This week I realized that learning in the classroom may be more fruitful if it is made a social experience. John Dewey, an American education philosopher, has indicated that we are social individuals and the classroom serves as one place where society starts to form. Of course the development of society has its beginnings at home but the classroom gives some structure to society as a whole.
Some of Dewey’s ideas seem to be more evident in elementary education with social learning. It is at these lower grade levels that interaction in the classroom seems to be more prevalent. Different hands-on activities give students experience that help in their learning process. I believe that this interaction loses its emphasis when one gets to the secondary level and passive learning out weighs active especially when it comes to core subjects.
As educators we are entrusted to foster the interests and powers of our students and guide them to realizing what they may be capable of doing for themselves and society. Interaction in the classroom between the student and teacher and among students is crucial to building a strong foundation for society.
I view healthy social interaction as cells growing in a cell culture dish. Cells grow better when they are near or surrounded by other healthy cells while single cells that grow independently can be more vulnerable and less reliable in experimental use. Confluency is a term in biology that describes the coverage of cells on a surface area and the more coverage there is the higher the confluency and growth. There is also confluency in the classroom where learning and ideas should flow together, merge and blend like tributaries flowing into the same stream of social consciousness. Students can grow alongside their peers, with the direction of the educator, and build upon each others experiences.
It seems that the learning process of students should be cultivated in an active environment so that interests can form capabilities that coalesce to form an individual with social awareness.
I am really bad at biology so I would never have thought of the learning process in this way so thanks for teaching me something new. I like the part where you talked about hands on learning in the early years of school and I completely agree with you. I think young kids learn really well when they are in groups and working on projects but I believe this kind of learning should be carried out all the way through high school and even in college. I observe some high school classrooms and when those kids just sit there they look bored out of their minds and probably aren't learning much but when they are interacting and working together they learn so much more.
ReplyDeleteThe analogy of the river image seems to me the crux of your comments. We all learn at different rates, different levels, but the goal of modern public education is to bring the individual to a common point of shared learning experiences. We can incorporate open classrooms with group activities, one on one teaching, team projects, independent study all as means to achieve that common education standard, whether it is a team taught class or individual teacher, at the secondary level. It takes the idea that the system is broken and needs overhauling as we see it today.
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of ideas flowing together. Very nicely put. I agree that ideas should come together in the classroom although in my mind it is more turbulent as people bring out different points and perspectives in the classroom. The turbulence is not negative but just a swirling of ideas as different arguments are brought to the table. But definitely as the student makes sense of these ideas, with guidance from the teacher, it returns to a calm stream. It is important for each student to reach these turbulent points so that their world or societal view can grow.
ReplyDeleteSo, I think the next challenge would be to examine what this might look like in practice. In biology, much of what you describe happens as a matter of pre-existing patterns. Rivers flow as they do due to the "nature of things," if you will. Classrooms, on the other hand, seem to me like particularly unnatural spaces. Putting up to 30 kids of the exact same age together in a confined space for hours seems like it could create problems with developing healthy social behaviors that would promote learning.
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