Blog Post 7 on Susan Ohanian Reading

 

I believe that...

"Those who hope to be effective teachers must recognize that teaching is a craft of careful artifice; the profession requires more than a spontaneous overflow of good intentions or the simple cataloguing and

distribution of information" (121).

 

 

     This quotation supports the main theme of Susan Ohanian's On Stir-and Serve Recipes for Teaching. Her essay asserts that there is no single "recipe" for running a classroom or for creating a good lesson plan. Ohanian believes that future teachers should not expect their education professors to provide them with fixed formulas and methods for teaching. My quotation provides an explanation for Ohanian's beliefs. One cannot expect a "stir and serve recipe" for teaching because education requires artifice, or creativity and strategy. A teacher must thoughtfully craft her lesson plans with many factors in mind. These factors include the traits and needs of her students, the material being taught, as well as the current time and atmosphere. Each lesson plan must be carefully crafted, like a piece of art, because these factors are ever-changing. Thus, lesson plans cannot be formed from stir and serve lesson plans or templates.

 

This quote also embodies the overarching theme of Paulo Freire's The Banking Concept of Education. Freire describes  the banking concept of education as the method where the teacher acts solely as a depositor placing information into her  passive students who she objectifies as depositories. Freire asserts that this form of education is ineffective and stifles creativity.  Similarly Ohanian states, "the profession requires more than... the simple cataloguing and distribution of information. The diction in Ohanian's quote, specifically the use of "cataloguing" and "distribution" resonates with Freire's text. The words "cataloguing" and "distribution" imply a  dry methodology that includes only organizing and dispensing information. As Ohonian and Freire both point out, teaching requires more than this stifling technique. Teaching requires artistry. The teacher must form her lesson plans to relate to her students and spark creative thought.

 

In addition to relating to these two texts, the quotation also has significance to me as an aspiring teacher. I, personally, tend to  feel more comfortable and confident when I am given a set procedure or specific instructions. Therefore, I could see myself struggling and desiring a ready-made lesson plan. I chose this quotation because I wanted to remember it. I don't want to fall into the trap of using teaching tips and lessons from magazines or other sources that wouldn't relate to my students. Even though I tend to like order and procedure, I also have a creative side. This quotation reminds me that I will need to use my creativity to make my lesson plans relate to and interest the students I'm teaching.

 

 

 

 

 



                 Blog Post 6/ Banking Concept of Education

Question I will be exploring: Do my professors utilize the banking concept of education or problem posing-education? How do I respond to each method? How is my level of knowledge affected by the method of teaching being used?

     During my reading of the Freire article, many of my notes related to the current courses I am taking and how these courses either reinforce or oppose the banking concept of education. I found that a majority of my courses use problem-posing education. A defining characteristic of problem-posing education is that the students act not as "docile listeners", but rather as active critical thinkers and co-investigators in dialogue with the teacher (page 111). This definition immediately reminded me of my consumer politics course. My consumer politics course is  based on class discussions with the teacher over selected readings. The students, not the teachers, lead the discussion. Students bring in critical thinking questions that they generated from the reading. The teachers do, however, pose certain questions to the class and prompt us to consider solutions to various problems. Furthermore, the teachers truly do act as our "co-investigators." They explore their ideas of solutions to pressing consumer issues, such as rising debt and e-waste and we all explore the pros and cons to such possible solutions.
      I realized that I look forward to this class, and any other class that uses the problem-posing method because they are more engaging. Furthermore, I also have a fuller understanding of the material presented in these problem-posing courses than the courses using the banking method.
      Unfortunately, my Spanish classes uses the banking concept of education. My teacher reads to us directly from the book and expects us to memorize specific rules that she writes on the board. I dread going to this class on a daily basis. Furthermore, my true knowledge of Spanish is very poor. I can ace her written test because I read the book and memorized her rules. I cannot, however, actually speak Spanish nor do I have any knowledge about Spanish culture that would be helpful while taking to a native speaker. 
     Overall, through personal experience, I have confirmed that problem posing education is the best method. Students become more engaged with the material and develop true knowledge when this method is used. If I become a teacher, I will definitely avoid the banking concept. By reflecting on my current and former classes, I have discovered some methods I can use to avoid teaching through the banking concept. These methods include the following:

• Class discussions
• Hands on activities such as labs and internet investigations
• Student presentations- Students can form groups, research their topic, and teach the class about what they learned. Students can use videos, class activities, and discussion questions to engage the rest of the class.
• Allowing students to control the content of the course to some extent. For example, students can pick discussion questions. They can also pick a  poem or an article to share in class that relates to the current lesson.

Feel free to comment if you want to share more strategies!

                    Field Blog Post 2/ Triumphant Technology?

Question I will be exploring:
What should be the role of technology in the classroom? How can technology help the learning process? In what ways can it hinder the learning process? What limitations are involved with the use of technology in the classroom?




       After visiting Beachwood Middle School, I believe technology should play a central role in the learning process. Allowing children to use technology can help avoid what Freire refers to as the "banking concept of education." This concept occurs when a teacher "deposits" information into the minds of his students and then they, in turn, remember it verbatim. Mr. Holman, a teacher at Beachwood, opposes this concept by allowing students to explore, experiment, and form their own knowledge through the use of technology. For example, his students create their own online textbook with resources they discover themselves. This allows the children to figure out what is important instead of simply remembering what the teacher said was important. Furthermore, the student created textbook prevents the indoctrination and stifling of creativity that can accompany the use of  more traditional textbooks. The students also keep an online blog which allows them to interact with other students in unprecedented volumes. This blog allows them to ask each other questions and share resources at any time.
       Besides the online textbook and blogs, the students use other forms of technology to understand  information in a more interesting way. For example, one girl used time lapse photography to show the making of a pizza. She used the pizza as an analogy to the Christian religion. The plain cheese pizza was Christianity's basic principles. Each topping she added represented a different sect and the new ideas it brought to the religion. She then used time lapse photography and voice over to narrate and complete her project.

