Reflections on Young Minds, Fast Times by Marc Prensky:
Prensky's main argument is that students are given little or no voice in the structure and organization of their own education. He depicts teachers as "old folk", who don't listen to their students, primarily teach via lectures, and don't try other creative ways to engage their students. This is insulting to the many hardworking teachers who spend hours preparing lessons to excite and motivate their students.
The shift from the "Sage on the Stage" to the "Guide on the Side" has been taking place for some time. A quick walk through most schools would show many creative and interesting activities taking place in classrooms. A quick internet search would find a tremendous number and variety of ways that teachers are using technology to engage the "ikids" in today's classrooms.
The quotes that Prensky gives from students are almost all negative. There are not, however, any concrete examples of changes students want to see. Tim Ridgway, a high school chemistry teacher, commenting on the article said, "Yes students like talking about themselves. Chemical bonds, not so much. Comparing the panel discussion and having to learn about chemical bonds, whatever the methodology, is comparing apples to oranges."
John Larkin, a secondary school teacher who lives in New South Wales, Australia, has an excellent rebuttal on his blog entitled Classroom mobs, mayhem and murder.
Yes, it is important to listen to our students. I think most teachers understand this. It is, however, the teacher who is ultimately held accountable for what happens in the classroom and who must answer to the results of today's high stakes testing.
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Very interesting perspective presented in the Larkin post. I've heard the argument before. Thank you for the link!
ReplyDeleteI am actually presenting at a state technology conference tomorrow with my grandson, a high school junior. Based on my reading of the literature on this and conversations with my grandson over the last three years, I don't agree with Larkin.
He may be a very good teacher, but that does not mean that either he should not challenge his own assumptions about students and pedagogy or that lots of other teachers are just as effective as he thinks they are at teaching students what they need to learn to know, be, do and live together (UNESCO's Four Pillars of Education).
I think we do need to ask students how they are experiencing our teaching. If, for example, we want students engaged and challenge to think by how we teach, I think it reasonable to ask if our teaching is engaging them and challenging them intellectually. If it is working, great; if it isn't, then we need to do whatever it takes to improve the situation. That should include asking them to react to proposals for change we develop with students who are passionate and well informed about the topics, even if we have to cultivate their passion and help them to become informed.
Dennis
Hi Steve,
ReplyDeleteI also read the article by Mr. Prensky and agree with you that he is extremely insulting. So much so that I wonder if it was on purpose - though I am not grasping what that purpose might be. If he is trying to move educators to correct what he sees is a problem, teachers not listening to students and using lecture as the main means of instruction - I do not believe he will be effective. However, if he is trying to rile up people who are not teachers - administrators, parents and the general public he may be successful. But to what end? By portraying all teachers as old and boring, what does he hope to gain except casting teachers (lumping them all together) in a negative light.
As a teacher it would have been interesting and thought provoking if in his article he had shared specific examples of what the students said would be a strategy to engage them (we know they want to be engaged - who doesn't?). If he would have shared an idea or two that he personally has on an engaging lesson or project, that would be something we perhaps could fold into our instruction. I have read many of his other articles on gaming with much interest. Gaming is a specific example of a strategy to engage students.
I don't know, this article seemed negative and counter-productive. I know he is passionate about education, he has chosen it for his research. One skill we are learning that is important for the 21st century is collaboration and working together and putting our collective knowledge to work. Mr. Prensky has so much to bring to the table, but it seems he doesn't want to eat with us - the teachers.