Unconventional education has always been an interest to me. When I say unconventional, I mean the "hands-on" kinesthetic approach that most teachers do not have in their classrooms. After reading "Apprenticing Students in the Art of Learning" (iLearn Technology, 2013), I realized how important it is for children to have unconventional learning experiences in their life. The author explains how his parents, who were very creative entrepreneurs, allowed him to experience learning by active participation and self-discovery; Leading him to start his own school.
If students are able to have more of these types of learning experiences, it may be possible for them to have better opportunities as they get older and venture out on their own. They would not be afraid to make mistakes, learn from them and move on. However, I feel that we shelter students/children so much that they don't know how to learn from their mistakes and move on - learning from them.
We should allow our students/children to be apprentices - let them learn in ways we possibly never could have imagined and watch them grow leaps and bounds.
iLearn Technology. (2013). Apprenticing Students in the Art of Learning. Retrieved on November 6, 2013 from http://ilearntechnology.com/?p=5166.
I agree that children need to learn from their mistakes in order to learn and develop. How many times did Thomas Edison fail before he truly invented the light bulb? Without mistakes and failure, we would never know true success. I love hands on activities and feel that students do learn the most when being immersed in the learning experiences through hands on experiences.
ReplyDeleteHi Ken,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your comments on this article. I think that many students learn the most when they can learn through experience. Many students are hands-on learners and need to be able to manipulate things in order to understand them. As a dental hygiene educator, I am at an advantage because I can often easily incorporate kinesthetic activities with more traditional teaching modalities.
-Sam
Great job Ken. The article is very good and makes a lot of sense. I can tell you from a historical standpoint the idea of students as apprentices has been around for a long time. It is a proven method and was used by many of the greatest thinkers throughout history.
ReplyDeleteGood points Ken. I agree with you that it seems as though, in many cases, young people are sheltered from many negative aspects of life. Your response reminded me of specific instances like our local YMCA that does not allow scorekeeping in youth soccer matches because they don't want kids feelings to be hurt. As if deciphering between a winner or a looser is a bad thing. I actually just received the following in an email from a parent that I thought I would share…
ReplyDelete~ Bill Gates ~
This should be posted in every school or kid's bedroom.
Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this.!!!
Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about
eleven (11) things they did not and will not learn in school.
He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings
created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and
how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2 : The world doesn't care about your self-esteem.
The world will expect you to accomplish something
BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school.
You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping:
They called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault,
so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7 : Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring
as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills,
cleaning your clothes and listening to you
talk about how cool you thought you were:
So before you save the rain forest
from the parasites of your parent's generation,
try delousing the closet in your own room..
Rule 8 : Your school may have done away with winners and losers,
but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades
and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer.
*This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9 : Life is not divided into semesters.
You don't get summers off and very few employers
are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF.
*Do that on your own time.
Rule 10 : Television is NOT real life.
In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11 : Be nice to nerds.
Chances are you'll end up working for one..
If you can read this... Thank a Teacher.
If you can read this in English... Thank a Soldier!
And for life and everything else you have... Thank God!!