1. A Changing Education
Description:
Education is the subject of much debate and numerous proposals for change in all corners of the United States; from rich affluent cities to poor, urbanized cities to small, rural farm areas. Because there is no national consensus regarding the purpose of education, there are many disagreements and inconsistency among the various proposals to improve our education system. Schools and students are very public, multidimensional environments that require alert, engaged and active teachers that have to cope with many factors such as multidimensionality, simultaneity, immediacy, unpredictability, publicness and history in their classrooms. Teachers also have to be flexible and willing to modify their instructional approaches in light of changes in teaching concepts and theories such as constructivism and multiple intelligence. Technology in our society is also changing education quickly through advances and innovations in technology leaving some 20th Century teachers and educators struggling to keep up with the demands and needs of their 21st Century learners (Armstrong, Henson & Savage, 2009).
Illustration: Great chart illustrating the changes and differences between 20th Century education and 21st Century Education
Practical Example:
A examples of a changing education is the changes in educational theories and practices such as constructivism. Constructivism is the principle that individuals cannot simply be given knowledge, rather they must create knowledge as they interact with the world around them (Armstrong, Henson & Savage, 2009). An example of that in the classroom setting is is a teacher reading students a poem aloud and then afterwards saying what that poem reminded him of -"Reading about this lake awakening after winter reminded me of going to a lake last spring and seeing the newborn baby ducks walking behind their mother as they looked for food". He will then ask his students to read the poem and practice making connections using their own prior knowledge. The students will discuss their connections with their partners so everyone gets to share. Then they will share their answers as a class and if the teacher asks his students what the poem means, he will accept any answer from students that shows they constructed meaning from the poem and their own previous knowledge.It is quite different from the more traditional way of the teacher reading the poem to the students and telling them what it means.
Integral Components:
Important components of a changing education include the following six selected changes but are not limited to 1) changes in the student population (i.e. a higher percentage of students from varied culture and language backgrounds). 2) Changes in theories of teaching and learning such as constructivism (discussed above) and multiple intelligence (the belief that there is not simply only one kind of intelligence but rather different levels of ability in individual categories). 3) Debates on the purpose of education such as what subjects should our school emphasize, should our schools be addressing social justice issues and to what extent should our schools be developing moral and ethical character? 4) Standards-Based Education (goals to reach or levels of proficiency to be attained). 5) Accountability (holding students and schools to certain expectations based on different levels of accountability such as standardized testing or other forms of measurements. 6) Efforts to ensure new teacher quality such as a performance system that judges candidates readiness in terms consistent with adopted professional standards.
How changing education relates to me and my future classroom:
I can already see this concept of changing education in my future classroom by our adoption of Common Core Standards by the State of California and our focus on skill-based testing over my previous experience as student learning through the No Child Left Behind Act era. I could already tell from my classroom observations this semester that teachers were focused more on activities and assignments that encouraged their students to think critically and make connections in order to understand the concepts and less on test-based skills. I expect my future classroom and school will have a very diverse group of students and the focus and assessments will not be based on passing tests but based on skill sets and individualized attention and different types of lesson plans etc.
Research:
President Obama's K-12 Plan: "In today’s global economy, a high-quality education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity—it is a prerequisite to success. Because economic progress and educational achievement are inextricably linked, educating every American student to graduate from high school prepared for college and for a career is a national imperative". President Obama has urged the importance and need of change in the educational system in order to assist our students and help them succeed in this ever changing global economy.
Scripture:
"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever" - Hebrews 13:8. I chose this scripture because this whole discussion about changing education has been about making new changes and starting over and getting rid of old concepts and theories and beliefs and embracing the new but the one thing that has not changed is Jesus Christ and his love for us. He is the same man who loved us enough to die for our sins and he will be that same man in twenty, thirty, forty years. That will stay consistent and be unchanged.