Methods of School

It was interesting to investigate the different approaches to schooling that were assigned reading this week. While there are aspects of each philosophy that I agree with, each has some cautions to be aware of in implementation. But as I read and thought through the pros and cons of each approach, I kept coming back to the same idea. The key to the efficacy of any of these philosophies is a dedicated teacher committed to the success of his or her students who is willing to meet each student where they are and give each student what he or she needs to be a successful learner. This is a tall order no matter which pedagogical umbrella you teach under.

A few thoughts on what we read...

Democratic School

Of all the things we read about this week, this school set-up gives me the most pause. As I think about the premise of a “one person, one vote” governing process in any of the contexts that I have been in involving students, I can envision nothing but anarchy. However, I am willing to imagine that in the hands of the right "staff members" (to use their terminology) who can subtly guide discussion and ask good questions and command respect, I see how the experience might be a valuable one for students who are not thriving in more traditional settings. We read “it’s the democratic meeting that allows the school to run: it takes a potentially lawless and chaotic setup and gives it structure.” But, I have to ask, who enforces that structure?

Flipped Classroom

The flipped classroom is an idea that I find very intriguing. So much of traditional class time can be spent making sure everyone is on the same page that those who come in ahead of the game are soon bored and their time is wasted and those who need extra help often don’t get it. That’s why it makes sense to me to assign prep work ahead of time to bring all students into class at relatively the same place. Then classwork during classtime can be more engaging and productive for all.

Teacher preparation is critical to the success of this approach. as well as the ability to differentiate instruction in response to different levels of success with the pre-work. Each classtime endeavor has to be able to go where it needs to depending on the level of preparation of the students.  This requires flexibility and discernment as to what concepts are being grasped and what ideas need to be revisited, which may be different for each student.

My daughter shared with me her experience with a flipped classroom in a computer science course she took in college. Students were assigned articles to read to become familiar with different computer programming languages, and then class time was spent watching the professor demo. My daughter liked the idea of having a known fixed quantity of outside-of-class work, but found the in-class portion frustrating, mostly because the professor’s demos did not really match up with the assigned readings. (In fact, she wondered if he had even actually read some of them.) Also, there were 150 students in her class, so differentiation was difficult in that context. Furthermore, this particular professor was not primarily an educator, but an IT professional with a side gig - more evidence for my premise that the ability of the teacher is what makes the philosophy work and that good preparation is crucial.

Montessori

I've always found the Montessori philosophy a bit paradoxical.  There is the freedom of choice children have in exploring activities, but then only using certain materials and supplies in pre-prescribed ways, which seems less free.  But I feel in the hands of a gifted teacher, the hands-on approaches that are the hallmark of a Montessori education are very effective. We read that “a teacher’s role within a Montessori classroom is to guide and consult students individually by letting each child create their own learning pathway.” Again, the teacher is key.

The drawback I have seen in many children who come to us from a Montessori background is a lack of tolerance for any kind of structure.  While I believe children should be able to learn through play and have the ability to pursue what interests them to construct their own learning, they should also learn to abide by some constraints and not bristle against every imposition of an authority figure.  There is structure in society at large and children should have a level of comfort with that.