The debate over curriculum is a constant concern for most teachers. Teaching for me is another branch of the creative process and teachers by default produce an environment with the tools that are available. In my humble point of view one of those super important tools is of course curriculum and another is instruction and they are both a work in progress and a creation. The ability to create curriculum or at least modify it, use it or discard it, has been an activity that has been associated with teachers in many countries. To take away this freedom affects the instruction element because it is more effective to teach material that is self-designed or at least revised and edited simply because we are able to familiarize more with the subject.
I have worked with scripted programs and I know people that are having to teach scripted curriculum and even when some programs like MCI-making connections or read 180 are ok-designed, there have been many complains by some friends of mine who are teaching remedial math. My experience was not horrible, it was boring, but not horrible. i had to teach MCI for three months and if you are familiar with this program you know that everything that comes out your mouth should be part of the script. I thought it was very weird and then I began to get used to the material... it just made me an effective MCI instructor but I felt like the teaching part was so modified that I did not feel like a "real" teacher.
Maybe some of these programs are necessary. Maybe they could be used in a less standard form. It is difficult to know where things are going with education but I do fear an enormous displacement of teachers by these ready-made-robotic curriculms.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
About Biases
One of the definitions for the word bias is: "Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair." I got this on a search engine. Could be more than this because a bias is an action; a bias is a thought; a situation that we rehearse in our brain and we perform in society. My biases have grown with and through me. I have fed some while I have decided to starve others. My biases have been uneducated thoughts coming out of fears because I do believe the roots of them are fearsome conjunctures we create. At some point we decide certain things in life are true and for some reason we want to prove ourselves right every time we encounter certain situations.
I feel that I am biased in favor of kids that seem unprotected or underprivileged. I am aware that this is a situation that I need to mature . I am easily triggered by my motherly self and the more I sense neglect in a kid the more I am drawn to jump in and want to protect. In some ways this is a recurrent situation that I have had in the past with family and friends. I easily try to assume the role fo protector of the weak and frail. It has not benefited me at the end or the other person. As I said before, these biases are created at some point and what scares me is that I have no clue where this one is coming from.... Actually I do. When I was in elementary school I had a couple of very difficult situations with my parents divorce. At one point one bad situation led to another and my mom was having a very difficult time surviving economically. In sixth grade we were in such economic mess that led us to food scarcity and it did not seem to get any better. No one knew about our ordeal and I did not feel I could reach out to an adult in school. It would have been of benefit to reach out and vent all the situation which was troubling me but I did not. It is then when I feel that I tend to want to self compensate for these difficult times and be there in case a I can help a student. I know it is a biased attitude because we are all struggling one way or another and the fact that one need seems more evident in a kid than in another does not minimize the difficulties of all.
I feel that I am biased in favor of kids that seem unprotected or underprivileged. I am aware that this is a situation that I need to mature . I am easily triggered by my motherly self and the more I sense neglect in a kid the more I am drawn to jump in and want to protect. In some ways this is a recurrent situation that I have had in the past with family and friends. I easily try to assume the role fo protector of the weak and frail. It has not benefited me at the end or the other person. As I said before, these biases are created at some point and what scares me is that I have no clue where this one is coming from.... Actually I do. When I was in elementary school I had a couple of very difficult situations with my parents divorce. At one point one bad situation led to another and my mom was having a very difficult time surviving economically. In sixth grade we were in such economic mess that led us to food scarcity and it did not seem to get any better. No one knew about our ordeal and I did not feel I could reach out to an adult in school. It would have been of benefit to reach out and vent all the situation which was troubling me but I did not. It is then when I feel that I tend to want to self compensate for these difficult times and be there in case a I can help a student. I know it is a biased attitude because we are all struggling one way or another and the fact that one need seems more evident in a kid than in another does not minimize the difficulties of all.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
About the fundamental purpose of teaching:
This section of the week's blog will be focused on the different ways in which teaching has transformed from an activity that is work geared to a purposeful way of living. I think many of us who have been teaching for a while will agree that being a teacher is a living activity that occurs every hour of our life with so much more intensity when we are in the classroom. At every moment a teacher is held accountable for his or her actions whether that teacher is at the school she or he works in or not. Additionally, we have a social responsibly with our community that does not end when the bell rings and the children leave the room. In my experience, the fundamental purpose for teaching is to put into practice as much as we can of the words that we express, whether spoken or written. Humans learn a great amount of information by absorbing the attitudes of the guides, teachers, parents and instructors. In addition to the information that we get exposed to, one of our main modeling systems is through the absorption and observation of our leaders. Being a teacher entails an acquisition of authority and leadership whether we agree all instructors should have this privilege or not and our behaviors will most likely impact the ways in which our students are interpreting and processing their worlds. In addition to developing good techniques for delivering the information we need to provide it is very important to have an ability to always reach the students at a human level and guide aspects of their lives that are forming them as social actors. I personally believe that the fundamental purpose for teaching is to give life to to the information we are providing and not only that but also to communicate and really try to motivate students into self-inquiry and critical thinking.
This section of the week's blog will be focused on the different ways in which teaching has transformed from an activity that is work geared to a purposeful way of living. I think many of us who have been teaching for a while will agree that being a teacher is a living activity that occurs every hour of our life with so much more intensity when we are in the classroom. At every moment a teacher is held accountable for his or her actions whether that teacher is at the school she or he works in or not. Additionally, we have a social responsibly with our community that does not end when the bell rings and the children leave the room. In my experience, the fundamental purpose for teaching is to put into practice as much as we can of the words that we express, whether spoken or written. Humans learn a great amount of information by absorbing the attitudes of the guides, teachers, parents and instructors. In addition to the information that we get exposed to, one of our main modeling systems is through the absorption and observation of our leaders. Being a teacher entails an acquisition of authority and leadership whether we agree all instructors should have this privilege or not and our behaviors will most likely impact the ways in which our students are interpreting and processing their worlds. In addition to developing good techniques for delivering the information we need to provide it is very important to have an ability to always reach the students at a human level and guide aspects of their lives that are forming them as social actors. I personally believe that the fundamental purpose for teaching is to give life to to the information we are providing and not only that but also to communicate and really try to motivate students into self-inquiry and critical thinking.
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