Let me preface this post with this quick point. I usually find the class discussions in 338 to be engaging. This is not an attempt to kiss ass, but I feel it needs to be said because today I experienced something beyond the level of engagement which I normally feel. Today I was struck with an epiphany in a most unexpected way.
In the quote by Dewey, where the he explores the inadequacies of formal lectures; a question was posed by Dewey and Dr. Branch about where lectures come from and how they are not a part of our regular daily activities. It was from this question that I was blasted with a lightening bolt of instantaneous understanding. A brief moment of clarity. Let me begin my rant!
There is only one place in western culture where people all sit quietly and listen intently to the words of one man as if their souls depended on it. The answer is, THE CHURCH. It was at this moment that ideas began to start flooding in. Before there was an education system, there was the church. The first literate people in society were the clergy. I knew this from early Brit Lit classes, but I never truly understood how this connected into a direct lineage to the modern educational system until this moment in class.
The original purpose for literacy was to read the Bible. Obviously the goals have changed significantly from the earliest days of education. What is the purpose of modern education? I believe this purpose is no longer parallel with the earliest days of monastic pursuits. In fact, things have changed so much that I think it its necessary to consider how the link between the church and educational system truly mimic each other, and only from there can we decide as future educators how we should chart our future path.
Consider for one moment the hierarchical power structure of the church. It mimics the power structure of the pyramid. God hovering over the pyramid, the pope on top, and the layers of clergy descending down to the unclean masses. Yet, every day the university and public schools mirror this same power structure. Knowledge hovering above the pyramid, with varying layers of administrators working their way down to teachers, students being the bottom rung. Even the students maintain a hierarchy of sorts according to age, grade, achievements, etc. Just look at the peak of Montana Hall.
If we do not want to preach from a pulpit as teachers, we should really consider how simply changing what is happening in our classrooms may potentially work its way up and change the very structure and nature of the system.
Oh well just something to think about......
Doug,
ReplyDeleteI like that you shared your epiphany. There's alot going on in your post, and rather than engage with the whole post, I just want to point to two points from your epiphany that I hope to take to heart while teaching: 1)the idea of lifelong learning; and 2) the idea of the interchangeability of the roles teacher and student.
Your post hits the nail on the head in showing how history and language are interconnected. No matter how much we know, there is always more to learn, and like your epiphany, sometimes it is almost like a shifting of paradigms occurs when knowledge unlocks a new idea for us. With changes like how the common core is trying to engage in grassroots change by asking for teachers' inputs, hopefully the structure will not only change from within, but develop anew; maybe instead of looking like a pyramid, it will look like a wave, or the recycle symbol (the three arrows bent into an endless circle).
Similarly, if our classrooms mirror this change, the student-centered classrooms will start to be more the norm than the teacher-centered, lecture-driven classrooms of old (and of now). Yet my gut tells me that our classrooms, and those of teachers of other subjects will be a hybrid of sorts.
Thanks for posting your epiphany.
You're right, Doug! Well, your epiphany makes sense to me, at least. I enjoyed seeing your optimism about the power we have as teachers to recognize the hierarchical structure of education, change it in our classrooms, and be a part of changing the whole system. I think we can all agree that there are a lot of things that need to be changed or adapted in education, and I hope the efforts can start with those who are in the classrooms every day working with (and sometimes working around) this old structure.
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