It is said that students learn better when the learning is "relevant" to their lives. The document I'm reading says that the teacher needs to make the learning relevant.
My question: Can a teacher even do this? Or does each student have to do this? How is this done?
I find this concept offensive for a number of reasons. However, for simplicity's sake, I'm only going to address one issue. The student's responsibility to learn.
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice sentiment that learning should be as simple as possible for everyone. But let's not forget that people are not equal, and therefore, are responsible for achieving what they want, need, or desire. The student is there to learn from the teacher and it is ridiculous to think that a teacher is somehow responsible to alter their lesson plan to cater to every single student. This idea presumes that all students have the same interests,goals, learning styles, and capabilities to learn. However, this is provably false as study after study speaks to the plethora of different learning styles. That doesn't even take into consideration that all of these students have different interests, and those interests often don't coincide with subjects that are often forced upon them under the pretense of a "well rounded education". I'm not disputing the idea that this well rounded education is necessary, but I do contend that the fact that an art major has to have the same amount of interest in a chemistry class as they would in an art class is simply preposterous. This lack of interest makes finding relevance neigh onto impossible.
I believe we would be better served to allow students to prove that they have the "want-to" factor, and not worry so much about how easy we can make it for a student to be engaged in class. The world isn't going to care one iota if the student is interested in the lessons it hands out, only that student learns the lesson.
I concur! And I am so glad you gave voice to my reservations!
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I am willing to entertain the possibility that there is some other valid point of point on this.
Anyone?
I am not sure making a sbuject relevant to a students life will make them try harder or want to learn the lesson. Some people are just lazy and even if it is relevant to their life, education, or even profession they choose doesn't mean they will want to learn it. Could it help if the teacher showed the practical use for learning certain things, maybe. However, it all comes down to the individual student to make the choice of learning what is placed in front of them. Yes everyone wants education to be easy, but to truely learn something you must expand your mind and that is never easy.
ReplyDeleteI think that students remember better if there is an example that is made relevant. However, I also thing there are many different types of relevance than just relating to the students personal life. I think as long as it is relevant to the topic being taught it would be easier for a teacher to think of "relevant" examples for their students. I think that this is a very grey area that can be taken in many different ways. Not only is it hard to think of a relevant topic to use to teach students but the are also many different studies in which teachers are in. Many of the teachers that I can remember trying to teach with example that students can relate with have been science teachers, and I can't think of how a math teacher can make math relevant (it might be possible). I think the best way to maximize this teaching technique is to have both the student and the teacher come up with the relevant example.
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to make learning relevant to every student in a class. Even if a student can find the relevance themselves it doesn't necessarily make the learning easier. For example, in my statistics class I can see where the use of statistics is relevant, particularly in my area of interest, the medical field. However, I don't foresee that I would be the one performing the statistics. There is a brief part of it that would be helpful for me in understanding whether or not the statistics are reliable and how to read graphs. Yet, even with that portion of relevance it isn't making it easier for me to learn. I have to have the attitude that I will learn it because it's required to meet my goal. Even if I thought making it relevant was a key I don't think my instructor has the ability to do that nor would I say it is his responsibility.
ReplyDeleteAn instructor should not have to be responsible for making learning relevant. Yet, it could be a helpful tool when helping a student on a one on one basis. If a student comes for help and the instructor has some idea of the student's interests he/she could use it to help them relate. That idea goes back to a book I read about communication many years ago. The point was that if you are able to convey your thoughts and feelings within a context that interests who you are trying to reach it can make it more likely that they will understand what you are trying to communicate. It would seem to me that it might be effective in learning. I have used this technique when working with my clients. One in particular seems to have been able to process the information much better after we have had discussion using this technique.
Yes, this is one of the advantages of working one on one or in small groups as we do! Another advantage of "making it relevant" in our tutoring is that it is more likely to awaken associations/ideas/schema in the student that are so essential for developing their ideas more fully.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is the teacher's job to make learning relevant to students' lives. It is the student's responsibility to ask the instructor for relevant examples during one on one instruction. I do think that it is a tool that makes learning easier for some individuals. Like Rosemary said, "making it relevant" helps to activate schema in the student. This is a good tool for helping them to understand difficult ideas. Maybe they can relate the new information to something that they already understand or maybe it will help them to realize that it is something that they already know.
ReplyDelete