Pedagogy Journal-George

All the authors of the this week's reading raised valid points on education: education should prepare us for life, should be independent and democratic, and enable students to demonstrate what they learn as well the What You Test Is What You get principle. Reflecting back, all of my schooling contained elements of a "great" education. However, none of my schooling--from elementary to high school struck a balance between each elements on the list. My middle school emphasized on rote learning and life skills, but felt short on creating a group environment. My high school was the opposite--it was very Socratic and presentation based that our teachers neglect importance of standards and tests. Furthermore, lack of resources in the classroom and the fact that our school was nomadic were perennial problems. Not to say that schools should or should not prepare us for standardized tests. I just think that there should be a balance of combining a pedagogy that not only prepare us for life, but also ensure that the knowledge we receive can be applied to society--ie. having a broad base of knowledge for conversations and higher learning. In this case, I believe standardized tests serve the purpose of getting our foot deeper in the door of society. Standards such as the SAT is important for college admission. In my high school, most of the teachers had a negative disposition about teaching students for standards. While I admired this attitude, I thought to myself, how many students won't get into the college of their dreams because teachers don't prepare them enough for standardized tests? I argue that in an effective, empowering, and adaptive pedagogy, a balance must be attained.

Journal 14 | Alternate Pedagogies | Wendy Wu

After looking at Burkhardt's, Dewey's, and Montessori's teaching methods, I've been thinking about the way I've learned. For me personally, Montessori's teaching method has been the most effective because it helps me engage with the material and how it applies to my experiences and life. Not only does it help me build a deeper connection with what I'm learning, but I also tend to remember the material after the course. However, I was not very fortunate to take many courses where the professor or teacher applied real world experience to the classroom. Many of the classes I took were like Burkhardt's teaching method. I just took tests, and many of them were multiple choice questions. It's not to say that I didn't learn anything at all because I did. However, I felt it was just a bunch of memorization and reflecting back on my education, that was the majority of it. For math, I learned the most when I actually had to solve the problems and write down the process. It helps me look at the bigger picture and forces me to really understand the material. When I do multiple choice tests, I have a 25% of getting an answer correctly, so I might not even know what I'm doing and have the possibility to get the answer right. Therefore, I don't really like multiple choice tests, but I can see why teachers prefer them because it makes their lives easier. I think Dewey's teaching method is interesting, but I don't think teachers can give that much attention to each student. If it were possible, then I think that would be amazing because each child could reach their full potential. That might be possible in a very exclusive private school where 1-on-1 attention is possible, but for public schools, that's just not practical. Therefore, looking at my education and considering practicality, I wished every class incorporated Montessori's teaching method. If my classes did, then I think I would remember more than I know now. All I did was regurgitate information, but I didn't really understand the material at times. That's why after the class, I forget everything because I didn't really learn that much to begin with. Montessori's teaching method helps me see things on a larger scale and how I fit into this scale.

Pedagogy Journal - Natalie Johnson

After doing these three readings and then thinking about my own educational experiences thus far, I have realized that my classroom experiences were largely affected by the teachers I had. I don’t really remember specific teaching styles that my teachers had in elementary school, but as for middle school and high school there are plenty of examples of classes I either loved or hated completely one hundred percent because of the teacher. For example, I despised my 7th grade Algebra 1 class because of Mrs. Bryant’s teaching style: on the first day of class she literally said these words- “This class will not be fun. We will not do group projects, and we will not have holiday parties. You will come here, take notes, take tests, and that is all.” I was astounded- I don’t care if we don’t have parties and it’s not a class completely based on fun, but this teacher was outright admitting that she didn’t care if we hated the class. From that day on I had a horrible stigma against that class because she was just such a negative person that there was no way I could enjoy it. Unfortunately, she was true to her word- we literally just took notes every day. Luckily I am an adaptive learner and can teach myself basic things if I don’t understand them at first, so I still did alright in the class.

On the other end of the spectrum, my favorite math class I ever took was my junior year of high school with Mr. Darrow- Probability and Statistics. He did real life examples and projects that allowed us to apply what we were learning to our lives so that the material was solidified in our minds. I usually despise math because it doesn’t come very naturally to me, but Mr. Darrow actually took an interest in each of his students and wanted us to understand the material and succeed in his class and in everything we were doing in our lives.

So though I haven’t focused much on teaching methods, it’s because I think that the single most important thing is the quality of the person who is your teacher. If the teacher cares about her students and isn’t just teaching as a job and for a paycheck, then I think that the students will want to try harder in the classes. As for methods, I completely agree with Dewey’s philosophy. Education should be a balance of taking the student’s experiences into account as well as taking the quality of the curriculum into account.

Journal 14 - Angela

*Journal: *Reflect on components of Burkhardt’s, Dewey’s or Montessori’s
teaching methods. How have the teaching strategies you have encountered been
effective or ineffective? How could they have been improved?

I realized, sitting in an American Lit class I was taking this time last year after getting our first essay back, how programmed I had been to take in what the professor tells you in lecture and say it right back to demonstrate your understanding of a particular concept.

