I have been watching the teaching skills comments come up in several posts and would like to make a brief observation about this.
Everything we do in life is because we are self-motivated to do it - we WANT to do it. This seems like an unlikely statement when you first read it, but if you examine it carefully, it is indeed true. Dr. Phil calls it a "payoff" and regardless of whether our motives are judged as good or bad, we always have a motive whether it resides in our conscious or unconscious mind.
If we find a topic interesting, our interest motivates us to pursue it further. When being instructed under whatever method, if a particular topic is not interesting to a student, successful teaching demands a motivating influence be uncovered. This is often done with grades. It could also come in the form of rewards such as increased interactive attention from the "teacher", praise, or other material or activity related rewards. It could also come in a punitive action such as activity curtailment, withdrawal of approval, etc.
Isn't the science of teaching all about uncovering and discovering what the child wants so that this can be used to manipulate the child to learn what you want them to? This is not seen as a bad thing because the stance is understood, if also unspoken, that the means justifies the end. A responsible parent should already have read up on developmental stages of children. I would say this was what probably started my whole journey of questioning our education system to begin with.
If a subject is boring, or the teacher teaching it, then the self-motivation must be brought about through another avenue than the actual satisfaction of curiosity sated from learning about the subject in question.
BUT...in a vast majority of our schools it is simply impossible to allow such a thing to happen - each student learning and studying what actually interests them. I understand and appreciate this fact. To me it seems comparable to sticking your hand in a boiling pot of oil and then having the experts working out how to ease the pain, scarring, coming up with ways to enhance the healing system. All of these things being unnecessary if one simply didn't stick their hand in the post in the first place.
The one thing that perpetuates most of the beliefs about the benefits of public school and it's current curriculum, is that children will never desire to learn certain subjects that have attracted the labels of boring or not interesting (while always remaining a necessity). This is often based on our own experiences of being force fed a subject when the time was not right for us or when our lack of interest was so severe that our resentment of the other methods used to garner our agreement to learn the subject, has left a bad taste in our mouth for the subject itself.
The world is actually a very fascinating place and children know this. Each child is an adult in the making and we all know as adults that we have different interests and pursuits and if we didn't, how would all that needs to be done in the world, get done? When deciding to homeschool, this is the one thing that almost undid my decision. Would my children actually be interested to learn about the things that bore me stiff, yet are things of benefit to know in order to live a successful life? Yes, they really do want to learn these things. Each at their pace and in within their own time frame, but with the self-motivation that comes from genuine interest. When it comes to learning there is no other motivator in existence that matches the success rate of this motivator (though the experts keep looking).
Education is very important, this any intelligent person will agree upon. Do teachers have childrens best interests at heart? I believe quite a lot of them do. I homeschool because compared to what the schools can currently offer my children, I know I can do a better job of educating my children and preparing them for the world - which they already live in. A rich environment is a given. You must surround your children with the situations (to an appropriate degree) they will face as adults. They will not learn to read without books - obviously. If you place them in situations where it becomes obvious to them that certain knowledge or skills would enhance the experience, they will then see a need to learn the information, or skills. It is so simple it is easily dismissed. Children are hugely underestimated by our society.
If the school systems radically changed, I would examine the new structures and make a new decision at that time, as flexibility is a requirement for success in this new world we are living in.
Parents want the best for their children, but what’s the best way to educate them? Dr. Phil’s guests face off in a debate about whether to school, homeschool or unschool. Dana and her husband, Joe, call themselves radical unschoolers. They say education happens as a side effect of life, and they don’t believe in tests, curriculums or grades. Are their three kids learning what they need to know? Then, RaeAnn says public schools are death traps and wants to homeschool her children. Her husband, Steve, says their kids are safer at school than they are at home. Can this couple reach a compromise? Plus, Nicole feels like an outcast at 26. She says she hated being homeschooled, and couldn’t relate to other kids. Share your thoughts here.
