Reflections on; Common Miracles: The New American Revolution in Learning

There are many excerpts in this documentary that were thought provoking and evocative. It touched on many issues concerning the potential of the human mind, with the central focus on learning. Too often in the past, children with great potential are left to flounder because of traditional learning strategies. It is clear from some poignant examples in this film that everyone has the ability to learn regardless of there race, gender, color, origin and/or disabilities. We all can learn from each other, which in turn, enrich everyone, by broadening his/her horizons across a vast demographic landscape to better serve society.

It was a lesson in humanity, to watch educators diligently at work, realizing that even people who are born with brain damage at birth can learn. Learning involves discovering everyone’s ability to perform at his best, while exploring strengths to overcome weaknesses. This can be a challenging task; however, it can be the catalyst to more meaningful learning.

There is one excerpt in this film that had a profound effect on me. This was the segment which involved a school whereby the children’s scores didn’t meet the standards of assessment. The school implemented new learning methodologies, supported by research that was both motivating and exciting. As a result it became and accelerated school within three years.

This has compelled me to think about the many children that are left behind because of the institutions’ inability to facilitate the kinds of learning practices depicted in this school. It will be a tragedy to continue to lose children because of these inadequacies.

In my opinion teachers need to continue to educate themselves, to stay informed about updated research related to learning. This will enable them to keep children excited and motivated, which are important ingredients for effective learning.

I think the future teacher should have clear and definitive goals of what he/she wants to accomplish. It should be expected that part of the teachers self fulfillment would be to adopt a strategy of teaching that treat children as equals and not label them. Children tend to work better in such an environment and there is research that supports this.

The traditional methods of teaching should be avoided. The fallacies inherent in some of these methods are intellectually debilitating, unchallenging, and ineffective.

Views about the Pedagogy of Poverty by Martin Haberman

In my view this is an attempt not to define what the pedagogy of poverty means, but to make teachers, and administrator’s aware of the methodologies and ideologies that strangle the system. This article is a scholarly attempt to be forthright about issues that plaque urban schools. Haberman attempts to engage in dialogue about teacher and student, analyzing from both perspectives what works and what doesn’t. He also makes a good argument for what it means to be a successful teacher, who is in control and one who is not.

It is my view that in order to create environments that produce progressive students in today’s society; all constituencies have to be involved. This shall include parents, business people, local politicians and anyone who interacts with the community at large. With this involvement the student will and should feel that there is genuine concern about the quality of their education.

Of course there are inherent problems with the pedagogies in urban schools. However I don’t think that they are insurmountable. It is my belief that in order to have positive results one has to recognize what works and what doesn’t, and we can’t look to place blame. Doing so accomplishes nothing; therefore critically thought resolutions to the problems are more effective.

There is a plethora of ideas that becomes mindful, while reading this article, and I can go on for pages dissecting the dialogue with my personal views. However Habeman is successful in bringing the most mundane issues regarding the pedagogy of poverty to the forefront.

New Approaches to Learning

I had the opportunity of viewing a documentary, Common Miracles: The New American Revolution In Learning, on new approaches to learning that was evocative and made me reflect upon the way I have seen our educational system work for many years. It was an exemplary laboratory of new approaches to learning. This documentary clearly demonstrated that the old ways of learning just aren’t adequate to tap the unlimited potential of the human mind.

While there were several excerpts that were thought provoking to me, there is one that stands out most poignantly. It involved some elementary school kids. They had to complete a classroom assignment that required the use of computers. The assignment was brought up on the monitor and the children weren’t given any further instructions. They were allowed to collaborate with other pupils and work in groups. The teacher wasn’t to give any help or instruction; they were left alone to accomplish the assignment.

This should have been called a course in wonderment, because the kids were so excited when they figured out for themselves how to accomplish the assignment . It became an exposition for the kids to display their cognitive skills and work on their own. They were using what is known as metacognitive skill. The teacher was interviewed and she stated ;“It was very hard not to intervene in this learning process”, however she was astounded at the results of this new approach as she watched. She was use to the old way of teaching; show and tell style.

It is so important for the new teacher to familiarize themselves with these new learning methodologies, because it cannot only make a difference in their lives-a sense of self fulfillment- but most importantly have a profound effect on the students’ level of comprehension and learning ability.

Thoughts, Views, and Observations relative to the Hodgkinson article.

This article deals specifically with the demographic changes that will affect not only urban school districts but suburban as well. It is neither perplexing nor a shock to me that the dynamic changes in demographics will impact all counties of the U.S in the not so distant future. About four years ago I was confronted with this reality on a trip to my home in Washington, D.C. I was returning to New Jersey and I stopped in Langley Park Maryland, only a half mile from Maryland University in Adelphi Maryland, which borders several middle class neighborhoods that at one time were dominated by white and black Americans. I only saw people of Latin descent and it became apparent that they were now the dominate culture in the area. I think it is imperative that educators, administrators, and civic leaders (politicians) take these changes seriously for the well being of us all. Most of these diverse individuals will become our future educators, doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, and administrators. I think these changes can be beneficial to society because we can become more enlightened about a multiplicity of diverse cultures. Being able to share and interchange views with diversity will enhance our awareness and make us all civil intellectual humans who can understand and tolerate each other. Educators, teachers specifically, need to work hard at fine tuning their curriculums to challenge and bring out the best in all students. It is so important not to stifle a student’s learning by using text only. The use of multimedia and various technologies may aide in better understanding the content matter.