Boring curriculum?
Over the past few decades, the importance of education has kept on increasing with every wake. The type of education that has an effect on the society does not begin in the research laboratory, but in the simple first grade, second or third grade classrooms. What goes on in a classroom is regulated by the school system curriculum. Despite its importance in the modern day society, not everyone is satisfied with the existing curriculum. This is something that has led to the development of general notion about students’ and teacher’s attitude towards the curriculum. According to Gatto, teachers, and students alike, do not appreciate the current curriculum and term it as ‘boring.’ However, this argument fails to acknowledge the principle of relativism, people have different ideas, opinions and attitude towards certain aspects of life. The same applies for teachers and
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One thing that I am sure about the teachers and students that I interact with is that, they are all different. I have a couple of friends who are always late for lessons, a friend with an inconsistent attendance record and some guys and ladies that I do not talk to a lot, who is always early for the lessons, doesn’t miss any, hands in assignments early and participates actively in group discussions. These are three different groups of people who approach education and the curriculum from different angles. For me, I enjoy the teaching process and I do not regret a single second that I spend in class or in the library. I also believe that I have a positive attitude towards the curriculum and school environment. It is hard to discern whether the guys who take classes and assignments serious share the same belief, but they are as comfortable with what the school system offers. For the late comers and those with a poor attendance record, it is quite evident that the school system, or timetable does not fit their schedule or life
When one thinks back to all the school years between kindergarten and high school, they will not remember the name of every teacher they have ever had without hard thought. There are always going to be the teachers that stood out from all the rest for one reason; they connected with their students. When asked about school, students will not reply with an undoubted love for all the time spent going through it. It is simply something we must all go through to get on with our lives and be an active member of society. I get the strangest looks from my peers when I say I like school. Now obviously, I have not loved every second spent behind a desk or all the time required to be spent with every teacher, but overall I do enjoy school because of the
What is the purpose of education? A question that has been asked for centuries and defined in many ways; each theorist will argue their views on education is unsurpassed, yet it remains a question, that the future of our children depends upon. My personal philosophy of education is to create an environment that allows every child the freedom and ability to discover, create and pursue their interests; ultimately becoming the best they can, for an evolving and unpredictable future. Within this framework, the purpose being to encourage learning through children’s interests, by personalising education for the individual and interlacing subjects to engage and entice learning. While discussing my personal philosophy of education, I will explain the aim of education, consider the role of the teacher and the learner and present effective teaching methods and practices for within the classroom. This essay will demonstrate that Dewey, Friedman, Neill, Noddings, Robinson, and Zhao, support my personal philosophy and prove in contrast with the theories of Skinner and Rousseau.
Any school curriculum should aim at enabling children to be able to think in broader terms, motivate them to want to be more knowledgeable and above all, allow them to come up with new approaches to problem solving. However, more too often teachers tend to limit the students to only the known facts in text books, something which prompts them to remain in their comfort zones. Additionally, the purpose of any formal education is not only to gain formal knowledge but also to gain social knowledge. Different teachers will have different approaches to achieve this. Despite the approach used, in the end of the day, they are expected to have involved and impacted positively on the different characters of children in their classrooms that is, the shy,
In John Gatto’s essay “Against Schools” he states from experience as a school teacher that are current educational system is at fault (148). He claims that classrooms are often filled with boredom manufactured by repetitive class work and unenthusiastic teachings. Students are not actively engaged and challenged by their work and more often than not they have either already covered t...
In conclusion, education is broader than just falling into what the contemporary school system has to offer. Both Gatto and Graff proved this by explain how conforming students to certain perspectives of education limits their potential in other educational branches that interest the students. Also, curricula should bring a balance between making a school a place for obtaining information, and accommodating the educational demands for each individual student. It is imperative to understand that reforming the academic system, by fine-tuning schools to have its students learn what exactly they are interested in, will lead to having students accessing their full intellectual potential.
College students are “always” prepared for their freshman year. They already have their majors picked out and know exactly what classes they plan to take, right? In reality, they do not have a clue about what their college classes are going to consist of, which makes general education courses an important part for college students across the nation.
Pedagogy is a difficult concept to understand or master, and as shown by the three educational theorists explored in this report no two ideals are the same and not every pedagogue will be able to agree with all educational documents. Although numerous problems were found in both frameworks there were still numerous positive attributes which highlighted the importance of furthering education in our schools, and that is a point that all three theorists cannot deny.
Blytheville New Tech High School is one of the largest schools in Arkansas. It is a school that welcomes parental involvement, provides strong professional development, and shares in collaborative planning. The teachers are highly qualifies and knows exactly what they are to teach and when they are to teach it. The teachers are also committed to providing an explicit, systematic education to the students they serve. Therefore, of all five of the curriculum approaches or models (Systemic, Existentialist, Radical, Pragmatic, and Deliberative), the Systematic Curriculum most closely matches the model practiced at my school, Blytheville New Tech High School. Blytheville New Tech High School matches the Systematic Curriculum in that it is heavily supportive of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and curriculum standards movement. It is also emphasized on measurement, efficiency, and universality.
