In my classroom observations of high school students, most teachers do not employ the strategies Friedman says is crucial for future job opportunities. In the classrooms I see, most students are not shown to be collaborative, but rather are pushed to do individual work and have their work be conceptualized as an individual product. Friedman would say to give students more opportunities to collaborate with other students, to bounce ideas off of each other, and to get connected to other students globally.
Also, students in classes are not taught to explain themselves. The explanation part that Friedman refers to is also a part of critical thinking because if one is to explain the complexity of something, then one needs to understand all of its parts against the larger backdrop. Friedman would want students to have to reflect on their actions, to justify themselves so that they can otherwise explain why they did something and how they did it.
I believe students are not being challenged enough in schools today. I may not fully believe in all of Friedman's ideas, but I do believe that education needs to be reformed. Students need to be more critical thinkers, explainers, and adapters.
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2 comments:
Hey Staci,
It does not suprise me 100% that Friedman's idea's are not being integrated into learning yet. I think part of the reason is that teachers are afraid to try new things in their classroom. I can't ever recall sitting in a circle during class and having open conversation until I got to college. Sure my teachers would put my classmates and I into groups maybe once a month, if even..but still - once a month? Discussion and conversation should never be limited in a classroom and based on what you saw during your observations, limitation is very obvious and it's unfortunate.
I completely agree - hardly any groupwork takes place in classroom. It is basically every student for themself. But, in the future, students are going to need to be able to work with others.
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