As Thursday, the last day working with Mr. Riley’s class at Colegio Roosevelt, is quickly approaching, I have been reflecting on my time with them and considering how I can best spend the next two days. Ideally, I would like to go to as many of their specials (Art, Music, Gym, and Spanish) as I can and see how these classes are run. During their Spanish block, they divide up into 5 different classes that are integrated with other fourth graders as well. Today, I decided to go to the most advanced level of Spanish, where they were reviewing ancient Peruvian civilizations for tomorrow’s test. I would have liked to see more of the teacher’s style in the class, but the students were simply reviewing and writing down information for the entire period. I plan on going to a few of the other Spanish classes in the next two days and seeing how the other teachers teach and how the students learn at each level.
Last week, I also sat in on a middle school Humanities class in which the students were working on a social issues project. It was interesting to see so many different perspectives and ideas the 12 and 13 year olds had and how much thought they each put into their projects. Last Friday, I also went to a first grade class where the students were learning about the different stages of matter and making ice cream by putting a small bag of chocolate milk into a big bag of ice and shaking it. After the project, the class gathered on the rug and reflected on the activity and what they could conclude from it.
In seminar the past few days, we have been discussing the importance of reflection and the role it plays in a contemporary education. When I think about contemporary education, I think about the concept of “banking” Paulo Freire uses, in which he compares students to containers that are being “filled” with information. Contemporary education does the OPPOSITE of this and emphasizes growth and support, and guiding rather than teaching/preaching/lecturing. By reflecting as a teacher and as a learner, we are able to make sense of the information we have and think about why and how, rather than just what, who, etc. As a teacher, reflecting and thinking about situations and strategies and comparing with other teachers allows us to thoroughly think about what is going well and how we can improve. By having discussions in class and showing students how contemporary thinking works and reflecting as a group and teaching to reflect individually, we can continue to allow our students to grow. In seminar, we also discussed some of the many reasons why contemporary education is not being used more frequently and why reflection is often avoided. Both require going outside of your comfort zone which many people are not willing to do. Throughout our time here, we have been talking about dissonance and how dissonance, while often uncomfortable, challenges our beliefs and allows us to grow. By growing and developing our own ideas and beliefs and reflecting on our actions, we can teach and learn in a contemporary way.