So I know that I'm crossing courses here, but for those of us who were in Philosophy with Baxter this morning, I think some very good points were raised regarding schools serving societal interests.
Essentially, the point that was made in the end of the "debate" was that the MAIN thing to be taught in schools is critical thinking, so students can examine what else they're being taught, regardless of it serving societal or private interests.
What I liked about what Baxter said about democracy is that it basically points to the societal interests of education, and helps everyone relax about it. Because our curriculum is government mandated, it technically serves "societal interests" because we democratically elect the government. And while this means it currently serves a majority, not all the minorities, Baxter's point about democracy is that in time, the pendulum will swing and the minorities will become majorities and THEY will be represented in education. The best part, is that if we as teachers help our students learn to think critically, and we promote tolerance and peace, we can help those who are not being favoured by the pendulum at that given moment.
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I thought the debate was wonderful today, and I don't think any of us have truly decided whether school should serve societal interests because it is a complex concept. I completely agree that as teachers, one of the best things we can do for our students is to teach them to think critically and to examine things before they say YEA or NAY!
ReplyDeleteSo often we find that depending on the level of education a person has, a person is more or less likely to "jump on the bandwagon" and believe what everybody else is telling them because they don't know how to critically examine the topic. We see this so often when it comes to the media.
In my Grade 9 English class we did a "Media" unit, and until now I didn't really realize that I was learning to think critically. This was a new unit in our school and our class was the pilot class. I think it would be a great unit for any teacher to try.
In the first part of the unit, our teacher had us watch a video on how spaghetti was made. She made it clear before we watched that no matter how funny we found something, we weren't supposed to laugh because this issue was serious.
Here is the link to a portion of the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyUvNnmFtgI
This video talks about how spaghetti grows on trees. It seems completely serious, and our teacher explained to us how people might believe it if they had no prior knowledge of spaghetti. We then had several discussions about media, watched a few more videos, and critiqued a television show from a list of choices.
I think this would be a great unit that would be engaging and interesting for students, and it can teach critical thinking while still being relevant to students. (They all partake in viewing or listening to some form of media).
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ReplyDeleteThat media unit reminds me a project I did in my grade 12 World Issues class; my partner and I clipped out articles from several different newspapers and sources all on the SAME issue/topic. We split the class into groups and assigned them each a different source. We then had each group answer a set of questions using their particular source. When the class came together to compare their answers- there were some that were COMPLETELY different from one another. It was really astonishing to see how different perceptions can be created all on the same issue. I think this would also make a good lesson for students to realize that they DO have to think critically about everything they read in the media- there's always two (or more!) sides to a story!
ReplyDeleteI think that the media is a great source to begin teaching critical thinking because it plays such an important role in our society. The internet and electronic entertainment devices have just as much influence (even if we don't want to admit it).
ReplyDeleteAdvertising is another huge topic to cover.
In my ED-D 406 class we watched a movie called Teen Files: Surviving High School. In it, there's the quote: “Everyday youth see from between 400 to 600 advertisements.” (Arnold Shapiro Productions. (2000?) See also http://challengeday.org/ ) In the case of the "Challange Day" mission, they seek to reverse what the media has done to high schools. For them,the cliques and the bullying all stem from the media and what they portray a real world should look like.
I also think, that music has a great effect on how people think and we can take advantage to also teach critical thinking. There's those songs that spell out sappy love stories, what women want in a man(vice versa), sex, drugs, and drinking, you name it, there's a song about it. For fellow soon-to-be music teachers, we can definitely tap into songs that project certain messages, of course, without "dissing" students' taste in music.
As teachers, we are setting students up for a life outside school, and one way is through critical thinking. Just like Steph and Lisa's teachers, we need to be creative to be able to include these topics in our classes.
I'm all for media in the classroom. It's an awesome resource, but I think we need to be aware of how we use screens and what is often termed 'zone out' technology for lessons. In practicum I was shocked at how many kids are 'plugged in' ALL the time, and if we can use media in a way that stimulates critical thought vs shuts it off, that is key. This means more than plugging in a dvd, or watching a 20 minute video with 1 minute of related footage. Media is great as long as there is enough structure in the class to get kids actively engaging with it.
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