The goal of this exercise is to prepare you for deep and intentional discussion of this article during our next class session. In the book, The Having of Wonderful Ideas: And Other Essays on Teaching and Learning, Eleanor Duckworth pens an essay on The Virtues of Not Knowing. Eleanor Ruth Duckworth is a cognitive psychologist, educational theorist and constructivist educator. Wikipedia
PLEASE PICK UP A COPY OF THE ESSAY AT MY OFFICE
(Herty Hall 349 -The Science Education Center)
A. Before reading the essay, respond to the following on the blog:
1. What do you think this essay is going to be about?
2. What do you think is virtuous (valuable, worthy, honorable) about not knowing something?
3. How to do you think that this idea of ‘the value of not knowing’ applies to a science classroom?
B. Read the article and respond to the following on the blog:
4. Find three (3) quotes (sentences/groups of sentences) that you found to be interesting. Rewrite each quote in the blog. For each quote, explain why is it is interesting to you. Include any learning theories that you have been studying that may support or conflict with these quotes.
C. Using a blank sheet of paper, create a flow chart that describes the child's thought process in developing the diagram using the glassware. Bring your flowchart to class to share.
A)
ReplyDelete1. I think this essay is going to be about all the benefits of not knowing something.
2. When you don't know something it gives you the opportunity to imagine about the answer and come up with different options of what it could be. When you know about something it limits your response and thinking because you know the answer and don't want to think out of the box.
3. The value of going into a science class not already knowing the material is you have an open mind and science can be viewed in so many different ways that not having an open mind could hinder your learning experience.
4) "Knowing the right answer requires no decision, carries no risk, and makes no demands." (pg.64)
Delete- This statement stuck out to me because it is so true. Before getting in to this program and being made to think and discuss about answers all I ever had to know was the right answer. The right answer really does not carry any risk at all and without risks we would not be in this program today.
"It was discarded and the class looked for others. On neither of those occasions did Alec suffer, either in his own eyes or in the eyes of anyone else." (pg. 68)
- This was a good example of sharing your thoughts and them being wrong and it being okay. Showing that it is okay to be wrong and that you can learn from it.
"helping children to come honestly to terms with their own ideas is not difficult to do." (pg. 69)
- To me this is saying to encourage children to share their opinions based on what they think not what they hear someone else say. I feel like this could boost self-confidence in children and make them want to figure things out more instead of just knowing the right answer.
A.
ReplyDelete1. Not knowing something, allows you to investigate and further increase your knowledge. Most times when you don't know something, you want to find out about something, so I think it'll be an encouragement about it being okay not to know things.
2. It admits vulnerability, and your willingness to open up and learn more.
3. Well, personally, I don't know much if anything about a lot of science, so coming into this class, I'm learning to have an open mind with concepts and learning to explore my thinking.
1. "knowing the right answer requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless." (p 64)
Delete- This is so true, and something that as a teacher I need to be reminded of about my own work and when it comes to the work of my students.
2. "intelligence tests require that certain things be figured out, but the figuring out doesn't count"
- I personally related to this one a lot, especially when I think back to my math classes and science classes growing up. I could write out my ideas, concepts and how I was thinking about my work, but sometimes I just couldn't get to the "right" answer. I think acknowledging that a student is trying and thinking about their thinking is just as important as the right answer.
3. "if teachers were encouraged to focus on the virtues involved in not knowing, so that those virtues would get as much attention in classrooms from day to day as the virtue of knowing the right answer."
-essentially, this quote sums up the entire essay. As a teacher I want my classroom to feel comfortable in answering and asking questions, even when they don't know the "right answer", you'll never be able to gauge exactly where they are in their learning if you can't fully seen what they're understanding and what they're not.
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ReplyDelete1. I think this essay is going to be about what you learn from not knowing things.
ReplyDelete2. I think that innocence and naiveté is something very pure and something that is being destroyed for children at such a young age now-a-days.
3. The value of not knowing applies to the science classroom in many aspects because we do not know why some things happen in nature. I also come to class thinking I know things about science but then you ask questions that really challenge our thinking making the value of not knowing something that we want to know.
