This article provides two contrasting viewpoints on the question of whether teacher-student interaction is truly necessary for the education of every single student. Though some students enter school ready to learn and engage with their teachers, there are always some students who are not as enthusiastic about their schooling, and there are many different ideas about why this is or how to counter it.
The first perspective is in favor of teachers. Bloggers Pernille Ripp and John Spencer say that the human touch of a teacher's instruction can never be replaced by technology, because only humans are able to truly understand other humans. The other perspective takes a Mark Twain-esque "never let school get in the way of education" approach - the author says that, despite graduating early with honors and being interested in education, her teachers weighed her down more than they helped her, which disrupted her passion for learning. She also suggests a variety of technological tools that can be used in place of standard face-to-face instruction to guide students learning more independently.
Personally I think the second view, that teachers are not necessarily a mandatory component of education, is right on. First of all, the first bloggers have no real basis in saying that the human touch is so important. I mean humans are great, and we have relied on human instruction since that was really the only way to do it up until now, but now that we have the opportunity to explore other methods of teaching due to incredible breakthroughs in technology, you have no real way of determining that these new methods won't perhaps prove just as useful.
Second, in the other class I'm taking, about multiculturalism in education, one of the big concepts is that as teachers we need to provide each student with whatever mode of instruction fits them the best, whatever will personally aid in their learning the most. If some students learn better from a more independent instruction that utilizes technology, who are we to say "No, you aren't learning right, you have to learn this from a teacher while sitting in a classroom for 6 hours a day?"
Fingal, D. (2012, March). Are Teachers Even Necessary? ISTE Learning and Leading Digital Edition. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/DigitalEditionMarch-April2012.aspx
Seth,
ReplyDeleteI think you are dead on with this! There re so many options out there for our students, I would hate to hold them back! We need to think about how students learn best. Plus that technology is made by humans. It could be that a new kind of teaching career surfaces making educational technology tools for this alternative education method. Technology can expand students learning farther than we can sometimes and we need to let it. I would think though students should still have to follow curriculum guidelines and testing. I feel like some sort of teacher or aide would be necessary to make an education plan and answer questions.
Hi Seth,
ReplyDeleteWell I think this is actually my first disagreement with you! I am actually in favor of the first view. I personally believe that student teacher interaction is the basis for learning. I can honestly say that what I remember most about my about my teachers who were my favorite, were the ones I felt closest with. I do agree that teachers need to meet the needs of certain individuals and that everyone learns differently. Some students may learn better from independent activities but their are some, like me who do benefit from the teachers guidance.