Blog Post # 3 / Role of the Teacher

 

Question I will be Exploring: To what extent should teachers provide their students with direct answers? Is it better for students to find the answer themselves through active experimentation and exploration?

Similarly, should a teacher provide students with a rigid set of procedures to complete a project or let the students develop their own path and methods?

 

     I formed this question based on chapter four "Building Bridges" from Bill Ayers' To Teach, the Journey in Comics. Based on my reading and personal experience, I believe that teachers should not give students direct answers, but rather let the students discover the answers themselves. What the teacher should do, however, is use a sort of Socratic Method to ask the students questions that will prompt them to think critically. Ayers promotes this concept on pages 49-50 when the students are talking about building a bridge for their pet turtle. Instead of telling the students how to build the bridge, the teacher asks the students critical questions to consider, such as how they will make the bridge safe for the turtle. As the teacher says, "I'll lay the first plank [of the bridge] and you can take it from there" (57). A teacher can provide students with a start, a foundation of knowledge, but then he should allow them to explore and form their own conclusions.

     Even in my own experience as a student, I have found that I learn material better when I discover the answer myself.  For example, I once had a math teacher that would always give me the answer if I didn't know how to solve the problem. This practice was actually detrimental to me because I never learned the necessary method.  Instead, if that teacher had helped me to work through the method and find the answer on my own, I would have had a richer understanding of the material.

      This concept of students finding their own answers also applies to our education class. For example, we were allowed to create skits and describe how we interpreted the Bill Ayers chapters.

 

P.S. Note to Dr. Shutkin: This blog reminded me of a great teacher I had at John Carroll, Dr. Macaskill. He started off our first class last semester by saying "I'm not here to teach you." He then proceeded to give his view of the role of the teacher. I would like to tell you about what he said and his teaching methods some time if you are interested. He made a great impact on me and my decision to take this education class.