4. “The more you actually think to get the right answers on an intelligence test, the less intelligent the results will look” (pg. 65)
-This is interesting to me because I would assume it had been the opposite. I thought that the more you think about the answer the more intelligent it would be. I agree with this quote though in the sense that if I take too long trying to answer a question on a test sometime I change my answer because I am over thinking it.
“Surprise, puzzlement, struggle, excitement, anticipation, and dawning certainty-those are the matter of intelligent thought” (pg. 67)
-This was my favorite quote from the essay. The excitement that students bring when they make a connection is something that puts a big smile on my face. These are the thoughts that really make a difference in the students’ academic lives.
“The virtues involved in not knowing are the ones that really count in the long run” (pg. 68)
-I really like this quote because it is talking about the children’s innocence. Sometimes life is better when you don’t know about all the complicated things in the world. Life seemed so easy before knowing about the state of the economy, the wars going on in the world, and all the children who are affected by hunger.
1. I believe this essay is going to be about the benefits of not knowing something and how it can cause you to become curious and investigate more on the issue.
ReplyDelete2. I think the benefits of not knowing something gives you a chance to explore and connect previous knowledge when trying to figure something out. It allows for more creativity in your thinking and gives you a chance to understand why you came up with your answers when figuring something out.
3. I think the "value of not knowing" applies to a science class because it helps you keep an open mind and explore. It also allows for multiple ways of viewing what we are learning.
4. "Knowing the right answers requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless."(Pg. 64) - I love this quote because it applies to each of us as teachers and learners. If you already know the correct answers but don't know how you got there, it is helpless. Yes it may help you pass a test, but you learn nothing.
"In most classrooms, it is the quick right answer that is appreciated." (Pg. 64) - This quote jumped out at me because it is so true. I feel like when I was growing up this always applied to our class because teachers are constantly under the stress of time crunching. So the quicker the answer, the better. This does not allow for children to explore and understand how they came up with their answers, which is unfortunate because I feel you learn way more when you can investigate why you answered the way you did.
"The virtues involved in not knowing are the ones that really count in the long run." (Pg. 68) - I agree with this statement because it provokes thought and analyzing. When we are presented with something we know nothing about, it causes us to question, and investigate. The virtues of not knowing in the classroom gives teachers an opportunity to discover how each child thinks about things.
1) I think this essay will be about how not knowing something could be a good thing. I think it will give all types of benifits that come along with not knowing.
ReplyDelete2) not knowing something could be virtuous because it allows people to be humble enough to stretch themselves in order to learn new things.
3) A person who admits to not knowing is probably in the best position to learn. I can imagine that they are willing and able to explore new things with are clear and open mind. I think this is why this idea is important in Science class.... Those students who don't know must be the most enjoyable ones to work with. They are probably the ones who you see have that "ah-ha" moment because they completed all the steps of figuring things out; as opposed to a student who "can already tell what will happen".
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DeleteQUOTE 1: “Surprise, puzzlement, struggle, excitement, anticipation, and dawning certainty…those are the matter of intelligent thought”
ReplyDelete-This quote is really interesting to me and one of my favorite throughout the essay. I like this quote because these are the phases that any teacher would love to see their students go through. As a teacher, if you are able to witness this in your students, I think it shows the process of learning that that particular students or group of students went through to come up with a thoughtful response or idea.
QUOTE 2: "Courage to submit an idea of one's own to someone else's scrutiny is a virtue in itself"
- This quote stand out to me because I think any student (especially middle schoolers) who speak out about their ideas despite the fear of being judged or ridiculed do show confidence and courage. I also think that this quote sort of represents the importance of social interaction as a way to communicate and challenge one another's thoughts and opinions.
QUOTE 3: "Another whole domain of virtues....is that of sitting alone, noticing something new, wondering about it, framing a question for oneself to answer ....in other words, all of those virtues that are involved when no one is present to stimulate thoughts or act as prompter."
- To find value in questioning things around you and the process you go through to find some sort of explanation for it....this is what makes learning worthwhile, that you are capable of finding out about the things that interest you. With this quote, I think that the initiative that a person takes is makes the end result of finding the answer/explanation all the more rewarding.
1. I think this essay is going to be about not being aware of knowing great ideas. It will talk about the benefits of finding something you know and making it into a great idea.
