March 09, 2010

Building better teachers - or rather, preparing teachers better. (via, which includes this singularly *ahem* illuminating comment on why one is not prime. anyway.)
posted by polychrome 14 years ago
  • I know a lot of teachers belong to Mofi, so I had expected to see a lot of comments here already. *Bites bullet, takes a stab at it* What is the secret of the autodidact, the child genius who far surpasses the herd? According to the Montessori Method it's only natural. Yet the article about building better teachers seems to rely on a top-down dispensing of instructions while standing stock still (so as not to confuse the children). Or they turn on a video for some prepackaged spiel. Bah! The child is a natural wizard whose only goal is to know, to understand, to learn. So how does the teacher get out of the way of learning? Find out what the kids are interested in and build on that. Take them to see people at work in different fields to stimulate their own curiosity. Listen to THEM, especially when they do the opposite of what you ordered. See where they're going with that, then offer the resources, the videos. Not only demonstrate knowledge, but keep an open mind to watch the student demonstrate it. I've taught art, and I've had that humbling experience. Or is this too naive as a praxis in other fields, or at higher scholastic levels? I don't think so. Any comments?
  • Yes, but it'll have to wait until after school - I'm observing a student teacher today.
  • A was hoping Scartol would add to this thread, in his own way. He's so happy at teaching English, I'm guessing because he's a writer of the sort of music THEY like.
  • The Crooked Timber article of the front page link also favors listening to the kids and improvising new directions in the lesson plan. Better than the draconian mind control promulgated in the New York Times article. I guess everyone agreed.