In many high schools across America you can hear the same resounding chant in the halls: “I hate school!” Even those who are doing well, as in have high letter grades and are ‘succeeding’ in school, are not exempt from this view. I have heard many people say after high school, “I love learning, but I hate school.” Learning and understanding new concepts is something people strive to do throughout their lives but in a school environment where grades are the most important part of the education process, educators may choose to teach solely for their students to pass the test. This may sound efficient but instead leads to ineffective learning habits and a lack of critical thinking and deep understanding of concepts.
I can distinctly remember my …show more content…
The classes consisted of sitting in one room all day while instructors showed PowerPoint presentations identical to the printed notes we were given before starting the course. The only difference was blanks left for you to fill in keywords. After class we were left to memorize the coursework as verbatim as possible. The entire aim was to teach us to regurgitate the information exactly on the test, and get as close to a 100% or 4.0. Actually understanding some of the basic concepts about the systems you’d work on later didn 't matter, the real learning would happen later on. “A” school was just a test to see if we could handle the fast pace and stressful nature of the next two-thirds of the Nuclear Power Pipeline (as the entire nuclear engineering training was called). Even when the schooling got more specific, some of the systems we’d learn about wouldn 't even be on the aircraft carrier or submarine we’d go to. Learning about those systems was almost pointless, and the constant theme was instructors telling you to memorize certain parts of the notes so you could get it “four dot oh on the test.” Now most of what I had learned in the early part of the program is hard to recall, because I realized I hadn 't actually learned it. Being able to memorize does not equate understanding or …show more content…
Educators are actively influencing their student’s knowledge, and helping them form their individuality, self-awareness, and critical thinking. “Self-reliance and the assumption of responsibility underlie the notion of critical thinking and reasoning.” (Bloom, 111) Especially for high school students, responsibility and validation of their individuality in the classroom paves their understanding of themselves and their social responsibility in adult life. Critical pedagogy in the classroom, with its development of complete, balanced, and well-reasoned concepts must be presented to students so they can use that type of critical thinking and reasoning when they leave the classroom. Well-functioning adults must be able to learn something, analyze it, and learn again from that analysis, instead of accepting ideas at face value.¬
Effective critical pedagogy employed in my earlier education by teaching me to think rationally and critically, even about my own views, has allowed me to have a voice in my adult life. When I have a conflict with another person I know now how to see an issue from multiple perspectives. I can critically analyze another person’s ideas and use them to relearn something I had previously believed to be true. This doesn 't mean compromising my own point of view, it is instead expanding my view to include the perspective of
I can distinctly remember my …show more content…
The classes consisted of sitting in one room all day while instructors showed PowerPoint presentations identical to the printed notes we were given before starting the course. The only difference was blanks left for you to fill in keywords. After class we were left to memorize the coursework as verbatim as possible. The entire aim was to teach us to regurgitate the information exactly on the test, and get as close to a 100% or 4.0. Actually understanding some of the basic concepts about the systems you’d work on later didn 't matter, the real learning would happen later on. “A” school was just a test to see if we could handle the fast pace and stressful nature of the next two-thirds of the Nuclear Power Pipeline (as the entire nuclear engineering training was called). Even when the schooling got more specific, some of the systems we’d learn about wouldn 't even be on the aircraft carrier or submarine we’d go to. Learning about those systems was almost pointless, and the constant theme was instructors telling you to memorize certain parts of the notes so you could get it “four dot oh on the test.” Now most of what I had learned in the early part of the program is hard to recall, because I realized I hadn 't actually learned it. Being able to memorize does not equate understanding or …show more content…
Educators are actively influencing their student’s knowledge, and helping them form their individuality, self-awareness, and critical thinking. “Self-reliance and the assumption of responsibility underlie the notion of critical thinking and reasoning.” (Bloom, 111) Especially for high school students, responsibility and validation of their individuality in the classroom paves their understanding of themselves and their social responsibility in adult life. Critical pedagogy in the classroom, with its development of complete, balanced, and well-reasoned concepts must be presented to students so they can use that type of critical thinking and reasoning when they leave the classroom. Well-functioning adults must be able to learn something, analyze it, and learn again from that analysis, instead of accepting ideas at face value.¬
Effective critical pedagogy employed in my earlier education by teaching me to think rationally and critically, even about my own views, has allowed me to have a voice in my adult life. When I have a conflict with another person I know now how to see an issue from multiple perspectives. I can critically analyze another person’s ideas and use them to relearn something I had previously believed to be true. This doesn 't mean compromising my own point of view, it is instead expanding my view to include the perspective of