ReplyDelete2. I think what is virtuous and honorable about not knowing something is that it allows you to find deeper understanding and questioning. It allows you to be more creative and do things you wouldn't normally do with something you already know. It gives you full range of ideas, experiments, and thoughts.
3. The value of "not knowing" allows for my students to be curious about science. It allows them to think more deeply and ask questions such as why or how. When a student doesn't know they have a desire to find out the answer of why. This leads to great participation and discussion in the classroom.
4. "Knowledge of the answer ahead of time is, on the whole, more valued than ways of figuring it out."
This is interesting to me because I completely disagree with this statement. We are being taught right now the hows of figure out different equations. And understanding that a problem can be solved in many different ways. This goes completely against what we have been learning.
"In addition, the more time the child spends on figuring things out on the test, the less time there is for fillingin the right answers; that is, the more you actually think to get the right
answers on an intelligence test, the less intelligent the results will look."
This is so true because when a student takes like the SAT they're not being graded on their process of thinking. They want the answer fast and efficient because there is no time to think. You have a timed period to answer all the question and get the answers right. It is grading on what you know not how you can find the answer out. This is causing many students to not do as well because it doesn't give time for allowing their brains to process and think of the answer.
"It would make a significant difference to the cause of intelligent thought in general, and to the number of right answers that are ultimately known,if teachers were encouraged to focus on the virtues in not knowing, so that those virtues would get as much attention in the classrooms from day to day as the virtue of knowing the right answer."
Teachers today are so concerned with their students just getting the right answers they're losing the positives if their student gets the wrong answer. The students can learn from their mistakes and go deeper into why they did what they did and how they did it wrong.
1. Since the essay The Virtues of Not Knowing appears in a book for teachers it might discuss the positives of teaching a child who has no knowledge of a topic. It the child has no preconceptions or misconceptions, the teacher is starting with a “blank slate” so to speak. The teacher will not have to “fix” or change knowledge that a child who has prior beliefs or ideas that are incorrect or biased negatively holds. The essay will probably give examples to support its premise.
ReplyDelete2. If someone does not know something, they do not have any preconceptions. Their knowledge will not be tainted by prejudices or influences of others. It would make the teacher’s job easier if they could start from scratch. The child would not have to change or reconcile what they previously believed or perceived to be true if it is, in fact, incorrect.
3. If the child believes that the earth is flat, for example, the teacher would then have to “un-teach” them this concept and reteach them the correct one. If the child has no previous knowledge about the shape of the earth, it would be much easier to teach them this idea. This would apply to any scientific knowledge in a science classroom.
4. Three quotes that I found interesting are:
a) “True, intelligence tests require that certain things be figured out, but the figuring out doesn’t count.” There is so much emphasis put on IQ and standardized tests, but the end product is the score, not how the student arrived at the answers. Teachers prep students to take tests and make good scores as a measure of the success of their teaching abilities. NCLB is a good example of this, but what have the students really learned if all that is expected is a correct answer and not the reasoning and thought process behind it? Memorization of facts is not a good measure of intelligence. The cognitive learning theories stress the thought process that goes into learning, so the end result of intelligence tests is to avoid recognizing and emphasizing the thought process.
b) “What you do about what you don’t know is, in the final analysis, what determines what you will ultimately know.” I liked this statement because it shows that the learner is ultimately responsible for figuring out what tools or “virtues” he needs to gain knowledge. The learner must be active in the learning process. The more you do about what you don’t know, the more you will ultimately know, and vice versa. The teacher can assist the learner by encouraging the active learning process when the student perseveres, questions, makes accidental conclusions, and gives wrong answers. This process will reinforce what is learned.
c) “Standardized tests can never, even at their best, tell us anything other than whether a given fact, notion, or ability is already within a child’s repertoire. As a result, teachers are encouraged to go for right answers, as soon and as often as possible, and whatever happens along the way is treated as incidental.” I strongly agree with this statement because all throughout my middle and high school years, the emphasis was placed on memorizing facts. After the test you soon forgot what you “learned,” or rather memorized, because it had no meaning and you couldn’t relate it to anything else. The students were always pushed to do well on the CRCT, or the SAT, or the ACT, or whatever. Are those students who had high test scores really the high achievers and the ones who will go on to make a difference in the world? Making a high score only shows what facts you know, not what or how you are capable of learning. Potential is not measured by standardized tests. They don’t give credit for the reasoning and thought processes needed to arrive at an answer.
