The solution brought up in the article was to shift the focus of the classroom from a teacher dictating information to the students to a more open situation where students are inspired to want to learn and continue to do so for the span of their life. This is a philosophy I definitely agree with and have unwittingly attempted in the past with limited success.
However, there have been success stories for this model. This idea seems very similar to the Finish educational system which routinely produces student that rank among the highest in the world. The article also references another article (written by the same author) about Montessori schools that have produced great results with this system. Graduates from this system have gone on to become some of the most successful in the western world, including the founders of Google and Amazon, to name a few.
One point of disagreement I have with the author is his believe that this “shift in goal” will be relatively simple. Any system that has been in place for this long will undoubtedly see resistance towards change from some on all sides, teachers, administrator, and parents alike. That being said, it’s a worthy goal to work towards and definitely and education system I would like to be a part of!
Hey Sean,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that this kind of change will be slow and ,like you said, will face some kind of resistance. But with all things in life, time heals all wounds.
I wasn't aware that Finns used a similar type of philosophy when approaching education. Do you know of any others that do? I have a friend who has a child in the Montessori schools and she couldnt be happier. Its all about the students there. They prepare children to think, create, imagine, design, collaborate well with others, and to live a balanced life
http://www.montessori.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=311:what-are-the-real-benefits-of-sending-a-child-to-montessori&catid=16:articles-introducing-montessori-education&Itemid=38
Hopefully one day not to far away, the old way of schooling will be tossed aside so that our children can be better prepared for what the future has in stored.
As I was reading your post, I immediately thought of the TOEIC test that has been used as the accepted standard English test by many companies in Korea. I took the TOEIC test a few years ago to experience it for myself. I took a sample test to give me an idea of what I should expect and was surprised to learn that it's more about mastering the techniques rather than being good at English. Since I took the TOEIC test I have taken a closer look at a couple of other English language tests such as BULATS and OPIc. Both of the tests I previously mentioned are much better interpretations of a person's true English speaking ability. The question is, when are Korean companies going to start taking English language testing seriously?
ReplyDeleteHi Sean, when I finished reading your first paragraph, I thought of a conversation I recently had with my sister. She has two kids, a son in grade 5 and a daughter in grade 2. She told me about a system that the Toronto District School Board is using to help improve teaching and learning by giving standardized tests for grades 3, 6 and 9. As a result of this, teacher’s are putting more emphasis on how to do well on these tests, rather than teaching material that students would benefit from.
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