While my clinical teacher embodied qualities that I admire like great classroom management skills, I found that her perspective on groups students was skewed, if not flat out wrong. I was shocked to learn that she felt that students not in honors or AP courses, were not college bound. If she believes that, then how is she teaching those not in higher level courses? I didn't have a chance to observe a "regular" class today but hopefully will soon so that I can compare her teaching styles. She also mentioned to me that in her "regular" English courses, those students are learning more basic skills opposed to the honors and AP students who are learning to think critically.
Whether you're going to college or not, everyone needs to learn how to think critically...am I right or am I right?
Amanda
Funny enough, the teacher you observed embodies many of the conflicts we see in edcuation, and in urban education more specifically. Most of us have to grapple with getting our students to think critically and globally but are stumped by how to get there. We seem to have interpreted the need to "meet students where they are" by limiting their education to a "back to basics" dumbed down curriculum.
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