At the Front of the Room...

At times it feels like I’ve been going to school forever!  Ok, not really forever, but for at least over half my life.  That is a lot of time behind a desk and a lot of time looking, listening and learning form the teacher standing at the front of the room.  This traditional approach falls right in line with the executive approach to teaching.  In addition, the executive teacher sets up the classroom to be run like a well-oiled machine: class starts on time, desks in rows, time allotted to each section and activity.  I think that most of the teachers I’ve had fall into this category. The executive teacher is always the authority figure of the classroom. He sets the rules and dictates the learning environment.  It is his role to make sure the students pass the test and know the required material. This is especially important in today’s political education system.

In some ways, this approach is useful. It provides a clear method for determining what is taught and then assesses the student’s ability to retain the information. I don’t believe it provides much in the way of freedom to explore different points of view or branch out to new discoveries.

In my classroom, I believe that structure is important to a degree. However, I hope that I will be able to forgo the temptation to lecture to my students and to be less of the authority figure and more of a guide as they search for the knowledge for themselves.