Anti-teaching is usually described as standardized and test-centered education, but I would like to clarify the definition further. Without this clarification, I think that changing current education systems could be a great risk, since throwing out the old without a new plan would cause chaos. Schools could become isolationists, refusing students from other schools and not forming community-wide plans to increase education. One school could completely disregard the achievements of students from other schools if they didn’t meet a set of vague standards. Would the ‘educational heritage’ and background of a student become even more impactful than their achievements? Even Ken Robinson in his talk [2] mentioned that testing is useful as a diagnostic tool, and the harm it causes today is from our over-reliance on it. This is a future of education that is not pretty, even if standardized testing is thrown out.<\/p>\n
So what should standardized testing be replaced with? This is the question answered by the other readings of week, which have one thing in common: an inclusive and strong social connection with empowered students. A very real and practical example I have heard of this happening in classrooms at the very moment is a short “Good Times” moment at the beginning of class. In the Capturing Kids Hearts initiative, these moments are for teachers to simply ask the students to share with everyone the good things that they experienced in the past couple days. Several teachers [1] have talked about how it leads to students that are more inspired and focused on accomplishments. So a single student’s goal becomes a shared victory and a moment to inspire their peers to extend the success. I think that there is a great dual benefit though because it lets teachers understand what is happening to the students outside of the classroom. This is a true connection that lets teachers know what the students care about and to empathize with them, rather than a teacher-versus-students environment where the teacher separates themselves from the students. The role of a shepherd guiding a direction-less flock should never match up to what is happening in classrooms. Teachers that view themselves as the students’ student, as part of the community, strengthen that meaningful connection to students.<\/p>\n
[1] Quillen, Ian. \u201c’Capturing Kids’ Hearts’ Initiative Focuses on Relationship Building.\u201d Educational Week, Edweek.org, 17 Oct. 2011, www.edweek.org\/dd\/articles\/2011\/10\/19\/01conversionside-relationships.h05.html.<\/p>\n
[2] TED. YouTube, TED, 10 May 2013, www.youtube.com\/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc&feature=youtu.be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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