According to James Paul Gee, it would seem that humans have
countless opportunities to be smart but many times they simply pass us by. I gathered that some things were not our own
doing, such as our minds being shaped for conditions that differ greatly from
the modern world that we live in (Gee, 11).
Other things are completely our doing, such as treating minds like bank
accounts in our schools; depositing endless information an expecting to
withdraw whenever we feel the need. I
think our education system is a large factor when it comes to the limitations
that face for solving complex problems.
We don’t provide, or having not been providing prior experiences for our
students but many times we just expect them to have relevant ones. We expect our students to have clear goals…how? We also wait for them to act when they have
not been readily prepared to do so. How
can we expect to mold problem solving minds, when the tools they need to do so
aren’t given to them?
In schools, students are not given enough prior
experiences. Until recently, school has
not been based on problem solving. This
was, in itself, a problem. Students were
not given enough experiences with the concepts that they were being asked to
learn. Memorization was simply expected and
assessed. How can we expect any person, especially
a child, to learn something that is not connected to them in some way. If we want our students to learn to be
problem solvers, we need to provide them with experience to solve problems
related to the concepts they should learn to master. Only through experience, will situations be
meaningful. This is where teachers must
really step up as mentors.
Having a clear goal is another limitation. In school, students either want to get a good
grade or they are too wrapped up in things going on at home that they don’t
quite care about what they’re learning.
The grade, after reading, now seems meaningless. I work myself to the
bone every year trying to teach concepts to kids so that they can pass on the
district assessment. I’m nervous, they’re
stressed out, we get the results and we move on only to realize that they
teacher the next year has to reteach the concepts I worked so hard to teach
them the previous year. Why does this
happen? The concept was only meaningful
or connected enough to achieve the goal of a passing grade. A passing grade is a short term goal. This goes back to the idea of treating the
human memory being treated like a bank account (Gee, 27). Information is deposited and can be withdrawn
without being altered. It is hard to
remember, when worried about tests, that human memory is affected by needs,
feelings, and purpose (Gee, 27).
Due to a lack of prior experiences, or a false expectation
of those experiences, and weak goals humans cannot be expected to act in a way
that will create a good response from the world. Because of these shortcomings we act and make
mistakes, or repeat mistakes. We work to
make quick fixes that are convenient and we don’t seem to think things
through. We don’t seem to weigh out
options and choose the best scenario. We
work short term and fast which hinders us in the long run.
This being said, I posted in angel, shortly after I had
begun reading about how the circuit of reflective action echoes the common core
standards that have emerged in the U.S.
Although not perfect, I feel that it follows the process and is a good
start for schools to begin to build meaning with what they are learning. CCSS gives teachers a better opportunity to
be mentors. It creates long term goals,
as concepts are carried over year after year.
It also gives students countless opportunities to act and solve
problems.
