Talking points # 10

Extended comments to Elyssa

"Education is Politics"

Ira Shor

Shor has some great points in his article, but you also have great points in your blog. To your first paragraph, I completely agree with Shor and how teachers should examine the matter of the subject and not just the facts. When students are learning a classroom subject I believe it is easier for the student to remember if he or she can relate to it outside of the classroom. If teachers just stand in front of a classroom and just blab out facts, students are bound to get bored because I know I do.

To your second paragraph, teachers do need to get students involved to get their attention and not just throw facts at them. I do agree with you that students need involvement because we do have first hand experience in the FNED 346 class. I also feel more comfortable talking with people I got to know and this is class that is not like any other class I have ever taken before. I also enjoy coming to FNED and learn more then any other. Getting to know experiences and what our classmates think or have experience is powerful and knowledgeable. Learning this way makes me what to be this kind of teacher and not one of those who just throw facts at students and bore them to death. The quote you have that Shor says is a powerful saying that stuck out to me as well. Its all about the students learning for their education and helping students see themselves of who they are.

To your third paragraph, it is true about just learning the basic facts for an exam, just memorizing them and forgetting all the information when the exam is over. When in our FNED class we go over things and talk about them throughout the semester, not just for a week then forget about it. For example, we are still going over Delpit and that was at the beginning of class. Another example for a “bad” approach, my political science class, he just blabs out facts and some stuff that doesn’t make sense. Then he will give us a study guide to memorize and by the time the exam is over I have no clue what I learned. Yes! We need to learn the real world and that does not involve memorization.

I found this video of how interaction teaching method is good: