Throughout my entire life as a student I have occasionally been faced with a common problem in today’s classrooms: lack of value for creativity and individuality. At my earliest recognition this was seen in one of my elementary school classrooms where all students were told that their hands must be folded either in their lap or on their desk, no exceptions. If the teacher found you fiddling with your school supplies you were immediately reprimanded, no exceptions. As a young child who wanted to stay out of trouble I did so without questioning, however as a fourth year university student I have begun to challenge some of the ways I have seen classrooms managed.
In my third year of university I had a professor who challenged every thought I ever had about education. Every goal, plan, idea, dream, or philosophy was challenged by words spoken by someone I did not even know. How could I let that happen? How could I let a stranger make me question what I already knew? But as I questioned my perspective of education I began to hear other perspectives, better perspectives. And this journey to dig deeper into more truth about something has led me to believe that none of us have the full picture of what education should look like. Not even John Dewey or Sir Ken Robinson have the solutions to all of education’s problems, but we can certainly join in the discussion as we aim to make education the best it can be. And this is the reason why I will not chastise my teacher who made us sit with our hands folded, but I will attempt to offer a better perspective. She only knew what she knew, and it is up to me as a future educator to know what I know, and do my best.
In this ongoing search for answers to education’s questions, we can gain insight from many expert thinkers and educators. One of my favourite thinkers is Sir Ken Robinson and he did a talk exploring the dysfunctions of the 21st century education system and why it is failing to provide all students with equal opportunities. In his talk he said that “many brilliant people think they’re not brilliant because they have been judged by this particular view of the mind.” He agues that the arts offer an aesthetic experience where your senses are operating at their peak and that instead of putting students to sleep we should be waking them up to what they have inside themselves. Take a look at his inspiring talk here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Something that constructivist teachers are already taking hold of is Differentiation in Instruction. This method of instruction lies in the belief that all students learn in different ways and at different rates (Drake, Reid & Kolohon, 2014). If I could go back in time to my grade 3 classroom, I would offer this method of instruction as a better approach to classroom management than what our teacher was enforcing. As Sir Ken Robinson suggested, maybe some children need to move around in order to learn effectively and in this traditional classroom their potential is being squandered!
https://marquetteeducator.wordpress.com/2012/07/12/climbthattree/
As differentiated instruction is suggested as an alternative to traditional methods of teaching, John Dewey also argued for a solution. He said "I believe that education which does not occur through forms of life, or that are worth living for their own sake, is always a poor substitute for the genuine reality and tends to cramp and to deaden" (Dewey, 1897). I believe that as teachers we should aim to make education worth living for. This will surely bring students to life as Sir Ken Robinson stated.
Bringing students to life can seem a daunting task as we attempt to move away from our traditional methods of teaching, but there are some amazing examples of constructivist classrooms such as Danish "Nature Kindergartens". These alternative schools aim to teach the whole child by having the classes outside and lessons such as growing their own gardens, learning where their food comes from, and cooking food over a fire. It is a holistic approach to education as children are encouraged to use their minds as well as their bodies to learn.
Reforming education is a huge task, but as we reflect on our practice and the practice of those who have gone before us we are able find new perspectives that will help us find solutions to the problems we are facing in our classrooms. Differentiated instruction is just one new method that teachers can implement in their classrooms, but there are countless others that are waiting to be discovered as we continue to reform education.
References
Dewey, John (1897) ‘My pedagogic creed’, The School Journal, Volume LIV, Number 3 (January 16, 1897), pages 77-80. [Also available in the informal education archives, http://infed.org/mobi/john-dewey-my-pedagogical-creed/. Retrieved: September 23, 2015]
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.
