-PIDP Assignment #1 The Skillful Teacher Reflective Writing - Journal Entry #1
Objective
For my first journal entry I have chosen the statement, “…there will be very few standardized practices that help students across the board learn essential skills or knowledge. An approach that one student finds particularly useful or congenial may well be profoundly unsettling and confusing to the student sitting next to her.” (Brookfield, p. 17)
For anyone who has ever stood in front of and taught the same class material, no matter what your previous expertise is on the topic, one will likely never achieve 100% success with class comprehension. The sooner an educator accepts the facts that everyone comes in with their own baggage and past experiences the better it is for both instructor and learner!
Reflection
Having personally taught post-secondary students at Camosun College for 7 years I quickly became aware of the continual intake of diverse learners each term. I decided to refocus my energy into being able to teach the same material several different ways to accommodate different learning styles. By simply talking to colleagues about how they personally go about each topic I was able to quickly see that several methods and viewpoints were easily available to me.
To assume that every student is the same, or believing you could teach a topic to the average student one easily falls into a dangerous trap. A former colleague once told me before he retired, “you can calculate the average of several different numbers or test scores, but there will never be a time that you look at the average student in the eye. They don’t exist”.
The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don’t even question it. That assumption, says Harvard’s Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong. (Walker, 2016)
In his book The End of Average, Todd Rose compares jet fighter pilots to students by quoting a survey of 4063 pilots measuring 140 body dimensions in the quests of building the ultimate cockpit.
It was found that once data was determined and compared with actual pilots using only 10 actual dimensions, not one pilot matched the average size! When lowering the number to just 3 dimensions, still only 3.5% of the pilots matched all 3 numbers. There was in fact no such thing as an average pilot. If one was to design a cockpit to fit the average size you would have actually designed it to fit no one.
(Walker, 2016)
Interpretation
When comparing my students to air force pilots as Todd Rose has, it seems irrational to teach to the average student or ever look at average marks, ever. To this date there has yet to be a class where everyone has achieved the average mark during the term. To attempt to teach to the average student would be highly irrational and likely be teaching to no one as effectively as attempting to reach both the high achievers and those who require more assistance.
Decisional
As an electrical trades instructor who teaches all 4 years of the program at different times I have contact with former students in the hallways throughout the years. I find it exciting to watch students who were initially struggling with class become high achievers later on. I believe that my consistent reviews and quizzes through the term allow me to closely monitor student progression with each topic and quickly evaluate if/when I need to change my style. I make it clear at the beginning of each term that we are all here to learn as a group and that each of them will have their strong and weak points. Everyone knows that they will be treated as equals, not compared to the average student. Those students who find themselves ahead of the class at any time are expected to either help others during break time or to choose another assignment.
Our program by design is also multidimensional combining math, theoretical electrical concepts and hands on labs for each topic. This also provides areas for each and every student to shine in at least one area each week. Knowing this at the start of class helps everyone relax and sit back and learn!
References:
(Brookfield, S (2015) The Skillful teacher in techniques, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom San Francisco Jossey-Bass
Walker, T I2016, April 16) Dismantling the Myth of the “Average” Student http://neatoday.org/2016/04/06/end-of-average-todd-rose/
Objective
For my first journal entry I have chosen the statement, “…there will be very few standardized practices that help students across the board learn essential skills or knowledge. An approach that one student finds particularly useful or congenial may well be profoundly unsettling and confusing to the student sitting next to her.” (Brookfield, p. 17)
For anyone who has ever stood in front of and taught the same class material, no matter what your previous expertise is on the topic, one will likely never achieve 100% success with class comprehension. The sooner an educator accepts the facts that everyone comes in with their own baggage and past experiences the better it is for both instructor and learner!
Reflection
Having personally taught post-secondary students at Camosun College for 7 years I quickly became aware of the continual intake of diverse learners each term. I decided to refocus my energy into being able to teach the same material several different ways to accommodate different learning styles. By simply talking to colleagues about how they personally go about each topic I was able to quickly see that several methods and viewpoints were easily available to me.
To assume that every student is the same, or believing you could teach a topic to the average student one easily falls into a dangerous trap. A former colleague once told me before he retired, “you can calculate the average of several different numbers or test scores, but there will never be a time that you look at the average student in the eye. They don’t exist”.
The assumption that metrics comparing us to an average—like GPAs, personality test results, and performance review ratings—reveal something meaningful about our potential is so ingrained in our consciousness that we don’t even question it. That assumption, says Harvard’s Todd Rose, is spectacularly—and scientifically—wrong. (Walker, 2016)
In his book The End of Average, Todd Rose compares jet fighter pilots to students by quoting a survey of 4063 pilots measuring 140 body dimensions in the quests of building the ultimate cockpit.
It was found that once data was determined and compared with actual pilots using only 10 actual dimensions, not one pilot matched the average size! When lowering the number to just 3 dimensions, still only 3.5% of the pilots matched all 3 numbers. There was in fact no such thing as an average pilot. If one was to design a cockpit to fit the average size you would have actually designed it to fit no one.
(Walker, 2016)
Interpretation
When comparing my students to air force pilots as Todd Rose has, it seems irrational to teach to the average student or ever look at average marks, ever. To this date there has yet to be a class where everyone has achieved the average mark during the term. To attempt to teach to the average student would be highly irrational and likely be teaching to no one as effectively as attempting to reach both the high achievers and those who require more assistance.
Decisional
As an electrical trades instructor who teaches all 4 years of the program at different times I have contact with former students in the hallways throughout the years. I find it exciting to watch students who were initially struggling with class become high achievers later on. I believe that my consistent reviews and quizzes through the term allow me to closely monitor student progression with each topic and quickly evaluate if/when I need to change my style. I make it clear at the beginning of each term that we are all here to learn as a group and that each of them will have their strong and weak points. Everyone knows that they will be treated as equals, not compared to the average student. Those students who find themselves ahead of the class at any time are expected to either help others during break time or to choose another assignment.
Our program by design is also multidimensional combining math, theoretical electrical concepts and hands on labs for each topic. This also provides areas for each and every student to shine in at least one area each week. Knowing this at the start of class helps everyone relax and sit back and learn!
References:
(Brookfield, S (2015) The Skillful teacher in techniques, trust, and responsiveness in the classroom San Francisco Jossey-Bass
Walker, T I2016, April 16) Dismantling the Myth of the “Average” Student http://neatoday.org/2016/04/06/end-of-average-todd-rose/