I had an interesting talk with my 6th grade students yesterday. We were discussing Bloom’s Taxonomy, lower-level thinking skills, homework, busy work, work, and why teachers assign it and why they do it. I was explaining to them that in the information age, simply naming, listing, memorizing information is not enough. We need to do something more with the knowledge we acquire. I challenged them to look at the work they are being assigned by teachers and try to place it on Bloom’s pyramid.
“If you are working on an assignment or taking a test that is simply asking you to memorize “facts”, a unit that goes no further, you should speak with your teacher and ask them why they have chosen not to challenge your thinking? Ask them to explain to you the purpose of the assignment.” I told them to keep in mind that all teachers, myself included, are sometimes guilty of relying on the easy way out due to various stresses. We will all sometimes assign a worksheet here, a quiz there, but ultimately a unit of study should extend their thinking and encourage them to create something new from acquired knowledge.
They gawked and said, “Yeah right! We would get in so much trouble. We would never ask a teacher that.”
This left me thinking about the power structure of schools, the relationships between teachers and students, and the image students have of most of us. I had a brief discussion on Twitter about standing up to authority figures. The following post is the result of my ruminations:
I don’t want to be an authority figure. I don’t want to be the type of teacher who students are afraid to face, to challenge, to argue with, to understand. Do not get me wrong, I believe in running a tight ship. After ten years, I am beginning to find a classroom management style that works for me, and it is based on The Golden Rule. I treat my students how I wanted to be treated when I was their age. I respect them and their opinions. I understand the struggle, pain, and confusion they deal with on a daily basis. I want to encourage their passions and help them find their voice, their curiosity, and desire to learn, grow, and evolve.
In order to this, I have to have an open door. I don’t speak to them, but talk with them. I put my guard down. I am vulnerable. I have to share my ideas, my thoughts, and my struggles. Don’t get me wrong, I am not proposing being their friends or the “cool” teacher that everyone takes advantage of and doesn’t respect. I am simply saying that if we want to guide are students, if we want them to feel comfortable coming to us when they are lost or confused or when they want clarification, we must build trust. You cannot do this if your students are afraid of challenging your authority.
I don’t know about you, but I have never trusted an authority figure in my life. Back to my point about my students not feeling like they are able to speak to their teachers about their own learning. Their apprehension goes back to the antiquated notion that teachers are the experts and that students are simply receptacles of our infinite wisdom.
Much has been said about educational reform, technology and the new classroom, but the way I see it nothing will change until students are not afraid of their teachers. We are not equals. That is not what I am saying. Teachers, after all, have years of training and life experience under our belts. The best way to change student attitudes is to be aware of their perceptions of us, be open to helping them change those perceptions, and build honest, trusting, relationships based on respect and a shared goal- Learning.
In the next few weeks, I hope to write about some of the things I have done to build these relationships. I will share some success and failures, but in the meantime, what do you do to build closer relationships with your students so they are not afraid to come to you for guidance? Or do you think an authoritative teaching style is more effective then the mentor model I have described? Is there a hybrid model, what does that look like? Please leave some comments. This is an important topic for me and I would like to explore I further.
I found your post extremely relevant to my recent studies. In a class I am currently enrolled in, Bloom’s Taxonomy has been brought up multiple times. The specific class has given information on applying Bloom’s pyramid to special education students. The thought is, no matter the level of the student’s learning capabilities, coursework should be relevant, challenging, and presented in a manner to benefit the child.
I feel in most cases students can be pushed to the next level in coursework and exams. It would be interesting to gradually increase exams, quizzes, or projects to see how the students progress. Keeping the material along the same level of difficulty, but perhaps changing formats. Although I would have personally hated that when I was in 6th grade, I know it would have definitely been of benefit.
You must be a very involved teacher to express interest in finding new ways to involve your students. I think this is wonderful. Students/children today have a hard time finding someone to trust and look up to. Many teachers are not involved and do no want to waste their personal time to offer additional help. I recall having my best relationships during school with teachers that presented a mentor model. Though it may depend on the child’s individual personality, I feel many students would be able to communicate more effectively through this model. I look forward to your updates on this topic.
You can find out more info about my class at EDM 310 Class Blog. In a few weeks I will be summarizing my response to you post. Feel free to contact me.
Mr. Raisdana,
My name is Barry Gartman and I am student at University of South Alabama. First I would like to say I totally agree with you on your teaching philosophy. We as teachers should teach. The most valuable lessons in life I have learned were from people I new cared for me. I took their criticism without being offended because I new they had my best interest at heart. I also believe we have to “run a tight ship” and not be over run, because kids will if you let them. But if we can strike that balance, the possibilities are endless.
I also believe we must “technological literate”, as our professor Dr. Strange likes to say. The classroom can no longer be just a facts-out and facts-back type of education. I feel this is what has drug down our once great education system. We have to get back to teaching our students how to think, not just what to think.
I would like to add you to my PLN, if you don’t mind, so I can follow your blog. Feel free to click here to view our class blog, or here to view my class blog.
Thank you very much.
As a parent I try to instill the same kind of questioning you are with your students. Obviously I walk a fine line because I am employed in the same district my children attend. It is important to me that my daughters understand there is more to learn than what is taught at school (and often much more important things to learn.)
As a teacher I try to develop a relationship with my students but it can be difficult when they have spent so many years being talked at instead of talked to. I hope this year to really foster a love of learning in my two remedial math classes I will be teaching. (By remedial I mean the students could not learn through the traditional methods of teaching.) Maybe by getting them out of the books and making them find their own answers they will begin to understand learning how to learn, not just how to answer questions on a test.