Ever since teaching GED classes here at Yavapai College, I have been listening to students tell me, "I'm just not a math person." So why do I care? I teach English. Yet, the students who are good in math transfer this thinking into "I'm just not good at writing."
So what if you have trouble getting math concepts right away? Not all brains are created the same. We have multiple intelligences. Howard Gardener wrote books on the subject, and I even wrote a thesis on it. For anyone who really wants to dive into Gardener's theory, here is a list of his books: The Disciplined Mind (1999), Leading Minds (1995), Creating Minds and Multiple Intelligences (1993). For those of you who teach English or who wonder why I like to use collaborative learning, you can read my thesis.
But even if one student has more trouble than another in learning math or how to write, does that mean the student should shrug his or her shoulders and give up? Maybe in America, but certainly not in foreign countries. According to this article, students who have more trouble learning in other countries learn to work hard. What a concept! I remember my oldest daughter having such a struggle in college calculus. She told me that she was determined that no matter how many times she had to take Calculus II, she was going to pass the class. And she did. Eventually.
That isn't to say we shouldn't also point them in the direction of a tutor, teacher, or friend who is good at the subject. But let us set the example of people who are willing to try, willing to strive for success, even when it is difficult.
One of the many things I love here in the 9x9x25 Challenge is that our teachers are doing as you say. They are setting an example of learning and doing. They are trying. And they are busy and it is difficult.
ReplyDeleteTeachers like yourself Tina, teachers who spend lots of time wondering and learning are really the ones who lead the change in schooling. It won't be the policy makers. Or the boards or presidents. It will be the teachers who are constantly demanding more of themselves and trying and failing, trying and succeeding, and learning just like the students we work with. Learning does not end. That is most obvious in our schooling where try as we might to put a "terminal" endpoint to the semester, the test, or the degree, there are just too many wonderful changes to content with.
Hi Todd,
DeleteThank you for the positive comments here concerning the teachers at our college. We really do enjoy learning about learning, and we couldn't do it all quite so well without TeLS support. Just look at what we have all been learning just participating in 9x9X25.
Amen, Tina! I couldn't agree more! I read once about a study between the differences in parenting in Asian countries vs. North America. They gave a Korean kid a very difficult test, and when the results came back and he hadn't done well (no surprise) his mother asked him 'What are you going to do to get a better score next time? Can you try harder? Did you really do your best?' The same situation was arranged with an American kid, and his mother's response to his bad score was 'You must not have slept well last night, no worries. You'll do better next time, I know you did your best.' Amazing! There is a balance, of course; the suicide rate in Asian countries is pretty high, I think they are under a lot of pressure both from families and society, but there needs to be some personal accountability! Teachers can't be held accountable for lackadaisical students!
ReplyDeleteGood point about the suicide rate for Asians; however, we do need to teach personal responsibility and diligence to our students!
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteI too like Tara's comment that culture matters; I'm going to toss out that even within the (hypothetical) same culture (eg, the US), different time frames/generations will also construct a different cultural space. So the past decade or two of where we have given trophies to all participants on a team does demonstrate a reward system for just showing up.
I too teaching writing; what you are getting at makes me think about the debates of valuing process vs. product. Over the years I realized that it was important in my classes to for students to get a lot/most of the points for process (that's part of what we're teaching, correct?). However, I still needed to have the bar of the course objectives; students needed to meet those before passing and moving on to the next class. I found that my grading policy now includes something like: here are all the points you earn for process; however, you can't pass this class w/o passing major writing projects #1, #2, and #3 with a "C" or better. Students freak a bit; but then I just say "You can revise and resubmit until you pass." They learn a lot through the revision process (which equates to that try again until you get it).
All this to say, part of our job of constructing learning environments is constructing the scaffolding that helps students develop certain habits of mind (like the CWPA's Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing
Hi Rochelle,
DeleteHere you present an excellent model that both encourages students to participate and work hard as well as to excel at meeting the core standards for your course. I totally want to use this model in future writing classes.
Tina