Way back in May I was tagged by Louise Maine for the “I believe…” meme started by Barry Bachenheimer. I’ve been putting off writing this for quite a while. It’s not that I didn’t want to write it, it’s just that I have a hard time articulating the points that I feel are important in education. So, as I procrastinate writing up those final report cards, here goes.
I Believe…
- - every child deserves respect
- - every child should be valued
- - every child has strengths that need to be recognized
- - no one deserves to be told that they can’t do something or that they’ll never amount to anything
- - education must be relevant to the learner
- - assessment needs to be meaningful
- - students must be given the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon what they are learning
- - grades should not be used. as a motivator. as an end in themselves.
- - the focus should be on the process, not just the product
- - learning builds on prior knowledge; it is a teacher’s role to uncover that knowledge
- - our students are diverse so our teaching methods should be too
- - there is more than one way to demonstrate knowledge
- - the best education encourages wonder
- - a good education should empower students with the skills to be able to continue learning about the things that are important to them.
These are just a few of the things that I believe with respect to education.
The Thing About Blog Memes
I’m not a memeticist, but I’m not sure that this is really what Dawkins would call a meme. I can’t help but feel that they are pretty similar to chain letters with the exceptions that
- they rarely demand that you tag a required amount of people in a limited amount of time or else… and
- men are just as likely to participate in memes as women–unlike chain letters which seem to be the domain of women and girls
Tag–You’re It!
So it is with great trepidation that I tag the following people:
Kevin /dogtrax (Kevin’s Meandering Mind)
Sarah Stewart (Sarah’s Musings)
My trepidation is they will see this tag as an onerous task to add to their to-do lists. If it catches your fancy–great, do it (I’m keen to find out what you believe!) If not, that is ok too.
The Final Word
What do you believe is truly important with respect to education? Write a post or leave a comment below. It is an interesting exercise, to be sure!
Image: ‘Tag! You’re It!’ by Lance and Erin licensed under creative commons attribution, non-comercial, no derivitives works 2.0 generic.
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