      Technology can, however, hinder the learning process to a certain extent. For example, the auto-correct on my cell phone has led to the deterioration of my spelling skills. Since my phone automatically corrects my errors, I never learn to spell the word correctly myself. Furthermore, my phone often corrects my mistakes without me noticing. Therefore, I don't even realize I am making a spelling mistake and will thus continue to make that same mistake.

    A final aspect of technology in the classroom that must be considered is its limitations. To have a classroom centered on technology like Mr. Holman's, expensive laptops, wireless internet, and i.t. personnel are needed. Thus, many schools could not afford to run classrooms that use technology to such a great extent.

     Overall, despite certain limitations, I believe technology should play a central role in the classroom and be further implemented in classrooms everywhere.


                                        Blog Post Five

 

Question I will be exploring: Quinn, Rounds, and Munoz-Pazza state that "persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender continue to face extreme social, legal, and institutional discrimination"(82). What are some examples of this discrimination? How has the discrimination against LGBTQ people changed since the writing of this article (in 2002)?

 

 

 

      The LGBTQ community faces a great amount of social discrimination. Our world and social perspective is based on heterosexism and largely espouses heteronormativity. This means that heterosexism is viewed as the "normal" or "better" sexual orientation. (I greatly disagree with such ideology.) In addition, LGBTQ persons face many instances of violence. For example, they are often attacked in public places such as restaurants and bars. Violence against people of non- heterosexual orientation sadly has a long history. For example, many homosexuals were imprisoned and killed during the Holocaust. In addition to facing heterosexism and violence, LGBTQ people often face verbal abuse.
      In terms of legal discrimination, LGBTQ people can still not marry in a number of states. 33 states still deny same sex marriage. Furthermore, many LGBTQ couples are denied the extension of benefits like healthcare to spouses.
      In regards to institutional racism, many schools do not provide LGBTQ students with the same amount of support and resources as their heterosexual peers. Also, many people are discouraged from coming out in the workplace.
      Although acceptance and gay rights still have a far way to come, many improvements have been made since the writing of this article. For example, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was passed in 2009. This act made hate crimes based on sexual orientation punishable by federal law. Also, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that job discrimination against LGBTQ individuals is a form of sex discrimination. I still believe many improvements can be made. I think all states should allow gay marriage. I believe this because marriage is not necessarily strictly religious. People can be married at court houses with no religion involved. Furthermore, there is no compelling governmental interest that would prevent the marriage of LGBTQ couples.


                             Blog Post 4/ Institution Racism

      

      From the readings, I have concluded that institutional racism is when any organization or public entity knowingly or unknowingly gives power and privilege to one group of people over another based on race or culture. Institutional racism can be the result of governmental policies, economic policies and unequal education in schools.

      In Who are Today's Students, Sonia Nieto argues that housing patterns and white flight have lead many schools to become resegragated. Nieto claims that segregated schools often lead to unequal funding. Schools in poor and urban communities, which tend to have a higher concentration of minority students, tend to have less funding. These poor communities tend to have many minority students because our early American economic policies discriminated against minority groups. I have personally witnessed the lasting effects of this economic discrimination as well as the unequal funding of segregated schools. I volunteered as a tutor at Wiley Middle School, which is just down the street from John Carroll. A majority of the students are African American and generally come from low income families. Wiley Middle School lacks many vital resources due to a lack of funding. For example, the school has only a few old textbooks. Instead of using textbooks, teachers are forced to use only PowerPoints and handouts. Textbooks usually provide a great amount of background information as well as important contextual information.  I think this will prevent the kids from obtaining a thorough understanding of the material and will hinder their educational growth. Therefore, unequal funding gives power to children in schools that are in high income and Caucasian areas, while denying opportunity to students in poor and minority communities. 

Field Blog Post 1/ Classroom Layout

 

Question I will be exploring: What aspects of the classroom design encourage imagination, inovation, sharing of knowledge and active learning?

 

     

        

         In Chapter 3 "Creating an Environment for Learning," Ayers stresses the effects classroom design has on the learning process. At Mercer, I found that the classroom I observed was organized in a way that promoted innovation, sharing of knowledge and active learning. For example, the way in which the students' desks were arranged promoted sharing of knowledge. Instead of being isolated in individual desks, the kindergarteners shared large group tables which allowed them to help and encourage each other. This arrangement thus encourages the social nature of learning that Ayers finds extremely important (page 44). Also, the placement of the teacher's desk promoted active learning. The teacher's desk was tucked away in the corner of the classroom. Thus, the teacher was forced to move from one student table to the next, asking questions and conversing, instead of inertly lecturing from the front of the classroom. Desk arrangement was also an important topic of discussion in our education class. We noted how the arrangement of our desks into a circle promotes conversation.   

        In addition to desk arrangement, another significant aspect of the layout of the room was the play area. Nearly half of the room was taken up by a carpeted play area that included objects such as blocks, toy cars, and a plastic kitchen set. The block area promotes innovation because it allows the children to build and create various structures. The kitchen area promotes imagination because the children pretend to cook fake foods. Overall, the play area promotes active learning because it provides hands-on activities that increase knowledge and skills.

                             Here is a classroom with a hands-on play area much like Mercer's.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

                Vs.

 

You can see how the individual desks (left) are more isolating than the group desk. (right)