Lately I've felt particularly compelled to revisit why I chose to be an educator. It is the greatest way in which I can positively impact the current and future world. Recent events remind me of how far we have to go as a human race to be able to truthfully call ourselves civilized and the important role as educators we have in influencing the outcome of our attempt.
Embracing the world around us and providing ways in which students can try to make sense of the current scientific, political, legal... issues happening in the world makes the learning in the classroom relevant & more effective as a result. Recently following hurricane Michael in Jacksonville, Florida the sky was purple, reminding me of one of the most common questions young children have, "Why is the sky blue?". This opens up tremendous opportunity for student-generated questions and follow-up investigations based on these questions. This short video from meteorologist Lauren Rautenkranz made me think of at least 4 questions I still have and can spark so many questions different questions for students.
Rather than shy away from current events and see them as distractions from our class we can find connections from these events in our curriculum and provide a safe place for students to share their opinions on them. It has never been more important than now to do so. With climate change affecting already affecting us and recently predicted to do so earlier and more drastically than we thought according to the recent UN report from the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change it is clear that connecting these issues to our curriculum may be the most crucial curriculum that we build as educators. Developing problem solvers who see the world in unique ways will be the only chance we have to attempt to positively impact the damage we've done to our planet. We should not be working as educators if we do not intend to facilitate this generation's ability to understand and address these issues in ways which our generation and preceding generations have not.
This always brings me back to a question I've thought more and more about in the past 5 years:
Why do we have had a grade-driven education system that focuses largely on lower-level thinking? More and more I've found in my own classes that opening up the class to be increasingly based on student interest and exploration within the class framework has significantly improved the level of understanding, engagement and enjoyment for students.
Links
Purple Skies After Hurricane
Climate Change worse than thought
Embracing the world around us and providing ways in which students can try to make sense of the current scientific, political, legal... issues happening in the world makes the learning in the classroom relevant & more effective as a result. Recently following hurricane Michael in Jacksonville, Florida the sky was purple, reminding me of one of the most common questions young children have, "Why is the sky blue?". This opens up tremendous opportunity for student-generated questions and follow-up investigations based on these questions. This short video from meteorologist Lauren Rautenkranz made me think of at least 4 questions I still have and can spark so many questions different questions for students.
Rather than shy away from current events and see them as distractions from our class we can find connections from these events in our curriculum and provide a safe place for students to share their opinions on them. It has never been more important than now to do so. With climate change affecting already affecting us and recently predicted to do so earlier and more drastically than we thought according to the recent UN report from the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change it is clear that connecting these issues to our curriculum may be the most crucial curriculum that we build as educators. Developing problem solvers who see the world in unique ways will be the only chance we have to attempt to positively impact the damage we've done to our planet. We should not be working as educators if we do not intend to facilitate this generation's ability to understand and address these issues in ways which our generation and preceding generations have not.
This always brings me back to a question I've thought more and more about in the past 5 years:
Why do we have had a grade-driven education system that focuses largely on lower-level thinking? More and more I've found in my own classes that opening up the class to be increasingly based on student interest and exploration within the class framework has significantly improved the level of understanding, engagement and enjoyment for students.
Links
Purple Skies After Hurricane
Climate Change worse than thought
Thanks Liam for putting this down for folks to read - an important pedagogical point of view centered on this worse-than-we-thought climate crisis. Upcoming Spark Lunch? Inquiry!!!!
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