Classroom: learning environment or management area?

The article linked here has a number of points to make that I think are worth discussing: https://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/8112.

I have discomfited people for years by maintaining that the role of a teacher is not “to teach” but to set up an environment in which students learn.  I mean “environment” in a broad sense, but mostly a set of expectations, attitudes, and tools.  To me, the physical space is secondary though not unimportant.

It is particularly difficult, sometimes, to inculcate the appropriate habits of mind we’d like to see in our students (or ourselves, as the article points out).  We all, sometimes, fall back on teaching algorithms because, frankly, it is so much easier.  For everyone.

I still remember years ago a student coming up to me in a calculus class and asking about a difficult problem.  I simply reeled off how to do it.  He was shocked, saying I didn’t usually do such things.  I agreed and pointed out that I was really tired and didn’t have enough energy to pose the thoughtful questions that could lead him to figure out the answer himself (as I usually did).

There is certainly a place for teaching algorithms as well as a few things that should be memorized.  After all, you can’t just reason your way into speaking a new language without memorizing at least some words.

And as a colleague pointed out, different kids from different environments may need more structured learning to get them started on a path from which they can then branch out by asking questions.  I am fortunate to teach at a place where such ground-work has mostly already been laid, much of it at home before kids even enter Kindergarten.  So, my teaching tilts heavily toward favoring inquiry, analysis, extension and reflection.

In a different school, the mix might need–and in some places–would need to be a different one.

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