Freedom to Learn!

During my years of going to school, I always thought to myself. How was education back then? What is the difference between from then and now? As I read the article and watched the two videos, I got a totally different perspective about education that I never knew. Education was not forced in the first place, it was through experience. But in today's modern world, that freedom to learn has changed dramatically.

As I read the article titled, "A Brief history of Education," I got so many perspectives about what education was back then compared to now. I learned that kids in schools learn on their own without adult supervision, without an adult directing them. The kids learned on their own through trial and error and experience. Through freedom and exploration, kids learned on their own, but that freedom to learn has changed as years passed on. While the rise industry was happening, kids were forced to do hard labor in factories, they basically had no choice but to work. Back in the Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century, kids were beaten into submission to Lords and Masters into doing work for them.

Also when I listened Sir Ken Robinson and Will Richardson's perspective on education, it opened my eyes to one point. Children lost their freedom to learn. Basically children lost their freedom and their right to explore the world on their own free will. Today's education, you go to school, learn what you have to learn, and if you don't learn it, then you fail and there is no hope for you to survive life. I liked how Sir Ken Robinson pointed out in his video, he said that there are two experiences in learning, one is Aesthetic, meaning you learn from first hand experience, on the spot learning. Then there's anaesthetic, meaning you shut yourself down, you have to learn what without your free will, you make yourself into a robot, forcing yourself into what you have to learn. Which automatically shuts your imagination and excitement about learning.

So to conclude, in order to get children to see education more interesting and fun, we should not raise the bar for them by adding new and better curriculum, but to attend to their needs on how to learn.

Resources

Freedom to learn: The roles of and play and curiosity as foundations for learning

By Peter Gray

Reflection on, ' History of Education '

After reading Peter Gray article, it hit me hard that EDUCATION has indeed changed over the years.Do we all know  the true meaning of what is education? Until today I am still learning what it means to educate or to be educated. And I am very aware that technology has dominated in Education. During my childhood i learned so many ways, as gray mentions, playing has a big role in learning. I am surrounded with many kids because I have so many nephews and nieces. I observe them everyday and see that they learn each day while they are playing outside. how does Playing contributes to education? Playing is educational, it allows you to interact with others and develop communication skills.With my experience, during my childhood years, playing with my peers allowed me to be more out-spoken and creative. And know technology has given me more ways to be creative, especially with all the educational tools technology has set out, i can honestly say that life in the future will be easier than i imagined. This article was interesting to read and i really gathered insightful information on education and technology today.

"The Truth Behind Education"

 

During my childhood and adolescent years, my parents always talked about how my education had to come first. They believed that going to school was the right thing to do. I was curious to know why learning was so important. Today, there are many students who hate going to school. After reading the article about the history of education, it makes me think twice about what really matters. I agree that children can learn something by playing and exploring outside of a classroom. There are many different ways a child can obtain knowledge, such as how the hunter-gatherer families did back then. It’s very sad to hear about how children were treated as slaves in the labour market and were not allowed free education. We should take the time to appreciate and embrace how lucky we are to have experienced years of educational learning.

            In Robinson’s video, I want to highlight the part about how a school system is structured. I never noticed that a school and a factory had resemblance, because of segregated facilities for boys and girls, divided age-groups along with the school bell. Today, I think of school as being a ticket to the workforce and all about standardized testing. I did not enjoy doing SATs that often back in school. Assessments are not the only way to measure a student’s way of thinking.

            Richardson’s talk was the most interesting to me, because it opened my eyes to realize the truth behind education. There are some teachers who perform badly but are hard to get rid of, because of tenures. I do not think students deserve that kind of teaching. Online resources were also mentioned in this video and how they can serve as an aid. In the modern world, technology is growing to become the number one guide for everyone. Teachers from all around the world have to work effectively as a team in order to prepare their students solve real-life problems they would have to face in the years to come.

 Related article:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/01/25/Obama-Education-today-key-to-tomorrow/UPI-43401296009978/

A Reflection of Down the Rabbit Hole

 

Back when I  was a student under the public high school system I had many days of coming across dreadful moments of not wanting to come to school. However, as I look at myself today and contemplate on the videos and article that I had viewed, it makes me think about how my attendance in school was actually worth something. It made me think about not only I as a student but others who continued their education with me.  Basically, the point that I saw and agreed with in the article and videos is that we are the children of the future. Although the education is not consistently well due to some teachers, the intentions of the government were quite clear.

Throughout all my years of being a student I experienced many downfalls with teachers. One of them was quite similar to Peter Gray's historical teacher in Germany who was proud to bear a sum of "20,989 taps with a ruler" amongst the bare skins of his students. Just like the ruler teacher in Germany, I had a ruler/meter stick teacher in my first grade year. However, she wasn’t as violent as the article provoked, because she only used desks (broke two rulers with that) and a few usages of students hands. This method didn’t help students and I learn at all. Instead, we were inferior to learning.

Another teacher had me come across days where instead of learning I sat countless minutes to hours on a classroom desk or in a cafeteria waiting for my teacher to arrive late or be completely absent for the whole day. I also came across another teacher who would come into class with his shades on obviously hinting that he’s hung-over, high on drugs, or ready to sleep while the rest of the class will learn nothing. These are just a few listed downfalls that I had with some teachers.

There were also other teachers, many in fact, who did completely better than the disappointing teachers in creating a good educational environment for me. These were the teachers who made me learn. They were consistent, intelligible, and made learning fun and worthwhile. Sure, I do agree with Will Richardson that they were working on "raising the needles on the test scores," but at the same time they were helping other students and I to become responsible hard workers who will do well in school, make it to college, and get a job.

