I recently attended a Board of Education meeting in my
hometown of Glen Ellyn, IL. to discuss district wide changes to the K-5 teaching
platform to incorporate a new system of learning called STEAM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) into our children’s daily lives.
After an hour long presentation and numerous testimonials,
it was clear to me and the 200 other concerned and angry parents that in
exchange for an educational system that delivered excellent test scores and
strong bonds between students and teachers, we would be getting an unapologetic
plan with no details, fancy acronyms, and multiple benign but exciting words
like collaboration, innovation, leadership, and 21st century
learning. My guess is that 21st
century learning is looking for solutions to problems that don’t exist. (Thank
you for the line Bruce.)
http://glenellyn.patch.com/articles/district-41-think-tank-classroom-changes-school-board-meeting#comments_list
I am not an expert in STEAM but it sounds like beating a
child over the head with the scientific method and then letting them recuperate
in music to “harness their creative side” and apply their newfound whimsy to
the rest of their daily activities. I realize that as a country we need to find
innovators and critical thinkers to close the technology gap between the US and
India or China, but is the function of grade school to find a better job or
stimulate the economy?
Four year old Chinese students can memorize the Periodic Table,
but my 4 year has a difficult time engineering the button on his pants. One is
employable and the other thinks outside the box performing the butt shuffle.
Both are creative although one of these choices is slightly better for the economy.
I know science and math need to be emphasized more today than ever, but there
is no plug-in solution to develop innovation or inspire creativity.
The new teaching approach also involves multiple teachers
having a specialty and children moving between classes, like in Middle or High
School, and with mixed grade levels (2&3) and (4&5). Does placing
children in more mature settings help them learn better or does it separate the
“innovators” from the herd? How much learning time will kids lose in class
roaming the halls 4-5 times a day? How much will kids miss because they are
being taught at a higher grade level?
The answer is a class called WIN or What I Need. It serves
as a time for the specialist to meet with children who are having difficulties
with a subject and provides exactly what all mature, bright, and confident
children need to succeed.
Unfortunately, I don’t know any kids that fit that
description. Grade school kids need a teacher. The relationship between a
teacher and students between the ages of 5-11 provides not only learning, but
motivation, security, confidence, achievement, and the potential spark of creativity.
Kids don’t need specialists to unlock deep seated creativity, but dedicated
teachers who impart knowledge and indulge their students to use that knowledge
to form their own ideas.
I remember as a very young 6 year old, I was told by a
friend of mine that he had an invisible plane, like Wonder Woman, in his front
yard. I was, and still am, a big comic book fan and could not wait to see it or
more importantly touch it. As I walked through his yard with my arms
outstretched, my friends and many parents laughed at me. Slowly I realized that
there was no jet and I ran home crying. I was told to get over it and came to
terms that superheroes didn’t exist.
I told my teacher about it and she told me she didn’t think
it was dumb. There were no dumb ideas. Maybe someday there would be an
invisible plane. Ms. Klein was not a specialist, but a teacher. I didn’t need a
deeper understanding of stealth technology, but a validation of my ideas and
thoughts. And if I had to run from class to class and worked with five
different specialists, I would have never asked the question. I’d be stuck in
the box.
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