these students are learning?It just seems like regurgitation, I’m not sure they would be able to apply these concepts to real Latin.
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March 2, 2016
2016.3.2
What:
I waited outside the school for someone to let me in for about 5 minutes
Then I headed up to the classroom where Mrs. Haas teaches
The French teacher who’s classroom it is was there
We talked she told me Mrs. Haas wouldn’t be in until 8:25, after homeroom when first period started
Mrs. Keshishian came in and told me Mrs. Haas wouldn’t be in today so I would help with the lower class as she had her own class this period.
The younger students moved their desks into one big table “so the high schoolers couldn’t sit with them”
Mrs. K made them extend it into one big table with everyone.
Mrs. K gave the students the guidelines of what we would do and left to work with her students
The students divided the roles among themselves, we would read it twice
Had to correct some pronounciation.
Students laugh when others pronounce it incorrectly
even the student mis-pronouncing it
weird pronunciations
After reading once, re-divided roles so everyone could go
Go to tell Mrs. K we’re done
Worked on worksheet they had in their binder
they are given the forms of the nouns/adjectives
they have to identify which case each noun is in the sentence
don’t know what declensions are
only know three cases
est is a linking verb
thought there was a typo
Mrs. K backed me up, one of the endings should’ve been genitive
then they worked on vocab sheets
students talking to eachother
asking me questions
all the questions
I am asked the same vocab word 7 times
have to identify the vocab word, part of speech, and if they already know a word that means the opposite or not they have to write it down
asked me for a lot of the definitions
Mrs. K comes and goes over their worksheet, corrects mistakes
has to finish worksheet for homework
So what?
Obviously think it’s funny to mis-pronounce, but why?
few students actually have the desire to learn this—they’d rather ask me questions
how are they supposed to learn if they are given the answers?
they don’t seem motivated to learn
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February 24, 2016
Beatus est qui vivit ut vult “He is lucky who lives as he wants”
asked what would change for it to be fem.
A. also brought up Beata Maria from Hunchbackà I was thinking the exact same thing
B. seemed to be sleepingàleft classroom after talk w/ Magistra and didn’t come back until after the period had ended
assigned students to write HW articles on board (smart board)
C+D finishing HW in the back row
D is asked to put computer away
Magistra goes around and looks at each students individual sentences after students write the other answers on the board
makes sure they followed the rules and that the sentences make sense
get students to make corrections where needed
D. gets up and waltzes around the room eventually ending up at the hole punch, stops at friends desks on the way there and back to her desk
D. and C. are playing chess on the computer
Magistra tells her to put it away
Class does what it wants while Magistra looks @ HW, she never tells them to really stop. Occasionally tell someone to put a book/computer away
E. on facebook while M. checks sentences
F+G wrote a ‘play’ in their free time mocking eachother
M. asks them to translate English sentences she writes on the board on the back of their HW
E. goes back to reading while students finish sentences: they tend to be the first one done
D. brags that she and her mom are the same size and that they were wearing the same shirt this morning and she made her mom change so they weren’t wearing the same thing
C+D playing chess instead of translating
Class sings “Happy Birthday” in Latin to H.
C+D do everything together, C follows D.
C+D migrate back to Chess, E back to her book
J+K, also sitting in the back row with C+D are reading behind their desks
M. tells them about an upcoming myth project
students translate heavily watered down Ovid in a kind of free-for-all
END OF PERIOD 1
Students come in and take open seats-not assigned
L. shows off a dress they and a classmate made for a classics competition
M. starts class over
class talks more and takes more rallying
not the same feeling of trying to get the right answer
teacher has to talk over students
M. had to prod them more and give them the answer a lot
less demonstration of understanding of Latin
despite the fact that M. told everyone to put computers away N. is still playing internet gamesàonly closes laptop when exercise is given
many more groans/sighs/signs of displeasure about doing work/Latin
need more encouragement/help
N. re-opens computer
need more time to correct answers, a lot are wrong the first time
everyone that has a laptop out is playing internet games
more preoccupied w/ changing the color of the pen (on the smartboard) then getting/checking answers
takes longer for students to write down/correct answer
M. needs to remind students to focus
M. tells students to put laptops away
3 students wait until asked a second time
excuses for what words they don’t know
vocab skills differ b/w classes
1st class has better memory/application/grasp of concept
2nd class can’t vocabà ask M. what every word is: ex. they just did forms of ‘posse’ for homework which required not only writing out the forms but using them in small sentences, but P. is asking friends what ‘to be’ and ‘to be able’ are in Latin.
M. reviews the skills they used in the translation sentences
takes the second class longer to do everything
M. basically gives them the Latin
instead of reading along N+Q are playing computer games w/ computer hidden behind binder.
So What?
Classes obviously have different levels?
Why?
Why do students not want to spend time on school?
Why does M not restrict use of computers?
Are the students getting the same amount out of class depending on which class they are in?
D and C seem co-dependent, does this continue into other classes?
Now What?
Does computer use change? lessen?
Does vocab understanding/memorization improve?
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February 17, 2016
What?
An A day- Mrs. C.
no one at front desk when I arrived
waited 10 mins until a teacher let me in
waited another 5 for someone to call up to the Middle School
told to be allowed to just go straight up to the classrooms
walked down school to the hallways that house the middle school
latin class is hosted in a French period
students speaking Spanish at the beginning of class
very basic latin
teacher speaks in latin to the students
students read latin
students do activities created by the teacher based on latin
more Spanish as an alternative
teacher called on one student more often than the others.
required students to move around so they changed groups
read the latin multiple times
it was a ‘play’ of sorts-each student played a different role
So What?
slightly disorganized in the morning.
students do not seem to have a lot of motivation
students are very structured
seemed almost a lower level than the kids Mrs. J was teaching, who were younger.
Now what?
pay more attention to relationship between teacher and students
is there a specific order behind the teacher’s motivations
do the kids continue to speak Spanish regularly? despite it being a latin class?
Does this indicate a preference for Spanish? Or is it just because they know more Spanish?
Since the kids don’t have a lot of Latin, how much are they trying to understand of what the Magistra says?
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February 10, 2016
First day at school
came a few minutes early, kids were still being dropped off
school was super informal about visitors, no one checked my ID, or gave me a visitors pass
Mrs. J was testing so I spent the first ¾ of the first period of a B day, in a Spanish classroom.
teacher gave smiley faces to students based on homework completion.
students had issues with feminine vs masculine, and plural vs singular.
teacher is not afraid to put students on the spot
consistently asks them to answer questions, and keeps after them if they do not know the answer
students eat in class
11 students, 1 student left to go to the nurse
use a lot of Spanish and a lot of English
they are going to Puerto Rico tomorrow
went to Latin class when people were done with the test
observed Mrs. J start to read watered down Ovid
looked at textbook that upper level classes are using
I thought school work would be better, a lot of wrong answers
talked with Mrs. J about homework and students
students not afraid to ask questions
school is one-to-one school, each student has a macbook air
students talk to teachers
no lockers
smartboards
macbooks
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Assumption Analysis Essay
A few years ago someone decided the Unites States was having a crisis, a STEM crisis to be exact. Somehow they came to the conclusion that because we weren’t doing as well as other countries on international standardized tests, that meant we were falling completely behind and being outshone by students who routinely studied for hours more than American students. This crisis sparked politicians and educators alike into action, claiming that we don’t focus enough on STEM fields, and promising to create new opportunities for students to study STEM subjects, and provide more grants for STEM research and work. Even if we are in a STEM crisis, which I, and others, highly doubt, the assumption that the only way to fix it is to focus completely and utterly on STEM programs is problematic and creates several issues educators may want to think about before they hop on this bandwagon.
Robert N. Charette, a contributing editor to the IEEE’s Spectrum, an online blog run by the IEEE, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, wrote an article entitled “The STEM Crisis Is A Myth”, attempting to analyze the claims that the U.S. was facing a STEM crisis. According to Charette, it’s not just us who faces this, but many westernized countries feel as though they are facing a shortfall of STEM workers. He goes on to point out that this may not be the case, that if we were facing this, wages for STEM workers would be increasing over, or at least competitive, which they are not, or the 11.4 million STEM degree holders who are not currently working in STEM fields would slide in to help pick up the slack. Charette references a 2011 Georgetown University study where they predict there will be around 277,000 STEM job vacancies per year. Charette analyzes this study further and points out that “…more than 370,000 science and engineering jobs in the United States were lost in 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”(Charette). He explicitly states in the caption to one of his graphics that U.S. schools are granting more degrees in STEM fields than there are available jobs, not to mention the fact that the number of people being recruited from outside the U.S. to come work in STEM fields in the U.S. So if there actually isn’t a lack of workers what exactly is driving this crisis?
