Mitra Sugamata
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jYVe1RGaU
What do you think about this approach to teaching? What is Sugamata’s method for teaching? What are the advantages, disadvantages or limitations of “teaching yourself” and “distance learning”
I haven’t the foggiest, anyway, I have to go”
Finland report: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHHFGo161Os
What? No Homework?
When the Teacher is Gone: Art Education during a Pandemic. The artist Mark Dion tells the story about an art teacher who set up all the typical arrangements of an art room, but then just left the students to go to his office. This strategy is not usually recommended by teacher educators or school administration. However, for Dion, the power of this teaching approach was that students learned that they were not going to be policed or supervised and that art was about self-discipline and personal motivation.
He also tells the story about how, of all things he remembered about schooling, what stands out most are the field trips and especially field trips to the whaling museum. “My art professors taught me more in apartments, bars, galleries, restaurants and museums than they ever did in the classroom…I remain dedicated to experiential learning and teaching, and the good that can be done by exposing students to enthusiastic people.”
The teacher can leave. Or the teacher can drive the van into the field, bringing students into direct contact with inspiring people, places, and experiences. In addition to the pleasure of these encounters with things and places, they might also develop wonder and comaraderie. Some teachers design an entire curriculum around walking. Priscilla Stewart calls this the wild mountain art school. Let’s go for a walk. The challenge is how to bring the wild mountain into schools.
You need to look at learning as the product of educational self organization.” He is basically saying that students learn best when they direct their own learning...essentially a decentralized classroom. The three components he proposes are “broadband, collaboration, and encouragement”. the teacher is no longer the source of all knowledge...I believe a teacher is necessary--not to just pump the students full of information, but to guide their learning and make sure they’re on the right track. Removing an expert from a group of learners can have bad results.
ReplyDeletemisinformation is perpetuated on social media… While it’s important that students do their own research, it’s vital that they know how to evaluate sources--something that a teacher can help with...“It’s not about making the learning happen, but letting it happen.” That statement encompasses Mitra’s philosophy on teaching...but videos cannot teach them social skills, nor can they help a child develop emotionally. Classrooms (in-person) and teachers are essential for the social and emotional development of children...I think of all the learning that happened before that (i.e. learning how to walk, sit up, talk, ride a bike, tie a shoe, play, etc.) and all of that learning was solely experiential. I learned how to do all of those things from watching and practicing. I failed a lot, I’m sure, but now I’m an excellent walker
Some students may need a little bit more guidance. They may become frustrated and give up, rather than persevering.