Article: 3 Ideas for 21st Century Global Curriculum
I tend to agree with the concept proposed by the author of this article, that as the business world has gone global, so must education. We are preparing students to become members of this global partnership as adults, thus we need to prepare them accordingly to enter the workforce while reducing "waste" in the transition from student to employee.
However, his first idea states that educators need to adapt to the learner, finding methods by which individuals can learn effectively, rather than the learner adapting to the instructor. My question is this: How much does the employer, let's say in business practice as the article is insinuating, really adapt to its employee? Is it not the employee's responsibility to do modify his/her habits in favor of the business or employer he/she is representing? I feel like there has become too much onus placed on education to change its ways so that students can be successful in the classroom, however when one joins the workforce, the boss is not going to alter the business' work practice so that the employee can be successful. A business deal is not going to be put on hold so that an employee can take the necessary steps to finalize the details.
As an educator, I fear that the responsibility of learning is not being placed upon the students anymore. If one has a learning disability, that student must try to find ways to overcome it in order to achieve success, particularly as an adult and if dealing with global business.
You make a really good point. As an employee, if I don't adapt to how the company does things then I won't be working there long. That being said, I think as educators we do have more of a responsibility to help our students than an employer does to train an employee. I do believe the responsibility for learning needs to be on the student, but I think that a "sink or swim" mentality won't give some students a fair chance for success. Dyslexia, for example, is much more manageable with training form an expert, whereas laziness is often best cured with letting the natural consequences happen.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's really hard in the SIS environment (and I assume KIS as well) to tell which of the struggling students, say in middle school, have learning difficulties or which of them is just plain lazy. Some kids have their schedules so firmly laid out for them that any independent thought is not only impossible, it's unnecessary. Furthermore, many of the parents simply pay for tutors to help them, and in some cases, it's pretty obvious that the kid with the tutor is not receiving aid, rather the tutor is more or less doing the work for them.
ReplyDeleteI do not endorse the sink or swim concept as a rule, but there are times when, if incorporated, it can help determine who really needs help and who is not taking responsibility for their own learning. You have to crawl before you walk, but if you cannot walk on your own, you'll never run on your own either.
Curtis Colegrave's response:
ReplyDeleteHey Tim, this is a bold post. As easy as it might be to disagree with this, I totally agree. I think that by enrolling their children in the public education education system, parents are more or less subscribing to a classroom-oriented atmosphere, one in which the students are meant to get some kind of reward for their efforts. The teacher sets the parameters of which grade each student will get for his/her efforts. The student should have to adjust his/her effort or study methods to meet their desired grade level. It is the student's responsibility to adjust,and the teacher's responsibility to facilitate that adjustment. As much as some reform advocates would like us to believe there aren't any other choices, they forget home school, Montessori schools, and self-paced schools designed to meet special case needs.