Professional and EducationalReflection

I think the facts are that comparative education research can tell us much more than who’s on first and how they got there. When comparing education in light of the cultural differences we can appreciate and respect the versatility of the priorities of different nations. I posted a link in the 21st Century Skills discussion board to a YouTube video about a country called Bhutan, hidden away in the Himalayan Mountains. The narrator of the video praises the king for his environmental legislation. A spokesman explains that the emphasis is not on tradition or culture, but the main thing is individual intellectual development. Of course by our standards they have a very limited intellectual development, after all they are not a world power; they do not have a space program.
Jarvis’ description of the futuristic learning society quoting Hutchins and Ranson sounds like heaven. Equal opportunity, self-discovery, self-fulfillment all culminating in learning for the sake of learning. This is how I would like my students to describe my classroom. Broadfoot addresses the inability of contemporary education to reach the hearts and minds of our students because there is a disconnect in the emotional commitment to the subject and the relevance of the subject in the lives of our students. Frankly the readings this week left me frustrated and feeling rebellious. As an individual teacher what can I do? Dare I teach my students by following their interests, without regard for the EOG? I will never get tenure! But then again I am not looking for tenure.
As a graduate student working towards a masters degree in middle school education I have read and been instructed about the flexibility I need to afford my students. I have heard that I need to be accommodating, that I need to engage my students by incorporating projects and problem solving strategies so my students can see the practical application of the curriculum. I am required in the masters program to take three classes in my area. The kinds of math classes offered at this level are way beyond my middle school ability, interest and application. My advisor allowed me to take a couple of technology classes for two of my math courses but now I must take a math class that has no practical application to what I teach. I tried a statistics class this semester and I withdrew because it required that I learn a computer programming language to use the application-an application that I would never use again. I do not have time to waste like that. For a few semesters now, I have approached seven different professors to do an independent study because I would like to create a math curriculum integrated with social justice issues. This is something that would engage my students and make the math more interesting and more relevant. This is something I can take right into the classroom and share with other teachers. No one is available. I understand people are busy and I am not complaining about the faculty here at UNCW. I am grateful that my advisor substituted the tech classes for two of the math classes but why stop there? My advisor said that the math I take is supposed to increase and improve my understanding and in that way I will use it in my classroom. I can see that. But it will be a struggle for me to be successful in a graduate level math class. I guess my long winded point is, in the readings this week, everyone agrees that we are missing valuable lessons we could be learning from comparative education research. There are truths that we just ignore because this is the way it has been done for all these years and change is hard. So this summer I will be taking Linear Algebra Matrices. Wish me luck.