Friday, September 26, 2003

Teaching & Learning

My friend Susie is a very experienced and gifted teacher. She works in the public school system and specializes in teaching kids who's second language is English, as well as kids with learning disabilities and other "at risk" factors. A few weeks ago she shared with me a paper that she had written on things she's learned about teaching. I was reviewing at again this morning and wanted to share some of her insights. Although these are written from an elementary school teaching perspective, I think they apply to any teaching/learning situation, including church.

Here are some of the things that she's learned:

* We ALL learn from each other.

* Literal translation from one language to another does not ensure meaning.

* The teacher is part of the learning process, not the dictator.

* In nearly all American school classrooms (and church sanctuaries! - DC) to this day, approximately 92% of the words spoken are by the teacher.

* Education does not exist in a vacuum.

* Education is a social phenomenon.

* Institutional change of any sort is very difficult.

* As a teacher of any student(s), the goal of instruction should be to help facilitate 'negotiation of meaning' -- coupled with what it is the teacher wants
the student(s) to learn in the lesson.

* Another instructional strategy would be the use of a "Book Club".
Assign students a passage, or book to read, and the teacher facilitates discussions with GROUPS of students on topics such as "What did you feel, hear, relate to...?"

* The teacher must talk/discuss with the students the subject matter about
every single lesson because it is difficult to know/assess what the students are learning at any given time.

* The teacher has got to learn to shut up!

* The best learning is interactional, relational.

* All learning takes place in socio-cultural interactions.

* Teachers MUST provide a rich environment for learning that allows for
"negotiated interactions" between and among learners.

* Social interactions are of the utmost necessity in any learning situation. Acceptance of individuals and groups is a priority.

* All classrooms should be set up as "Dialectical": Everybody in the classroom
is sometimes a student and sometimes a teacher.

* It is healthy to change the physical environment of the classroom every so often.

* Make sure that learning is fun!

* The teacher modeling the expected behavior of the learner can have a
long-lasting and skill solidifying effect.

* It is great to remember that we are all life-long learners!

What I distill out of these nuggets are some basic truths, such as that learning best occurs in a relational, interactive, social environment and that learning requires the teacher to be secure and humble enough to facilitate and not dictate.

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