Working together

One of the things that I have come to relate to very strongly in this class, is the idea of student centred learning. My mind slowly started creating my ideal classroom, how I would want to run things when I am a teacher. And one of the things that has always interested me was the idea of group learning. I stumbled upon the Sugatra Mirtra video earlier on in the semester, and it really inspired me. Kids have an incredibly thirst for knowledge, and they can adapt themselves to any situation and method of learning. Why are we not harnessing this, and allowing them to develop their own knowledge, with only the helping hands and instruction needed to start them.

I tie the group learning in with student centred learning, Gardener's multiple intelligence, differentiating instruction, and Vygotsky. All of these processes to me, concreted my belief that I want to push for children working in more of a group setting. Yes, there could be problems with plagiarizing, or kids passing on their responsibilities to the group, but that is a very individualistic viewpoint. Maybe the other cultures have it correct; maybe we should start to turn our viewpoint into one of a community, and promote collaboration and the self and peer guiding that can happen when two minds come together to work on something.

Looking back on my own education, I won't lie, I could have used a lot more group work. All of my report cards said that Brittany needs to learn to work better with others, Brittany needs to learn to share responsibilities instead of doing things by herself. And they were right. By focusing so much on myself, I took on a lot of pressure, and I often times can remember shutting out possibly amazing ideas simply because I refused that anyone could do something as good as I could. What does that kind of viewpoint do for the world? Yes, we want to increase a child's intelligence, their strengths, and make them self sufficient people. So while there is time for kids to work on their own, I think that there is a vast, incredibly source to be used by allowing children the chance to help each other. Push boundaries by having them support each other, be introduced to new viewpoints, use their own curiosities to motivate each other.

Group learning has so many benefits, socially and mentally, that I think is lost in a class where kids sit in individual roles and listen to the teacher. Even if the teacher is trained, motivated, and interested in getting children to learn, there is a severe underestimating of exactly what a child can do. Give them the reigns, some power, and see what they can do. The purpose of a teacher is to help lead them to this amazing world of knowledge, but once they're out of the doors, we can't do that anymore. If we can help push them to look for themselves, to talk with others, to brainstorm ideas and actively take part in things, then we're teaching them more than arithmetic and reading. Those are skills that will benefit a child in any situation at life. And there is a disservice done to children who are boxed in to the idea of only one way to learn, or who feel inactive in their own education.