How People Learn: Chapter 7
This chapter presents a more detailed look at some teachers in classrooms who are succeeding in teaching their subjects incredibly well. The main point is that it is not enough to say that once a teacher has learned teaching strategies, they can teach any subject. Now, I'm not sure who says that to begin with, because I don't think anyone wants someone whose area of knowledge is in the social sciences teaching the hard sciences, or vice versa. Do people really think that teachers can successfully teach any subject just because they are trained teachers? Anyway, the chapter suggests that teachers should not only understand teaching pedagogy, but have a very thorough understanding of their subject and the ways their subject is best taught. The chapter presents a history teacher who instead of outlining what their curriculum will be at the beginning of the year asks the students what they most want to know about themselves and about the world. They then come up with a list of questions which they attempt to answer throughout the year using various subject disciplines. The example was a student's question of "Will I live to be 100?" and they attempted to answer it by studying genetics, population statistics, family trees, environmental concerns, etc.
So this approach sounds really awesome and like a great teaching/learning methodology, but I think it would be almost impossible for most teachers to teach that way, and for a number of reasons. The first reason is that very, very few school curricula would allow such a free-form outline of the school year. The second reason is that only very experienced teachers could develop their lesson plans in such a spur-of-the-moment manner. Teachers spend all summer developing their lesson plans for the upcoming school year, and then continue to develop them throughout the year. It would be very difficult for anyone to do this. The third reason this is almost impossible is because this teacher seems to have a very broad knowledge base to teach from. Not too many social studies teachers, I imagine, could confidently teach genetics, for example. I think the text's example is an example of a great teacher, and her students are fortunate to have her, but I don't think it is a realistic model to draw from.
Overall, though, I do believe that the text's premise is correct: the best teachers are the ones who a. know how to teach well, and b. are masters of their subject areas. This must be why in many European countries, school teachers are required to have their subject area master's degree before they can become a teacher at all. But, in this country, that gets into issues of the cultural status of teachers, and rates of pay vs. student debt. The payoff just isn't there.
"The main point is that it is not enough to say that once a teacher has learned teaching strategies, they can teach any subject...Do people really think that teachers can successfully teach any subject just because they are trained teachers?"
ReplyDeleteSadly some people do believe that just because you have trained to be a teacher, you can magically impart knowledge on any subject. I agree with your sentiment that "the best teachers are masters of their subject areas." It's because they are passionate and informative about the information which will allow them to share it in fun ways.
While I enjoyed the teacher who employed the "Will I Be 100?" method, not every teacher can teach this way. Some teachers might not have the background or fully understand how to teach this information, so this method would not be for them. In the end, teaching is all about knowing your subject and being able to impart information on your subject successfully.