This link has been bookmarked by 28 people . It was first bookmarked on 19 Jan 2009, by Rudy Godoy.
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Sheryl A. McCoyToday's students, because of massive info access, are a skeptical populace. To get them to love learning and value it, we have to begin by respecting them as arbiters of knowledge - respect them as thinkers or as "budding" but subsantive, real thinkers.
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25 Jan 09
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Michel Bauwens"It is imperative that someone studying this generation realize that we have the world at our fingertips — and the world has been at our fingertips for our entire lives. I think this access to information seriously undermines this generation's view of aut
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20 Jan 09
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J BlackToday's students, because of massive info access, are a skeptical populace. To get them to love learning and value it, we have to begin by respecting them as arbiters of knowledge - respect them as thinkers or as "budding" but subsantive, real thinkers.
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One of my students put it this way: "It is imperative that someone studying this generation realize that we have the world at our fingertips — and the world has been at our fingertips for our entire lives. I think this access to information seriously undermines this generation's view of authority, especially traditional scholastic authority." Today's students know full well that authorities can be found for every position and any knowledge claim, and consequently the students are dubious (privately, that is) about anything we claim to be true or important.
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A better and more productive response begins with us — faculty members and administrators. We cannot expect a skeptical populace to reverse course of its own accord. The onus is on us to better convey the value that a robust intellectual life adds to the public good. And we need to begin by respecting our students (and the wider public) not just as persons but as the arbiters of knowledge that they have become. Specifically, we must respect students as thinkers, even though their thinking skills may be undeveloped and their knowledge base shallow. Moreover, our respect must be genuine. Students have keen hypocrisy sensors and do not like being patronized.
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reveal, not hide, the intellectual journeys we have taken, and make transparent the intellectual transformations we have undergone.
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hardest of all, lowering the lofty opinion we hold of ourselves and accepting the public obligation that our privileged position entails.
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I am asking instructors to see the two questions that the new epistemology emblazons across the front of every classroom — "So what?" and "Who cares?" — and then to adjust their teaching accordingly.
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Bronwyn DaviesTim Clydesdale in The Chronicle of Higher Education: The Chronical Review, discusses "Today's students know full well that authorities can be found for every position and any knowledge claim, and consequently the students are dubious (privately, that is)
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19 Jan 09
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Short of fame or a lottery win, today's students recognize that a college degree is the minimum credential they will need to attain their desired standard of living (and hence "happiness").
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Respecting students as thinkers means we need to reveal, not hide, the intellectual journeys we have taken, and make transparent the intellectual transformations we have undergone. Respecting students as thinkers thus involves a number of changes, including meeting students where they are, so that they trust us to develop their intellectual skills and expand their knowledge base; balancing our elitist values with democratic and more widely achievable goals; and, perhaps hardest of all, lowering the lofty opinion we hold of ourselves and accepting the public obligation that our privileged position entails. To return to my opening analogy, rather than complain about the disappearance of our fiesta, we need to put aside our sombreros, don cowboy hats, and let our guests teach us a few line dances.
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Martin LindnerBack when students held us in awe, sat willingly for lectures, and assigned us the work of deciding what knowledge was worth knowing, we organized our classes around our disciplines. We chose what knowledge needed to be conveyed to students in what order.
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"It is imperative that someone studying this generation realize that we have the world at our fingertips — and the world has been at our fingertips for our entire lives. I think this access to information seriously undermines this generation's view of authority, especially traditional scholastic authority."
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this new epistemology does not imply that our students have become skilled arbiters of information and interpretation. It simply means that they arrive at college with well-established methods of sorting, doubting, or ignoring the same.
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So let me be perfectly clear: I am not asking for more entertainment and less substance in our classrooms. I am asking for a paradigm shift in how we approach our students that parallels the paradigm shift in the broader culture. I am asking instructors to see the two questions that the new epistemology emblazons across the front of every classroom — "So what?" and "Who cares?" — and then to adjust their teaching accordingly.
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The problem is that too many professors see good pedagogy as optional, as something only for teaching "superstars," rather than as a set of learnable techniques that critically support our wider purpose. Perhaps those professors assume that an absence of complaints indicates that their pedagogy is "good enough." But an absence of complaints may indicate only how accomplished students are at appearing polite and dutiful (especially when the professor's grade distribution suits them).
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Will RichardsonBut this new epistemology carries some heavy baggage — indeed, it is inseparably conjoined with personal economics. Short of fame or a lottery win, today's students recognize that a college degree is the minimum credential they will need to attain their d
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By respecting students as thinkers and meeting them where they are, we set the stage for good pedagogy and take a critical first step toward rebuilding the public's trust. But we must be realistic about what good pedagogy can accomplish. It is not a panacea — it will not create a society of lovers of learning in which our social ills will finally be cured. (A well-known pedagogy expert came to my institution and ended his talk with that very claim.) Even the best teachers will not convert every student into a lifelong learner who embraces knowledge for its own sake. That is a commitment that must come from within; it is an intentional decision to swim against powerful cultural and economic currents.
We need to understand that college students with an intrinsic love of learning, an appreciation for complexity, and a drive for discovery almost always possess those traits before they report to our campuses. Though we can fan into flames the sparks that these future intelligentsia bring with them, except for the occasional late bloomer, we fail miserably at creating sustained intellectual fires among the vast majority of our practical, credential-driven students.
A better and more widely achievable educational goal should therefore be to inculcate a respect for learning and the pursuit of knowledge. I doubt anyone can teach another to love learning, and the attempt frustrates students and professors alike. (Imagine a dance instructor trying to turn every student into a season subscriber to the local ballet company.) But I do believe effective teaching can instill respect — specifically, respect for the critical work we do as scholars and educators. Such respect is the seed from which the public's trust in us will grow.
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Will Richardson on 2009-01-20
I think a lot of this can be said for high school as well. Much of a love for learning is intrinsic and is either developed or extinguished in K-12 school.
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J Black on 2009-01-20
The line about how the commitment must come from within is CRUCIAL! Without his intention, there is no long-term internalization of knowledge. So good pedagogy is a catalyst towards igniting this in the learner.
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Michelle A. HoylePopular epistemologies are funny things. The latest one slipped into our party unannounced, slowly replaced all the food and decorations, and then stared back blankly when we asked how our Mexican fiesta had turned into a country-western barbecue. Only af
learning teaching learning2.0 learningstyles pedagogy studentengagement motivation 2biblio article
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Doug BelshawChanges in ways students relate to information and knowledge.
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Howard Rheingold"It is imperative that someone studying this generation realize that we have the world at our fingertips - and the world has been at our fingertips for our entire lives. I think this access to information seriously undermines this generation's view of aut
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