It may turn out to be the results of standardized tests, in fact. The U.S. has routinely lagged behind other countries when it comes to the results of our standardized tests, despite the fact that the U.S. continues to lead the world in innovation and development. This has prompted schools and wealthy businessmen to prioritize STEM above other disciplines in an effort to attempt to get better results, especially at the collegiate level. Politicians, including President Obama, want to increase government funding for STEM fields and increase incentives for majors, some politicians go as far as to say they want to do this while taking funding away from humanities, as they are a luxury that ultimately provide less than the technical skills a STEM job will. I am not saying that we should reverse the tide and stop paying so much attention to STEM, but that most of the politicians are facing this problem as if there is only one solution: more STEM.
I do not believe this is an instructive approach as it implies that the only way to STEM is directly through STEM interests. For instance, we heard a story in class from the Philly Free School about a student who was interested in music, a department that many public schools underfund or don’t even have as an option, and he ended up studying neuroscience at the college level and beyond. How did he end up in this STEM field? Music. He became interested in how music affected the brain and this is what led him to his interest in neuroscience. This story is an excellent example of how humanities and STEM intertwine and one can lead to the other, so why do they feel that focusing solely on STEM is the only way to “fix” this crisis. If we allowed students to discover their passions through natural curiosity, wouldn’t this creative, informative, interested outcome be worth it? Focusing only on STEM fields in an attempt to foster interest in STEM, may backfire. Not to mention it not only deprives students of the well-rounded education but provides serious mental health concerns. The school to college to job pipeline is already incredibly stressful as it is, but add students who are shoved towards one discipline over another and you end up with unhappy students, and then unhappy workers. If we continued to broaden education, students are more likely to find a field they are interested in, and more likely to use their skills and knowledge in that field, whatever it may be, to innovate.
If we did not assume that STEM was either in crisis, or needed to be fixed by applying more STEM, we might come to the realization that STEM may not be the reason we are falling behind other countries’ students. We are home to public schools who don’t have the money to fix leaky roofs, who buy textbooks that describe slaves as migrant workers. Students who never had the opportunity to take a science beyond biology and don’t realize that they’re interested in Physics, or Engineering. “How was it possible to ask of the children the minimum of respect for their material surroundings when the authorities demonstrated such absolute neglect of and indifference to the public institutions under their care?” (Freire,48). We want students to study and go on to do things that they’re interested right? Or do we? Are we putting our need as a country to be first in everything above the interests of our students? What about curiosity and freedom? According to Freire to impose something that “…suffocates the natural curiosity and freedom of the student…[is] equally disrespectful of an essential characteristic of our humanness…” (Freire, 59). In a country that prides itself on its freedom, how does restricting and funneling student interest fit into that? We need to revisit what we believe education is there for. Is it solely an avenue to get a job, or is that a side benefit from studying and learning something you are interested in. If we found new ways to link STEM to the liberal arts why wouldn’t we come up with new creations, new ways of looking at STEM, or at liberal arts, why must you have one without the other?
I believe we need to go beyond simply looking at the STEM crisis numbers, but by analyzing what other countries are doing and why we aren’t doing them come to the realization that another solution is needed. In order to provide possible ways of solving this so called problem, whether it exists or not, we need to look beyond the numbers, to how these policies will affect students and then decide if those effects are worth it or not. We also need to decide if being first because of a standardized test is worth it. Rankings are rankings, and when it comes to standardized tests, they can only measure so much. Are we in fact looking at the wrong problem? Is it a lack of STEM which is why America is falling behind, or is it a lack of quality general education, and a lack of respect for the institution? My artifacts hope to broaden the scope of the discussion to include dealing with issues of language-use, connotations, and even how we as a society view different fields of study. All in all, I wanted my portfolio to expand upon this topic further, to examine if we, as a culture, as a country, really want to do what would be necessary to fix this supposed crisis, or if we could use the creativity and innovation we have to find an alternate solution, a solution that does not penalize one area of study for another.
Bibliography
Charette, Robert N. "The STEM Crisis Is A Myth." IEEE Spectrum. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 May 2016.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Trans. Patrick Clarke. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. Print.
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Bibliography
Allison, Dorothy. "Two or Three Things I Know For Sure." New York: Plume Book, 1995. 60-66. Print.
BBC News: Is South Korean Education 'best in World'? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFpTdEFfqXI.
Bourdieu, Pierre. "Introduction." Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Trans. Richard Nice. N.p.: n.p., 1984. 1-7. Print.
