Posted by Margaret Cathy, Today in teaching there has been so much more emphasis from certain quarters on defining detailed curriculums and on testing to rank children. And all of this proceeds from a viewpoint that children are empty vessels we need to fill up, and that they are passive recipients of all our knowledge. I think I actually achieve my greatest success as a teacher when I encounter a child who is a passive learner and I "turn them around" to become more active and self-directed. Then, instead of underachieving in the classroom, doing the minimum they can get away with, they change and initiate so much more of their own learning. The whole classroom is a much more lively, enthusiastic and energetic place when this happens. Link: http://www.kevinbates.com/reflections/pentecost2005.htm
on November 13, 2005, 3:34 am
Re: Pentecost 2005: a Great Day for Families! by CATHY TAGGART
http://www.kevinbates.com/reflections/pentecost2005.htm
I loved reading what you had to say about children and parenting.
I am a teacher and found this paragraph especially meaningful for teaching: "and, perhaps most important of all, we were affirming them, not for fulfilling an adult’s expectations of them (which seems to be what the “experts” mean by giving positive reinforcement) but just for being themselves."
Margaret
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