1. I think this essay is going to be about the benefit of being able to not be certain about a topic and to try to discover the meaning of it. It might be about the importance of curiosity.
ReplyDelete2. The virtues of not knowing something is that it makes one human. It lets us wonder and ponder upon what we do not know.
3. ‘The value of not knowing’ applies to a science class in the way that our interest is sparked by something that we do not know about. It leaves us wanting to discover more and try to fully understand.
4. “Knowing the right answer requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless.” This means that by just knowing an answer, the thought process isn’t really being exercised. Student who know the answer are not taking a risk when they raise their hands to answer a question. The students who are taking the risks are the ones who raise their hand, unsure of the answer but willing to try. They must ask questions to find the correct answer, and by asking these questions the answer was worked for. I think if you have to work for an answer, you are more likely to understand and remember the correct answer.
-“Surprise, puzzlement, struggle, excitement, anticipation, and dawning certainty - those are the matter of intelligent thoughts.” Intelligent thoughts involve many different emotions. You have the pleasures of surprise but also the struggles but in the end reaching the right answer will be worth the pain and time. Intelligent thought, unlike unintelligent thought, leave the thinker wanting more.
-“The virtues involved in not knowing are the ones that really count in the long run. What you do about what you don’t known is, in the final analysis, what determines what you will ultimately know.” This seems to be saying that the process to finding the answer is almost important as the answer itself. How you see and process information involves critical thinking. In the long run, we will all have to know how to problem solve and reach a conclusion efficiently. This also involves learning from one's mistakes.
A.
ReplyDelete1. I think the article will be about not knowing things and how it can apply to science.
2. It is virtuous to admit to not knowing something because it allows you to be open to new ideas as well as keep an open mind about ideas that do not make sense.
3. Most students who will be in the classroom will come in will little to no understanding about the subjects I will teach them. But the fact that they do not know a lot about the subjects will enable them to keep an open mind about what I am teaching them.
B.
“Moreover, and most to the point in this context, knowing the right answer is overrated.”
I like this quote because so many students fret over whether their answer is correct or not, but in this article the author state that intelligence is determined by correct answers. That although the knowledge of the correct answer is appreciated in the classroom, it is the ability to embrace the unknown and figure out the answers yourself that is important for a student to master for life outside of the classroom.
“Surprise, puzzlement, struggle, anticipation and drawing certainty – those are matters of intelligent thought.”
I picked this quote because I feel like it is very true. Intelligence is not just marked upon being correct, more so it should be gauged by the ability to struggle through an experiment and figure out the answer on your own. It is amazing how much a human brain can process to figure out an answer and that should be the mark of true intelligence, not only knowing the answer, but being able to figure it out without knowing the outcome beforehand.
“The courage to submit an idea of one’s own t someone else’s scrutiny is a virtue itself—unrelated to the idea of rightness of the idea.”
I LOVE THIS QUOTE! Taking risks to be judged so as to know the correct answer whether or not you are correct really is a virtue. It is so hard for a student to subject themself to an entire classroom of peers because they are afraid of being judged. I love that people can be courageous and say their answer aloud to help others learn and build of their idea. This is so important for a classroom because students need a forerunner who will take the leap and risk judgment so that others feel comfortable enough to ask questions as well.
1. I think that this essay is going to allow us the ability to affirm that it is okay not to have a full understanding on what were about to learn and it helps us get a better knowledge of the subject.
ReplyDelete2. I think that being virtuous about not knowing about something is having the knowledge to know that you do not fully understand the concept and are not closed minded about learning more on the subject area.
3. The idea of “not knowing” applies to many classroom not just science first of all. We never know as educator what our students and ourselves often do not know about a subject. Because, when we are starting a new subject area it is very likely that at least one of our students is not going to know what we are talking about.
4.
1) On neither of those occasions did Alec suffer, either in his own eyes or in the eyes of anyone else.
-This quote is interesting to me because it shows that the teacher has created an environment where free thought is not only accepted, but also encouraged, with Alec being able to freely answer shows that she has created a stable classroom environment.
