They say that if a XIX century doctor stepped today into an operating room, everything would be completely different from what he or she knew. But if a XIX century teacher came today to a classroom, he or she would feel that not much had changed.
If I went to an eye doctor with cataract, I would ask for the last surgical technique, I wouldn't accept a scalpel. And still, a lot of teachers are "operating with scalpels", teaching the same as in XIX century with the argument that that's what they've done all their life and it has worked. Besides, parents aren't still concerned with the last "educational technique".
But, slowly, educational science is making a lot of progress. The world is moving towards a common educational science, sharing the methodological and technical advance. Lessons based on teacher talks in which students listen, study and pass an exam, are starting to be over. We know how does the brain learn, and that knowledge is starting to be applied to schools. We know what works and what doesn't, what makes the students get involved and learn, and what doesn't. Society is more complex now, uncertain and full of networks. And so, schools need to change in order to empower the people to live competently in it.
This week we have worked with alternative assessment (basically with rubrics), project based learning, webquests, and so on. These are good ways to make the students grow to their full potential, turning into XXI century citizens.
I don't know how will be the schools in ten years time, but I hope that these techniques (or better ones) have conquered the world.
Dear Juan
ResponderEliminarI´ve read what you have written about what´s happening in education.I agree with you as a whole. I think that´s because we are traditional teachers and sometimes we don´t like training or we don´t have the opportunity to get a good training with instructors who are specialists in learning foreign language. In other cases we think that we know enough and we don´t need to know any more.
We are accustomed to do only the basic and no more, but the world is changing and educatione have to change especially with the use of technology and internet.
We have a challenge and this is to change ourselves and in the future we´ll see another kind of education.
I´m not young but old teachers and young teachers have to change if we want to have the new students of century xxi.
Regards
Dear Juan
ResponderEliminarI totally agree with you, when you say, "old ways of teaching are starting to be over", I would say that it is over, maybe a 10% of those teachers are still working in the traditional way, as many years ago.
Personally I feel proud of learning thin new kind of material.
As an answer to your question, schools will be very different en 10 years, teachers, then will be guiders of the new knoledge. Students will be the ones in charge of their own learning.
Regards
Alex S.