R/D 6
Cindy Thelen
As teachers we are dealing with human performance improvement on a daily basis. Even as technology enhances our instruction and students’ learning we must never forget the human aspect of education. We should hope to be a part of helping students become happy, productive, intelligent, and compassionate citizens.
We should want“quantified result” (pg. 134) for our efforts and our students’ efforts. I thought the research of Schultz and Becker directly applied to the educational process. The book stated, “as the knowledge and performance capabilities of populations improve so, too, do the economic successes of countries and their peoples (Reiser, Dempsey, 2007, p. 136)”. If we want to play a part in the economic success of people then we should be working to improve our students’ knowledge and performance. This isn’t a game, it’s serious, and we need to begin to think globally.
At first I thought this statement was a bit harsh: “A system that rewards people for their behavior….without accounting for accomplishment encourages incompetence (2007, p. 138)”.
Yet, if we are to prepare our students for the work force, they will need to be competence adults who can accomplishment set outcomes. To reward mediocre performance would be unkind.
This chapter could also apply to the training of teachers. Are there better ways, including technology, that would prepare teachers for success in the classroom? Shouldn’t there be more of a connection from what we learn in college to the way we teach in the classroom? So many of us feel that what we learned in our educational classes about teaching did not apply in the actual classroom! There is a disconnect, which is exactly what they found between training and actual transfer to the workplace (2007, p. 142). People learned when they went through training, but it didn’t transfer into the efforts they put into their work.
We, as teachers, need to be serious about our efforts in the classroom. Each of us has a part to play in the development of a student into a mature, effective adult.
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The superintendent in my district has decided to lead our "New Teacher Training" meetings, instead of sending us to the ISD. In the very first class, he pointed out that he wanted to model good instruction and technology use. Modeling is an important activity for all teachers. Like you said... sometimes it feels like what we learn doesn't really apply. We've to make sure that we don't perpetuate that practice and strive to use technology as we want our students to!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your comment about the way teachers are taught-there certainly is a disconnect between classroom and the "real world". I always tried to help my students make the real world connections to why they were learning a specific topic. :) KathyW
ReplyDeleteCindy
ReplyDeleteI compltely agree with your ideas of educating our students for the work force and the world. I tell my students at the beginning of the year that my job is very big. I have to get them through 8th grade to 9th grade, teach them rules procedures, math but most importantly teach them how to function in the world. For example, I demand manners, respect, reasoning and hard work. When a student misbehaves, I spend more time trying to get the student to think on their own if it was appropriate, helpful to others and helpful to their goal of learning. By doing this, I feel that it teaches our students to reflect on what they did in terms of more than the immediate result. To look at the big picture to get them to "perform" at their best level.
I also agree that the education programs should look into better aligning teaching the the practice we are given in college. No teacher should be nervous on "what to do" when they step into a classroom. Granted much of that comes from experience but then maybe they need more experience before they graduate.
Jackie Sowle
Cindy,
ReplyDeleteYou are right our first job is have our students ready for life after school. To do that we have to have them ready to be competent with the technology that is out there, but it takes more than that. People have to be dependable and be ready to do the job the right way. HPI can help.
Mark P
I couldn't agree more how much a role model we are for our students. The way we teach really mold them into what they do in the future. Although I teach Kindergartens and first grader, I want to put them in the right direction. That's why I enjoy teaching kids.
ReplyDelete