2) Standardized test can never, even at their best, tell us anything other than whether a given fact, notion, or ability is already within a child’s repertoire.
-I believe in this quote because, teachers often do not get to follow up after the test to make sure the students are retaining their information and to build on it further. Due to the crunch in times they can not even really elaborate much on a certain topic.
3. It would make a significant difference to the cause of intelligent thought in general, and to the number of right answers that are ultimately known, if teachers were encouraged to focus on the virtues involved in not knowing, so that those virtues would get as much attention in classrooms from day to day, as the virtue of knowing the right answer.
- With this quote is shows that sometimes it is not important to get the right answer first off. It is okay to come back and have to try again. However, in the test driven society that we teach in, it is hard to allow this to happen.
A.
ReplyDelete1. I think this essay is going to explore the idea of how good it is to not know something. Because of this, you can discover new and fascinating knowledge that you can then pursue on you're own. We don't have to have all the answers and I think this article will give us the benefits of this.
2. I think it keeps us from becoming static in pursuing greater knowledge. If we knew the answers, we would have nothing to explore and discover. We would get bored. We all have this inner curiosity about things in our world and universe. Taking this away we lose a way to satisfy that part of us.
3. This can apply to the discovery aspect of science. We can make science in the classroom a discovery process. We don't have to tell the students the answers, but have them discover and theorize and construct their own knowledge. Also when students don't come in with all the answers to their science classes, there can be novelty in the discovery process of the answers.
B.
"Knowing the right answer requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless." - I like this quote because it shows the difference between active and passive learners. As a teacher, I want my students to take control of their learning and explore for answers to their questions. I don't want to just feed them "right" answers. Also to have have this kind of risk taking environment in the classroom, you have to have a safe, non-threatening classroom where everyone's ideas are not judged, but explored. There needs to be an environment that fosters the idea of risk-taking.
"They sought instead to give children the opportunity to explore their ideas and to try to make more sense of them." - Again, I don't want to force feed my students answers. I want them to discover their own. When they discover their own answers and are given the opportunity to make sense of what they are learning they will be able to retain it better. This is because the students will be internalizing the information by putting it in their own words. They are creating their own learning experiences and are taking control of their learning by the opportunity to make sense of their ideas.
"What you do about what you don't know is, in the final analysis, what determines what you will ultimately know." - I think this statement is true across all ages and is not just limited to the classroom. As a teacher, I want to set a good example of being a life long learner. I also want to stress to my students that they are in charge of what they are learning and I am just here to facilitate and guide them rather than to just pour information in their heads and expect them to soak it up like sponges. I want them to gain a higher motivation for themselves in their learning process.
A. Before reading the essay, respond to the following on the blog:
ReplyDeleteB.
1. What do you think this essay is going to be about?
I think this essay is going to be about not being able to ever know everything about science, and how one person can research and pursue their entire life but not even know a fraction of the information that exist in the world.
2. What do you think is virtuous (valuable, worthy, honorable) about not knowing something?
Not knowing information allows you to have a separate perspective. When you do not “know” something you are allowed to question, ponder, view all sides of a situation. You are allowed to make any type of hypothesis without any prior knowledge.
3. How to do you think that this idea of ‘the value of not knowing’ applies to a science classroom?
Students being able to discover ideas on their own or draw their own conclusions and see how they play out is essential. If their hypothesis is wrong, they can see why and watch how the reality of the situation unfolds and why their hypothesis is wrong or missing aspects.
B. Read the article and respond to the following on the blog:
“Tests that judge intelligence levels solely focus on having the correct information instead of the process of figuring out the information.” I believe this to be an interesting quote because the learning process of discovering information is so important. It is nothing to spit out and recite information but to know how that information relates, was created and can be used is everything.
“Not knowing information is the virtue that is important and counts in the process of learning” We as humans are life long learners. We, cannot do this however if people simply memorize information but are not curious, don’t seek out the background information and knowledge behind aspects and concepts. If you can’t explain why two plus two is four, isn’t it just a bunch of random numbers?
“Teachers are pushed to teach to the test or teach information that is strictly fact or memorization.”
