26 April 2011

"What are we teaching our students? And how?"

Apart from the broader context of your last post, this statement places us, you and I (and anyone in a classroom), at the crux of this issue. This question has to be ours.

Besides the given difficulties with feeling able to address this question in an appropriate setting, we have few positive examples of ways of teaching that foster self-discipline (I must say I talk a big game regarding this topic). The points you cited from the Ministry of Education's statement are clear but stated in the negative. They list the things we, as teachers, should not be doing.

The values that are identified as the core values of the Canadian education system are vague. They need to be defined in order to give educators a clear, positive example of ways to proceed. And yet, to say that seems wrong. If we get too explicit with "does and don'ts" the focus is placed on external forces driving our actions. Engagement is not something that can be imposed on people. As you stated, character development (what I referred to above as self-discipline) requires the intrinsic engagement of students. Without having to poke around in the world to understand the terms (of engagement), they become stale. (Buzz words scare me.) Educating and learning are presented as easy processes. All we have to do is connect the dots.

These are not negative things in and of themselves, but these terms, as they are used, are as generalized as the government itself. Those who govern merely dictate what they see fit. It is the people that comply and enforce what has been laid out. They present points of departure that are open for debate. We often forget this fact about our lives. Actions taken by individuals are what create things. Likewise, the terms mentioned in the statement by the Ministry of Education are points of departure. They are there to be taken up through our actions as educators and learners. It is not the explicit definition that we should worry about so much as how these ideas present themselves in our actions. We are the focal point, our classrooms and our students.

I feel so far I have only been discussing the later part of your question: the how.

The what is pretty much prescribed. Our curriculum maps and standards dictate what we have to teach, but the how is up to us. This seems to be the root of inquiry in general. We must figure out how to teach (HAAA!!!). It's that simple. I feel like I am spinning around in circles, or perhaps slowly spiraling toward some understanding of how to teach.

As I think through this problem, I am not concerned with the procedural how of teaching so much as the relational how.

Openness and inquisitiveness.