Charette, Robert N. "The STEM Crisis Is A Myth." IEEE Spectrum. N.p., 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 May 2016.
Cohen, Patricia. "Rising Call to Promote STEM Education and Cut Liberal Arts Funding." The New York Times. N.p., 21 Feb. 2016. Web. 12 May 2016.
Cook-Sather, Alison. "Movements of Mind: The Matrix, Metaphors, and Re-Imagining Education." Teachers College Record 105 (2003): 946-77. Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr College. Web. 13 May 2016.
Dewey, John. Experence and Education. Touchstone ed. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1997. Print. Kappa Delta Pi Lecture Ser.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Trans. Patrick Clarke. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. Print.
Hooks, Bell. "Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom." New York: Routledge, 1994. 2-6. Print.
Inspire Her Mind- Verizon Commercial. Directed by Verizon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3cyRRAfX0.
Oakes, Jeannie, and Martin Lipton. "History and Culture: Wrestling with the Traditions of American Education." Teaching to Change the World. Third ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, n.d. 35-50. Print.
"United States." OECD. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2012. Web. 13 May 2016.
Zakaria, Fareed. "Why America's Obsession with STEM Education Is Dangerous." The Washington Post. N.p., 26 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 May 2016.
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Artifact 6 Reflection
How could I talk about STEM studies in relationship to the humanities without talking about myself? I am the daughter of two PhD’s, both of which are in STEM fields, and I am extraordinarily lucky to have grown up the way I did. My parents constantly drilled into me the importance of a liberal arts education, no matter what I would end up doing. My father reminded me that despite the fact that he’s an engineer, at least half, if not more, of his work requires writing skills and the ability to communicate complicate technical and scientific information to those who may not be as informed in specific fields. My father would constantly tell me that I might have to make a decision about what I wanted to do, whether I wanted to make a lot of money, and not enjoy my job as much, or enjoy my job and not make a lot of money. It’s a decision a lot of college students have to make, particularly with the price of higher education being as high as it is. My mother in turn would remind me how important high school was, how lucky I was to be in such a great high school. I would roll my eyes until I truly realized how lucky I was. My parents would remind me of how they moved one county over so I could have a better education because the town that they originally lived in wouldn’t pay to fix the school’s leaking roof. My school could afford computers, to fix maintenance issues, to teach AP classes and have a somewhat broad variety of classes for me to take so that I could discover what I was truly interested in.
To fix our education problem we need to fix our perception of education, our willingness to pay for education, and the way we talk about education. We created public schools so everyone could have a chance; that quintessential American Dream that some of us learned about in high school. How can we fix this problem though, when we are so involved with a different, nonexistent problem? The kind of encouragement and reminders that my parents gave me is what we need to give students now. A reminder than paths can lead wherever you want them to, that STEM and liberal arts are not mutually exclusive but symbiotic, and a reminder that happiness can be just as important as money.
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Artifact 5 Reflection
This commercial brings to light one of the main issues I have with attempting to analyze and come up with a solution to our supposed problem; the issue of perception and how culture has conditioned itself, over decades of sexism, to look at certain people in certain areas of study. To improve education, something we can do, is to stop putting people in specific roles based on race or gender.
It’s widely known that STEM subjects are male-dominated, which is why this commercial came out in the first place, an attempt to convince the average American that women are smart too. This issue with perception extends beyond the blatant sexism that still runs rampant, where teaching, particularly with smaller children, is a woman’s job, and being an engineer is something a man does, to how we generally perceive humanities and STEM. Politicians today see the liberal arts as “soft”, a luxury, something that people major in who ultimately won’t get jobs. On the other hand STEM is seen as a great challenge, an accomplishment even. So how do we get rid of this stigma that one is ‘better’ than the other? Couldn’t we try to put biases behind us and be happy that students have found something they love? Why are STEM jobs so critical to innovation, when Liberal Arts majors go on to make history in the Supreme Court, or become Politicians, or change the way a person sees the world through a book. Why is one often viewed as better than the other?
I’m afraid that through the thought experiment that is this portfolio, my faith in our ability to shake these biases has waned extensively. The problem is the same as it is for a lot of the problems our country faces today. Fear, and a lack of education. So my question is how can we start to improve education when many people are assigning blame to a different problem? How can we unpack the actual issue to arrive at a proposal that just might fix this perceived issue? How can we fix something, when the people who have the power and the money are too focused on fixing something that may not even be broken while ignoring the thing that definitely is? How can we begin to alter cultural conceptions around specific areas of study and jobs? I’m not sure I have the answer, but I know that improving general education will go a long way.