In conclusion, I believe that even though bad teachers may come across one’s way, good teachers will eventually come along to make a beneficial impact in one’s life. Basically, this was the concept that the government was aiming for—to get students to become inspired learners rather than ill factory workers or bums at home.They wanted us to be better off for the future.

 Related article:

 http://www.localhistories.org/corporal.html

A reflection of Down the Rabbit Hole

Although the article by Mr. Peter Gray was long, it proved to be very enlightening. I didn’t realize that the evolution of life played a small role in the invention of today’s educational system—which has remained fairly stagnant in an ever-changing world.  It was nice to see what brought about these educational institutions—which we are all products of.  Realizing that these such institutions are fairly new, it gives me renewed hope that we will able to adapt to the needs of our children and stop suppressing their innate characteristics.

            Likewise, Sir Ken Robinson’s YouTube video opened my eyes further and showed me that the way our educational systems are functioning is completely and utterly wrong. Who are we to say that children should be grouped by age? No one child learns the same as no one teacher teaches the same. Just because the educational systems were founded in reaction to industrialization and the revolution that followed doesn’t mean that it is the right move or way to go. Everyone has a passion and by enabling a child or an adult to explore such desires would not only be beneficial to them but would help our community out by producing caring and self-fulfilled members of society.

            Furthermore, Will Richardson’s TED Talk hit the nail on the head for me. It brought back so much memories of my time in school. Personally, I never understood what was the big deal with improving SAT9 scores to match those of our US counterparts. I mean, what was the importance of learning stateside seasons and whatnot when we have a rich culture at our fingertips. Oftentimes, we teach our students based on stateside standards and neglect the things that are important to us as an island community—like the lunar phases we experience. Don’t get me wrong we should learn about some of these things but our whole educational experience shouldn’t be based entirely on standards of people who are live so far away and whose differs from ours.

Yes, our educational system could use some work—it is underfunded and poorly managed but who are you to say what BETTER is? Improving test scores is not the be all end all for education. There shouldn’t be a one-size fits curriculum to be honest. Instead, we should be looking at ways to engage all students regardless of their capabilities to make learning a fun and interesting way of attaining knowledge and solving problems we faced with. I am in no way saying that today’s educators are doing a poor job. What I am saying is that system in which we teach has got to go. Life has changed and so to must our educational system. We must be the change we wish to see in the world! Help our children enjoy life and be adept in bridging the gaps between the classroom and problems we faced with out in the “REAL WORLD.”

Related article:

www.motivation-tools.com/youth/education_reform.htm

Down the Rabbit Hole Response

picture courtesy of: http://students.ou.edu/S/Kori.E.Shewmaker-1/classroomnews.html

I found the first article very interesting. Mainly talking about how education got started. I agree with the article that play is a child's first teacher. Even now babies and children learn by playing. It's interesting though how education evolved. From being purely play to using play as a bargain tool. Not fair! Learning is in the environment. Let's play! The first video, honestly, confused me. But what I enjoyed are the illustrations, it kept me engaged. The one part that caught my attention is the part about the children with ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Why do they medicate the children, rather than divert their attention to something more educational. I don't think that these children are in their right state of mind under the medications. How are they supposed to learn? Changing education paradigms, perhaps I didn't quite understand it. However, the video TED Talk made a lot of sense to me. I believe we do need to integrate more technology into the classroom. We are living in the age of technology, and its only the beginning of it. And who is to say that we can't do more than we are expected. I'm speaking in reference to the daughter who started playing Journey and her teacher tells her that she can't, or not supposed to be. If the internet and technology can teach us more than what we get in the classroom, the more power to our students. These three pieces of literature didn't really change my outlook on education. I still believe in paper and pencil, I still believe in tests, I still believe in hard copy books, but I also believe that technology enhances these things in the classroom, and in our world. Students need to be learning the tools of today, and so the teachers. Teachers need to be educated and taught about the new technology. The saying "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," does not apply to teachers.

Related articles

• Is It ADHD or a Different Learning Style? Educational Psychologist Comments on Recent ADHD Guideline Changes (prweb.com)
• It's Playtime! Choosing Toys and Games for Kids With ADD/ADHD (everydayhealth.com)

ED271 Reflection

       Education is learning the steps to success for a better future. It starts at home where parents and family teach the value of life.Schools then play an important role in education to help students learn and understand the importance of what is happening today.
       In the article, The brief History of Education is very different today because of technology and all the expectations our parents have for us.  Many things change from generation to generation and i believe that we have progress from hunting and gathering to having the power to be whatever we can be to become successful. The importance of education has changed because we have more resources today.
       In Sir Ken Robinson's video, one particular point he explained that stood out to me is the debate of ADHD. For those with the symptoms, people shouldn't give kids drugs like Ritalin tablets to help them. They should find alternative ways to use this symptom so that there is no need for the drug later on in the future. This type of drug is highly addictive and can affect an individuals health. I don't think it's normal to be taking drugs like this because it only affects the way the child lives his or her life.
        With technology today, we have the access to learn when we want to. Test scores on the other hand don't make schools better. It's the teachers and resources that prepares us for the future which makes the schools better. In Will Richardson's video, he believes in teachers helping students find their passion and support their passion, so that they can be prepared for life. We shouldn't change our education just for better test scores, but we should find ways to better our education for a bright future.

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