RHB20230516 - What is education, Part 2¶
One of the fundamental tenants of education is that we are a place where kids learn. They learn about the world, about different subjects, about themselves, about social interactions.
What is learning?
Think about times where you have learnt the most. It wasn't out of a textbook.
One thing we need to be careful of is thinking that we are the masters of learning. At best we are facilitators. At worst we can destroy confidence and or push students away.
Learning happens in the students mind.
One great phrase that has stuck with me from my studies is that communication is not about what you say, it is about what is recieved by the other person. Teaching is the same. You cannot measure how well you have done as a teacher by how much effort you put into a lesson, the ONLY measure is what has happened in the mind of the student.
I really want to question what do we get right? - Bonding tours - Exchange programs - Discipline - Projects
What do we get wrong? - Exams (but so much learning gets done in this summative form of assessment). Maybe we need to put less emphasis on the exams and more emphasis on projects? - Marks -
I am starting to find that one of the greatest ways for students to engage with the subject is to make an artefact. Make something that wasnt there before. Bring something forth into the world. For dance, art, drama, IT, english, afrikaans this can apply naturally. What about other subjects?
- What is learning? When do we learn? Why is it fundamental to education?
Give a short description on the following: - Babies - Natural learning - Forced learning