Synthesis Theme 3b: What Should Schools Teach? - "Controversial" Curriculum

While I realize there is a difference between book selection and book banning to me they are one in the same.  If you do not include the book in the options that is the same thing as saying you are not allowed to read it.  But this theme goes beyond book banning.  Book banning is just one price and what good does book banning really do with things like Kindles and iBooks students have access to those books in more than just the school library.  What we actually see in schools in controversial curriculum and material (books and otherwise) not being included in the curriculum and why is that? As our professor pointed out in her comment to me is this an issue where teachers are not trusted to talk with students about controversial issues and if they are not, why is it they are not trusted?  The role of the teacher is/has drastically changed and we need to stop being thought of as people who disseminate information as information is available everywhere they don’t need to get it from me or any teacher.  We have to teach students to think critically and maneuver the oceans of information available to them and some of that will be controversially.  So if the reason teachers are not allowed to include controversial material is because they are not trusted, how do we become trusted professionals to include this material in our courses?  Maybe this is an area where professional development needs to be included on how to engage students with this material, monitor their discussions and engage students while remaining impartial.  When I engage students in debates about Stem Cell research we have to talk about embryos and the point at which they become life.  The topic can be very controversial and some students will have very strong feelings.  It is my job to ask questions and let them formulate their own opinions and teach them to talk respectfully about their opinions maybe if we trained more teachers to handle these conversations others would be more open to including them in the curriculum.

Theme 3b: What Should Schools Teach? - "Controversial" Curriculum

Again this week the readings are rendering my speechless.  I really thought we were passed the days of book banning and book burning.  I thought we were passed the days were religious groups could tell schools what to teach and yet here in the year 2013 we are still “protecting” students by not letting them discuss controversial subjects and read materials associated with hot button topics.  As a school we are really going to be naive to think that students are not exposed to these things outside of the school walls?  This is the information age, the internet age.  Students are exposed to MANY topics and ideas outside of school that are controversial and I would rather see them brought into the school setting with adults who can teach them more about the topics and guide them through the information overload of this day and age?  It is like the age old controversy surrounding Huckleberry Finn because of the word “nigger”.  Maybe 30-40 years ago when no one heard the word or used it and it was consider to be a 4 letter swear word.  I remember growing up and hearing the word and understanding it was a very bad word that should never be spoken.  I was never taught the social context of this word, where it came from or why it was considered a bad word.  Today through movies, television and the internet students hear this work often and I believe as an educational institution we are better off to discuss the work and its meaning rather than hide it from students.  

When I read Curtis Acocta’s writing prompts I grinned from ear to ear.  This is the rigorous-critical thinking work we want students to be doing.  Students must learn to be analyzers of information and reflect upon the information they have consumed and this is what Acosta is trying to do.  Again students need to be able to read ALL information and formulate their own ideas and I would rather they did that with adult guidance than on their own.    

It infuriates me that people always think there is a hidden agenda in everything.  Bullying prevention is not about promoting any lifestyle it is about teaching children tolerance and acceptance so we don’t have young people taking their own lives for their choices they make.  It also seems that groups and leaders are always talking out of both sides of their mouths.  In one breath saying schools don’t do enough but then saying don’t teach it that way.  

There is always going to be controversy but for the sake of our students we need to take the controversy head on and do what is best for kids.

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

http://712educators.about.com/cs/bannedbooks/a/bookbanning.htm

Synthesis 3a: What Should Schools Teach? - "Unconventional" Curriculum and Schooling

I am still very excited about Mitra’s ideas of “school”.  When I envision this school of the future (and I hope not distant future) I think the school in the cloud model is one that could have great success.  As one person that commented on my reflection indicate she felt that young students still needed that interaction with adults and I agree.  Never in my mind do I see students sitting at home taking classes or courses or working on projects without in person interaction.  Students still need to come to school everyday.  They still need to be adult guidance on a daily basis, it just doesn’t need to be in a 6-8 period traditional setting.  I have this vision of a student interacting with “instructional coaches” throughout the day.  As high school students have projects that incorporate math, science, language arts and social studies these instructional coaches will guide them in their learning.  Life is not compartmentalized into subject areas so why should school? When I was younger I got to attend zoo school. I was chosen to attend school at the zoo for my entire 6th grade year. It was an amazing educational experience and nothing was compartmentalized. It was unique in that subjects was interwoven not taught separate and then we got to enjoy all of these life experiences. This is the school of the future but unfortunately these schools are few and far between - maybe that can change.

Theme 3a: What Should Schools Teach? - "Unconventional" Curriculum and Schooling

“It's quite fashionable to say that the educational system is broken. It's not broken. It's wonderfully constructed. It's just that we don't need it anymore.”  - Sugata Mitra

After listening to his Ted Talk I was really rendered speechless and yet thoroughly energized. Someone was speaking right to my heart and I loved it.   Many times I have this vision in my head about what education should look like and it is nothing like what education is now it is much more like the school in the cloud.  I once saw a presenter give a talk on the future of education in which he compared schools in 2000 to schools in 1950 and they were almost identical.  Still classrooms with desks in neat rows, teacher led with kids taking paper pencil tests regurgitating knowledge.  Now while some of this has begun to change in the last 5 years is it going to change fast enough or be big enough changes to bring about true educational reform that will make a difference?  That is why I love the quote from Mitra above.  The former education system we had worked wonderful for its time it produced my parents and grandparents and even me and they all did very well in that system but that system does not work for today's students and their futures.  As the 2013 Gallup Poll on what Americans Say U.S. Schools Should Teach indicated, Americans want students to learn skills like critical thinking, communication skills, how to set goals and collaboration.  If you read up on the Common Core you will see that the 4 C’s of the common core are “creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and communication”, exactly what Americans think American schools should be teaching. Many people want to argue that the Common Core is just another program like No Child Left Behind that is doomed to failure but I disagree.  The Common Core is the push that American education needed to make effective change in schools.  But is it enough? Probably not.  I have implemented the last two years the common core, flipped my classroom, integrated technology and really focused on the 4 C’s and yes I believe it has had a large impact on my students.  More than anything it has changed their view of education and school. They stopped seeing my classroom as a place where I was out to get students with paper/pencil tests of memorization.  But many times I still don’t think I have gone far enough to reform my practice of education that is why I loved Mitra’s ideas. Children and all humans are naturally curious so why take that away from them? Could the 4C’s of the common core be learned in an environment where kids teach themselves?  I think that answer is yes.  I envision a school without compartmentalized subjects taught in periods throughout the day but rather a no wall school just as mitra suggests, “a school-in-the-cloud, a self styled, self-organized learning environment , to be structured and managed by cloud computing, and overseen by a global village of teachers and facilitators. A student-driven, technology-based, self-directed learning may work, and  it will have a profound impact on how we will re-engineer and drive schooling in the years to come.”

I truly hope that this is the future of education and I hope it is sooner rather than later.

Mitra's Hole in the Wall Project

School in Cloud Article

Genius Hour Video - Is this the first step toward Mira's Vision?