Learning Mix

Motives

January 30, 2008 on 8:28 am | In education | No Comments

Three times in the last week I’ve heard people argue that teaching doesn’t change because teachers are afraid – or have too much ego – to give up control in their classrooms. While those teachers no doubt exist in the wild, I’m reminded of a quotation I stumbled across some years ago (but I’m afraid I don’t remember who said it): “Never attribute to others motives more nefarious than your own.”

I suspect that the real reason  so many classrooms tend to be teacher-centered is that a lot of teachers don’t know how to turn over the reins to students and still get through the material they feel obliged to cover.

Yes, I understand that therein lies the problem, but the reality is that the curriculum and expectations are often/usually not the teacher’s own. And I believe a futher reality is that most schools don’t know how to create truly student-centered, constructivist, project-based, creative learning environments that are rigourous, effective, and sustainable and don’t fall victim to the problems that doomed so many past attempts at progressive school reform.

As Chris Lehmann pointed out at EduCon, this stuff isn’t easy.

If it were, everyone would be doing it.