To begin, we need to understand the nature of students. The nature of students varies between individuals. The majority of students are well-behaved and come to school ready to learn. Part of this is due to the way they have been raised, but most students are basically good. There is a small percent of students whose nature, it seems, is to make everyone miserable. I do not know if this is because of a difficult childhood at home or because the student just likes to be the center of attention. Either way, there are always students that will give their teachers a hard time. I guess this is their nature. Every individual is different, therefore, the nature of the students I will teach some day will be different depending on their background and other various things that may happen to them as they grow up. For example, a student that has lost a sibling due to an illness or accident, may become very bitter throughout life. The nature of this student’s behavior which is being shaped by this may make this student a cold-hearted and mean student. These are the students that teachers need to spend extra time with and try to make them feel loved, no matter how hard this may be. I, as a future teacher, need to look at students and try to help them out no matter how difficult that may be.
What exactly is curriculum? There are so many definitions, perceptions, beliefs, and historical explanations on curriculum, but how did it start? where did it come from? This paper will provide information on an array of intellectual knowledge concerning the history of curriculum, such as, what curriculum is and how it started, a few of the important education philosophers who had a great effect on the development of curriculum, the relationship history of culture and curriculum, and curriculum auditing.
The Traditional aim of education is often seen as a ‘teacher-centered’ approach to education where the teacher learner relationship is irrelevant. In the traditional aim each child is treated the same way and are expected to be equally ready to learn the prescribed content. In this approach individual student differences are not acknowledged, this can be seen by the way all students must complete standardized testing to measure abilities and achievements. “Instead of better education, we are getting cheating scandals, teaching to bad tests, a narrowed curriculum, lowered standards and gaming of the system” (Collins 2010). The traditional approach to education aims to prepare students for life in the workforce, and as stated by Deetz (1992) “the educational institution… trains for occupational success”. It is in this way that the capitalist nature of the traditional approach can be seen, whereby the students are exploited and the teacher holds all the power and knowledge. This idea is explore by Marxists who “split the social world into two opposing halves- those who have power and those upon whom power is exercised” (Tait 2012). It is in this way that by having power exercised upon them and being docile and pass...
The overall essence of education or knowledge acquisition is reflected in an axiom by Confucius which says “Tell me, and I will forget; show me, and I will remember; but involve me, and I will understand. Back then, it was clear that learning was a comprehensive process which involves passionate exchanges between students and their teachers; unfortunately this is not the case in most modern classrooms. Instead of the expected bidirectional communication between learners and teachers, in the modern learning environment there is a unidirectional system which involves the teacher incessantly hurling facts at students who, due to their passive roles as mere receptacles, have fallen asleep or; in the case of “best” students are mindlessly taking notes. This leads to a situation where knowledge has neither been conferred nor acquired.
When analyzing contemporary issues in education, it is very important to ask why and how the issues arise. Some of these problems are obvious to the mass public, and some require a more in-depth analysis. One of the less obvious issues in education is the current philosophy in the classrooms. One may ask the questions, “Why is the philosophy of education important? And, why does it matter to me?” To put it simply, the philosophy imbedded in the goals of education and teaching methods in a classroom affects the students’ futures. This topic was chosen because the philosophy in schools is often overlooked as the absolute core of educational issues. Many students understandably struggle with sitting in a classroom, uninterested. In addition to the constant stress and pressure of having good grades, students often ask why the given curriculum must be learned.
Teachers serve as the guiding force in a student’s life. They are responsible for molding a student’s personality and shaping his/her mental orientation. Teachers deeply impact our lives and direct the course of our future. One cannot deny the influence of teachers in one’s life. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that, till a certain age, out life revolves around our teachers. They are our constant companions, until we grow old enough to come out of their shadow and move ahead on our own.
Devoted teachers are extremely important to a perfect education. The teacher is just about the most important of the three parties necessary to create a model education. Teachers have the responsibility of forming good relationships with both students and parents. Teachers must also be able to effectively communicate with both parents and students in order to ensure that there are no misconceptions or confusions about the children's educations. A good teacher is aware of any special needs that certain children may have and is able to help those children adjust to the curriculum accordingly. Although it may seem obvious, teachers need to be patient and empathetic when dealing with his or her students. The vast majority of teachers already possess these qualities. Many students, however, have complained of teachers that appear to have "no time" for their students. Teachers with an unenthusiastic attitude relay a negative feeling back to their students and that can create problems in the classroom. As mentioned earlier though, people usually won't become teachers if they are uninterested in providing an excellent education to their students.