I would like to comment on the following quotation: “My goodness, didn’t they teach you that in grade X?” As teachers, we have to be flexible and effective if we want to success in teaching understanding. Blaming other people is not the key to solve problems. I think that teachers who are really aware of the importance of understanding have to take the first step to change education, no matter the school where they work or how bad the previous teacher have taught students. Considering changes, they do not have to be violent; i.e. there should be a gradual development as many books point out ²evolution not revolution.²
It is definitely a good point what Angelina says about teachers’ high expectations. We do expect our students to achieve understanding rather than just taking in knowledge that could be forgotten in the short run. The bottom line is that we do not provide them with the tools to move to higher thinking. In other words, we should teach our students to analyze, summarize, etc. Even they could be encouraged to question what they have learned. Anyway, we must always remember that moving to understanding is a costly process involving teachers and students’ efforts for a very long time. From my point of view, it is an ambitious purpose that should involve not only teachers but also decision makers from educational institutions. Undoubtedly, large classes, for example, are a serious drawback for developing transfer in students.
thx
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Dear Angelina
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on the following quotation: “My goodness, didn’t they teach you that in grade X?”
As teachers, we have to be flexible and effective if we want to success in teaching understanding. Blaming other people is not the key to solve problems. I think that teachers who are really aware of the importance of understanding have to take the first step to change education, no matter the school where they work or how bad the previous teacher have taught students. Considering changes, they do not have to be violent; i.e. there should be a gradual development as many books point out ²evolution not revolution.²
It is definitely a good point what Angelina says about teachers’ high expectations. We do expect our students to achieve understanding rather than just taking in knowledge that could be forgotten in the short run. The bottom line is that we do not provide them with the tools to move to higher thinking. In other words, we should teach our students to analyze, summarize, etc. Even they could be encouraged to question what they have learned. Anyway, we must always remember that moving to understanding is a costly process involving teachers and students’ efforts for a very long time. From my point of view, it is an ambitious purpose that should involve not only teachers but also decision makers from educational institutions. Undoubtedly, large classes, for example, are a serious drawback for developing transfer in students.
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