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Artifact 5
Inspire Her Mind- Verizon Commercial. Directed by Verizon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3cyRRAfX0.
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Artifact 4 Reflection
I seem to be pulling a lot on Freire, and even though sometimes I feel as though he’s operating in this utopia where everything is great and his students are great, this quote has wormed it’s way into my head and I believe is in itself an argument for connecting STEM and humanities. It embodies a lot of what I’ve said, whether in the opening essay or in other Artifact Reflections. It also reminds me of one of my favorite readings we did for class, an article written by Alison Cook-Sather titled “Movements of Mind: The Matrix, Metaphors, and Re-Imagining Education”. Both explore this issue of new perspectives and new innovations.
We need to “free [our] mind[s]” (1) if we want to change how we view education and the different areas of study. There may be more than one way to end up where we think we want to be. Taking a leaf out of Cook-Sather’s book, and using The Matrix as an example, you could leap across to another building, or ride the elevator down and walk across the street. They are different paths but ultimately end up at the same place, however the lessons learned will be different. This is similar to how I believe we should look at studies. Let the student end up where they may, but this path is theirs to learn from. The only thing we can do is provide them with a general base to help them discover which path they would like to take.
This in itself is something that needs to be taught, that maybe doesn’t traditionally get taught in STEM classes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be utilized there, that it can’t be useful. If we avoid intertwining these disciplines, forever dooming ourselves to stick only to ideas and skills “traditionally” taught in these areas, we automatically put ourselves at a disadvantage. It’s akin to simply ignoring half of the information we know, and saying that there’s only one way to get to our destination. I told a story that we all heard in class, the one about the boy who discovered his interested in neuroscience through music. If that wasn’t an alternate route, I’m not sure what is. The important part is that we need to recognize that, while we can provide them the basic tools, just because we give them the freedom to choose their own path, whether it starts in the humanities or STEM, doesn’t mean it will stay in that discipline.
Cook-Sather, Alison. "Movements of Mind: The Matrix, Metaphors, and Re-Imagining Education." Teachers College Record 105 (2003): 946-77. Scholarship, Research, and Creative Work at Bryn Mawr College. Bryn Mawr College. Web. 13 May 2016.
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Artifact 4
“To teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production of construction of knowledge” (Freire 30)
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Trans. Patrick Clarke. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998. Print.
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Artifact 3 Reflection
One of the reasons that we may be so “behind” other countries, specifically Asian countries is that we spend significantly less time in school, or studying than others. “In every society, schools reflect their history and culture.” (Oakes and Lipton, 36) And in America, that is something that we should take pride in, and be a little scared of. In Korea, education is incredibly important, and because of influence from their collectivist culture, which puts the group ahead of individuals, they have a very memorization and respect based education system. This gives them an advantage on things like standardized tests, where memorization and the ability to regurgitate information is key. However, they might lack the creativeness that our students have, possibly putting them at more of a disadvantage in the long run.
Something else that is interesting, is that education takes priority over all other activities. They spend all day studying, for hours longer than the average American student. So do we really want to surpass them, if this is what it’s going to take? Mind-bending hours of studying, even for toddlers? I didn’t pick this artifact to bash on the South Korean Education system which also has positives. I wanted to compare it to the U.S. to pose the question why can’t we cherry pick? We have access to dozens of different education systems across the world, so if we are so interested in improving our students’ rankings worldwide, why aren’t we picking some specific traits to implement in our own education system? South Korea has a great one, that I think should be implemented everywhere, which is, respect.
Especially when compared to America, South Korea has great respect for their teachers. Teaching is something to aspire to, and instead of being asked “Are you sure?” or “You know that doesn’t pay well right?” they are encouraged to study hard and then pass their knowledge onto other students. Why can’t we implement this in our own culture? Why can’t we fund our teachers? Decide that education is indeed a priority and pay them more? Politicians claim education is so important, but look down on teachers as people who couldn’t do anything else? If we really want to improve education, we need to fund more than just opportunities, we need to fund people who are already working to educate the next generation. We need to change how we, as a society, view teachers and education. We need to decide how important education is to us, and how far we are willing to go to improve it.
Oakes, Jeannie, and Martin Lipton. "History and Culture: Wrestling with the Traditions of American Education." Teaching to Change the World. Third ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, n.d. 35-50. Print.
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