First I wold like to say, I am glad I saw Palmer talking about one of my favorite scientists, in Neils Bohr. But back to topic
The one thing I really liked in this chapter is the P and P design section. The 6 paradoxical tensions really resonates with me the most out of all this chapter. I see the practical application to a classroom setting but in some ways we can translate what he is talking about into what we do here at Merry Lea.
For a while in my life I was taught in a more French system of teaching which is more or less like the British way but in my view more demanding and really didn't work for me at all. To relate that experience to the first of the tensions is interesting. In most classrooms we mostly focus on boundaries and what students can and can't do in the class. However, I like where Palmer is going with the first tension in that, we can have both, boundary and openness that the same time. To some teachers I am sure this would be mind blowing and unheard of.
The second one of the tensions that I really liked the most is the sixth. I think that it is important to realize, just as Palmer points out, is that silence is a vauleable time to learn. I never think once did one of my teachers in elementary school say stop and reflect on what we just learned and be silent about it. Which isn't to say I didn't learn, but makes me wonder what if. What if I would of stopped and thought about things as I learned them? I might of learned more efficiently and learned the material a lot better.
So I think that I am going to try and adapt these six to the work we do here and see if what happens. If nothing happens then I have learned from it and if something happens then I still learn from it.
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I was also glad to see Bohr come up. The students always joke "What a Bore" but I try to make teaching Bohr's model fun. We throw ping pong balls back and forth in the classroom desk rows. Silly but effective!
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed the quote. As a student that experienced the British style of education for the first 8 years of school, I appreciated that Palmer, makes a note of holding the individuals experience in juxtaposition with the "big" story. I rarely had any teacher ask me what I thought, we were just supposed to learn the facts and recite those back. Rarely were we made to think of the questions. I also wonder, if I had been exposed to the idea of inquiry, would I find it easier to develop questions? Would I have been more self motivated to discover learning on my own? I am glad that even later on in life, I have the opportunity to continue to learn and grow in new ways.
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