Most of the teaching strategies I've encountered in the biology/chemistry/physics and sociology/American studies/ethnic studies classes I've taken have kind of centered on this idea, that there's a concept to understand and the goal is to learn and understand that concept. Not to say that I don't like this type of teaching strategy - I love when something finally clicks and you DO understand how (for instance) electromagnetic fields affect a sheet of metal. But in the American Lit course that I was taking, I realized that that idea was completely wrong and invalid in that class. The comments scribbled in red asked me for my own opinions and ideas/thoughts on the readings, not only what the professor lectured on. I felt really unsure putting forth my own ideas, since I wasn't sure if they would be "right", and it wasn't something I was used to. In many of the science courses I'm used to taking, there can be plenty of room for creativity - but only if you know very well what you're talking about and have solid and sufficient background knowledge. I didn't feel that I had this strong grasp on how to interpret American literature, which is why I felt so uncomfortable stating my own opinions and ideas. I think I realize now that as a whole, that class had relied on a different type of teaching strategy/pedagogy that was fundamentally different from the types I had become accustomed to, and the two clashed a little. Both are effective in their own ways, and I'm still trying to figure out to incorporate/improve both as I learn.

journal 14 - Isel Lee

Most of the teaching strategies I have encountered were more of the “banking system” where I was fed information and expected to regurgitate them on very objectively designed tests. Through these experiences, I realized how “hollow” I became—whatever information/knowledge I had learned had always been spilled out, leaving nothing left in my mind. My mind felt so empty and numb that it was difficult to adjust to the learning environment demanded at Cal. Many of the humanities courses I took here demanded a different type of learning—one where I needed to REALLY understand and know the material that I read and learned in class, and also show my mastery within the tests. I was also expected to interact with other students and professors through discussions and office hours. The existence of an environment where students were allowed to speak in class, present their opinions, and also participate actively was an overwhelming experience for me, who was used to sitting quietly as a submissive student in class. I remember my surprise and confusion when the GSI in my English writing class explained to the class that she wants to see our own interpretation and ideas in the essays assigned. I was always taught to integrate the themes and ideas presented by the teacher rather than coming up with our own in our literary essays—I had an experience where I got a bad grade because my interpretation of symbols within the book were wrong and was given a better grade when I only included the interpretations and ideas presented by the teacher in class. Thus I had come to think that whatever I thought never mattered because it was wrong and whatever the teacher says was right. Yet, now they’re telling me to do something I have always thought was wrong?! Adjusting to my new educational environment was a slow and difficult task, but it was worth it because I feel like I own my education more. Before, whatever I learned was only at a level where I was able to “recognize” the information without actually “knowing” it. My approach to educational material has begun to change to one that is more subjective. I wish that I encountered such a learning environment earlier in life as an active member in my learning community rather than being brought up to be a passive, mindless student.

Journal #14- Alternate Pedagogies (Ashmi)

I feel like my education has revolved around the classroom. Teachers giving the same standard test, over and over. I think this comic embodies how I feel about my education. I know teachers want students to be innovative and independent, but the way they educate is not conducive to accomplishing this. Students are confined to books and classrooms which does not provide them with the skills they need in the real world. I took a botany class in high school where I was able to grow my garden and conduct experiments with my own vegetables. I was able to get hands on experience which provided me with valuable skills that I can now use for the rest of my life. I think that teachers need to start shifting towards hands on learning and working in different environments because this actually allows students to be creative and innovative. It gives students a break from the repetitive routine in classrooms and allows them to gain experience and new perspectives on their education.

Journal #14 - Teaching Stategies

It’s really interesting but when I look back on what I’ve actually been able to learn throughout my college and my high school experience, I feel like I haven’t learned very much in terms of the actual content taught in the classrooms. Most times, I was just forced to sit in my seat and listen to the teacher speak. Then all the material would leave my mind as soon as I finished my tests. It’s the same even now with all my lectures. I realized, I don’t remember crap unless I have to. And I really believe this is what John Dewey and Burkhardt was speaking about. It doesn’t make sense to force students to sit quietly and absorb the materials that teachers teach. Furthermore, much of the material we learn do not have real life applications. It does not make sense to us because we cannot understand how it relates to our own personal experiences.

However, the few times that I really enjoyed learning was with teachers that had interesting teaching strategies. For instance, one of my teachers taught in a very Socratic way. He always asked us to analyze U.S. history and the way it has been written. He also made us question how history relates to us nowadays. These lessons definitely influenced me in so many ways. Its probably the reason why I started loving history and why I would love to teach it later in life.

Furthermore, currently I teach history and poetry to high school students at Berkeley Technology Academy. Throughout all of our lessons, we break it down into three parts: We broke it down into 3 parts: a historical event, a current issue, and an activity. For example, during our lesson on imperialism we decided to focus our topic on the theme of home. We decided to teach about one, how Native Americans are constantly being pushed out throughout history, second, gentrification nowadays in their own community, and lastly, a poem about home. By doing this, we were able to teach history lessons that made sense to the students. Furthermore, the activity was an outlet for them to connect to the material, to express how they feel about the topic, and a method of assessing the students’ maturity on the topic. Through this experience, I realized that there was a possibility of teaching students in more effective and practical ways.