Seeing this first hand in the classroom, it is hard to not want to teach to the test. Standards and standardized tests are becoming more prevalent in the education world. If we can allow students to create ways to question, explore, and hypothesize they will be much more engaged in learning and have a greater understanding for the information they are given.
1. I think this essay is going to be about how not knowing information is completely okay. Even though our society tells us that we need to know everything, not knowing is just as honorable as knowing.
ReplyDelete2. When you learn something for the first time you have no preconceived ideas about what it is supposed to be. Your view of something is fresh and not tainted. When you are looking at this information through eyes that have not been tainted what a better picture you can get. An outsiders perspective is always a great point of view to use as a lens to look through.
3. I personally do not feel like science is my strongest subject area. Realizing that because I do not know something I have a great opportunity to learn, rather than looking at not knowing as a negative thing. Everyone starts out not knowing anything, so being able to look at science and learn and grow in knowledge is refreshing.
4. QUOTE 1: "But no tester will ever know and no score will ever reveal whether the right answer was a triumph of imagination and intellectual daring, or whether the child know the right answer all along." This is interesting to me because I believe it to be true. Students are not required to show their work anymore, it is all about having the right answer. This process does not allow teachers to grasp what students know, what they guessed at or even what they got from their neighbor. There is not an accurate reading of a students progress.
QUOTE 2: "The courage to submit an idea of one's own to someone else's scrutiny is a virtue in itself-- unrelated to the rightness of the idea." This statement is so true. I know for myself that I do not ask questions in front of the class. I normally email my professor if I have a question. Being in the cohort it is different because I know the people in my classes really well and feel comfortable with them. This shows how important it is to create a family environment where all students feel comfortable with each other. Asking questions allows students to be vulnerable and becoming vulnerable takes a lot of courage.
QUOTE 3: "...largely because standardized tests play such a powerful role in determining what teachers pay attention to.... teachers are encouraged to go for right answers, as soon and as often as possible, and whatever happens along the way is treated as incidental." This quote breaks my heart because it is so true. I knew how much teachers pushed testing from when I was in school, but now that I am in the teachers position I see how much more it is being pushed. When students are not paying attention the words "this is on your CRCT" is thrown out and everyone gets quiet and pays attention because they know they have to know this specific task. Teachers spend extra time explaining those tasks and if a student happens to learn another concept a long on the way then good, if they don't then oh well!
1. I think the article is about how knowledge is everything. Many people might think that not knowing something is reflected in a negative way, but this article shows how it is okay to not necessarily know everything.
ReplyDelete2. Even though it would be extremely easy to get through life knowing everything, life would also be extremely BORING. The fun in life is through learning experiences, and learning something new everyday. Investigation, researching, and curiosity hold our interest in everyday life.
3. I have learned that science is all about discovery, research, and new observations. The idea of a full knowledge of science would be dull, essentially lacking the creative aspect of science that makes science what it truly is. Science is extremely unique, and knowing everything would take the exclusiveness away.
4. Quotes
“Moreover, and most to the point in this context, knowing the right answer is overrated.” (Pg. 64)
-Like I said before, knowing everything would make life so boring and uninteresting. We have learned in math class that we have learned a standard way of doing math problems, and that only these ways are right. However, we have learned that if we allow students to provide their own of way doing it (producing their own method to get the answer), that students are more likely to understand math.
“The only difficulty is that teachers are rarely encouraged to do that—largely because standardized tests play such a powerful role in determining what teachers pay attention to.” (Pg. 69)
-It is unfortunate that education has come down to this. Teachers obviously want to teach their students everything they can, but it is hard to focus on crucial lessons when worrying about exactly what is going to be on the next test. If teachers decided not to worry about tests, then their job could be at stake. If teachers could devise a good balance, education would be at a finer place.
“Standardized tests can never, even at their best, tell us anything other than whether a given fact, notion, or ability is already within a child’s repertoire.” (Pg. 69)
-Standardized tests are also shown in a bad light because they are solely based on a child’s performance, no matter what. However, it is usually not taken into account that a student might have test anxiety, for example. It is shown that tests cannot accurately provide a student’s IQ or skills based on tests scores.
