The History and Future of Education

     Good day in UF 100.  That's the general education class that everyone has to take.  But you get to pick from a variety of topics.  I chose, "The History and Future of Education".  Partly because it fit my schedule, but also because I'm interested in the subject.  I have been out of the education loop for so long that I have no idea what's going on, and to be honest I'm pretty sure I never did.  I'm also interested in where this is all going.  Like I said before, we didn't even have computers when I was in college.  How does this all work?  Already I've had my mind blown by team projects that are done almost completely on line.  We all work off the same Google Doc adding our own part, commenting on other's contribution, and we can even get in and edit their part if we want.  And all from the comfort of our own homes.  No face to face interaction needed.  

     In this class we not only learn different teaching styles, we use them.  Yes we read chapters and take tests.  But for the tests, we get two tries - all on line of course - and there is no time limit.  I sure learn better that way.  Hunting and searching for the right answers without the stress of the clock, allows for all that info to sink into my brain.  But it's more than just that.  We also have discussions as a class and in groups.  We write stuff on the board.  We present our ideas to the class.  Studies have shown that the more ways you handle a piece of information, the better the understanding and retention.  I'm sure a believer as it seems to work for me.  Today we had to get in our groups and do a board presentation on three theories of education that we have been learning this week:  Locke, Rousseau, and Whitehead.  But we couldn't use words on the board - only pictures.  Crazy and frustrating but it lead to some interesting discussions on how to depict these ideas in pictures.  BTW, I draw a mean stick figure.

     Then in the later part of the class we met in new groups according to our majors.  We had to design a class curriculum for our major using one, or a combination of ideas from these three men.  It was fascinating to see how the different majors leaned towards different theories.  For example, the physical ed gang chose Locke's "sound mind, sound body" approach.  The computer tech nerds liked Locke's notion that you should specialize, as they say they do in the computer world.   And the artsy fartsy folks wanted Rousseau's methods of learning lots of different subjects.  I must say it was fun creating our own class, there were some great ideas floating around.  Way out of the box.  I would take a class like that any day, and I bet I'd learn better because of it.

     Oh, and we also have on line discussion boards where we have to make a weekly post and then at least 5 other posts to other people's posts, one of which has to be to a comment that someone made to your original post.  The idea is to carry on the conversation.  Agree or disagree, it doesn't matter.  Just make a point and defend it with quotes from the readings and/or your own experiences.  Ha, do I have an unfair advantage there or what.  I have so many fricken life experiences to choose from that I have a hard time picking which one to use.  

     But it's not just a post, we often have an interesting format to fit.  For example, last week we had to post in the style of a Socratic dialogue.  Here were the rules:

     Part 1.  For your original post, write a short conversation/dialogue (at least 300 words total, but can be        longer) between one character from Meno (i.e. Socrates, Meno, the slave boy) and Freire.  Their                  conversation should be based on ideas expressed in both texts.  What would they say to each other?  

     What would they agree and disagree about?  What would each character be trying to achieve in 

     his interaction with the other?

Here's my post:

8 days ago

Susan Fullmer 

Meno Travels to Harvard

COLLAPSE

Meno: Freire, I have come a long way to see you. Do you have time to talk with me?

Freire: Yes, yes, of course I do. What can I do for you?

Meno: My name is Meno and I am a teacher of some renown in my country. I am a Thessalian and I was most recently staying in Athens. I was visiting a friend of mine, you may have heard of him. His name is Socrates.

Freire: Oh, yes. I have heard of him.

Meno: Well, I have heard that you are a teacher as well. Perhaps we can talk about your teaching style. Is it true that you do not believe a teacher should have authority in the classroom? Could such rumors as this be true!

Freire: Well, first let me ask you a question. Have you ever known a situation where a teacher is a narrator, filling the students with contents of his narration?

Meno: Yes, of course. I have taught that way many times. And I have learned that from my teacher Gorgias who is one of the most reputable Sophist teachers in Greece!

Freire: And from this narration do the students then memorize the narrated content?

Meno: Yes, I should hope so.

Freire: Have you ever thought that teaching in this way is sort of like banking?

Meno: How so?

Freire: Well, with the teacher as narrator, education thus becomes an act of depositing in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. With these deposits the student patiently receives, memorizes, files, stores, and repeats when asked.

Meno: Oh yes, I see what you mean. Isn’t that wonderful! Such a nice way of stating our educational system. It makes one proud to be a teacher.

Freire: And in this banking example of our educational system is there room for creativity, transformation and knowledge that emerges through invention and re-invention?

Meno: Hmm, well, hmmm.

Freire: Have you ever wondered perhaps, what would come of humans having restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry with the world and with each other?

Meno: Oh, well, that sounds very messy, dangerous even. I think it is better if students understand that knowledge is a gift bestowed by those who are knowledgeable. Students should be storing the deposits entrusted to them. We must manage them and adapt them to our way of thinking!

Freire: By the knowledgeable do you mean the pompous, elaborate, vacuous Sophists and their method of philosophy? Is it true that the Sophists are grand and presumptuous? Or are those just rumors?

Meno: Well, some may say that… but that is not entirely true!

Freire: Is the Knowledgeable’s interest lie in changing the consciousness of the oppressed, and not the situation which oppresses them? Could it be that they want to lead them to adapt to that situation, even if it’s a bad situation? If so, then they can be dominated.

Meno: What? Dominated? No, that is not what we want for our students.

Freire: The educator might not realize that there is no true security in this scenario. One must seek to live with others in solidarity. Solidarity requires true communication. Only through communication can human life hold meaning. The teacher’s thinking is authenticated only by the authenticity of the students thinking. The teacher cannot think for his students, nor can he impose his thought on them.

Meno: I have been stung again. I must think more upon these matters.