In this chapter Wagner addresses the way that our current schools are stuck in the past. Most everyone involved in education today has great intentions and is always striving to move in the "right" direction. New reforms and methods are always being put in place to ensure higher learning for all, but what Wagner sees during his learning walks tells us a different story.
I am skeptical of some of the conclusions that Wagner draws from his ten minute visits to classrooms. I find it impossible to get a good idea of what is going on in a classroom from a 10 minute visit. I think it is just too short an amount of time. I was also disappointed that Wagner did not follow up with the teachers that he observed to find out what they thought was going on in their classrooms.
I am left with a question of why military schools are achieving higher on tests? Wagner shared these statistics, but never explained further. His findings on his learning walks did not seem to create that higher achievement, so what did? I am beginning to wonder if schools are not the only factor in a learner's success or failure. If a cake tastes really gross, shouldn't we question all the ingredients? Seems like sometimes we just take the easy target of schools and especially teachers sometimes. I think there are a lot more factors in whether or not a child learns. Most children spend the first 4 years of their life outside of schools, should we begin there? What about the 3 months over a summer break, is that the problem?
No comments:
Post a Comment