The Virtue of Not Knowing:
ReplyDelete1. I would have to guess the essay would be about how not knowing is sometimes beneficial in teaching. It is not always a negative thing, and there is virtue behind learning alongside your students.
2. I think it is valuable and sparks creativity. Not knowing something allows you to be imaginative, to ask questions, and to find an answer.
3. I think it applies to science a great deal. Science looks at information and asks you to find a plausible answer. With the virtue of not knowing, we would not know so much crucial information. Within the classroom not knowing helps students become interested and seek to gain knowledge.
4. “Knowing the right answer is overrated”- This stuck out to me because many times all we are focused on is knowing the right answer, but learning is about finding the right answer, not simply knowing it.
“Helping children to come honestly to terms with their own ideas is not too difficult to do”- Every teacher should have this mindset. It is not impossible to get kids to think for themselves, they just have to be comfortable with their own ideas.
“As a result teachers are encouraged to go for the right answers”- Because of standardized testing and the huge influence it holds, teachers no longer have the drive to teach students to virtue of not knowing, but rather the virtue is getting the answer correct.
1. I think it will be about how students can learn without being heavily instructed on what they should know. Students get bogged down by asking, “Will it be on the test?” “What is the answer” etc. They are programmed to respond after getting information and just regurgitate it. This removes the creative process.
ReplyDelete2. First of all, it is honest to be able to walk up to a situation and say, “I’m really not sure, I don’t know anything about it yet” and then learn from a classmate or teacher. Not “knowing” something means that you have an open experience ahead of you where there is potential to grow as a learner – that growth in itself is valuable.
3. For me it is especially applicable. I “know” very little “things” about science. If I took a multiple choice test on nearly any topic, I wouldn’t be able to pass. But I do have experience with science and pre-established general ideas. From these foundational experiences I can infer what might happen and build on that base. It is valuable for me to “not know” because I am not fixed in a box. My potential is not limited by my previous instruction. Someone who has really studied the light spectrum might have been disinterested in spending hours experimenting with light because he or she already “knew” what to expect.
4. (a)“In most classrooms, it is the quick right answer that is appreciated.” As a teacher I am guilty of this - often times it is pulling teeth to get kids to volunteer. Of course I want the whole class to know what it the right answers so when it is finally said, I am like, “yes! Say it again”. But once I reach the “right answer” why would I keep asking and finding out other ideas, if we’ve already reached our goal? I should let many students offer answers, right and wrong, and then after they have had a chance to share we will discuss the possibilities and make a judgment on which one is right.
(b) “Knowing the right answer requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless.” This is not the type of “learning” we want to promote because it is not, in fact, actually learning. It is parroting. Students should be encourages to take the risk of a wrong answer because exploring it will help lead us the better explanation. Wrong answers are usually a good starting place for us to move.
(c) “Teachers are pushed to teach to the test or teach information that is strictly fact or memorization.” This is interesting because I can identify with it. There is so much pressure on teachers to teach to the test because achievement is measured by standardized tests. If you teach only what they will “need” to know, they will be programmed to achieve that and nothing else.
1. Allowing people/students to draw their own conclusions before supplying answers.
ReplyDelete2. It is pure. The mind is open to ALL possibilities.
3. In order for us to teach something new, our students must be open to new possibilities. Their minds must be free of preconceived notions.
"Knowing the right answer requires no decisions, carries no risks, and makes no demands. It is automatic. It is thoughtless."
ReplyDeleteI see this process play out in my placement on a daily basis. I ask a question, a single student raises their hand and quickly provides me with a response. We move on. I know not what they were thinking, nor do I ever find out if anyone else in the class is confused. Being given the right answer on demand has become much too accepted.
" He had never been arrogant when his theories worked out well, so he felt no disgrace when an idea failed."
I admire this quality in a student more than I could possibly put into words. The lack of fear in Alec was incredible. It is so rare to find a student willing to speak their mind, right or wrong. We forget the value of a 'wrong' idea. It prompts further discussion and gives us background into our thinking.
"Standardized tests can never, even at their best, tell us anything other than whether a given fact, notion, or ability is already within a child's repertoire."
The educational system needs to reevaluate the use of standardized tests. They do not properly gauge the amount of content area absorbed. Seeing our students thinking process is what really tells us how they are performing in a given subject.