Yong Zhao
Skólar geta ekki bara verið lagfærðir, þeir þurfa að vera endurhugsaðir!
Í fyrirlestri sínum talar Yong m.a. um hvernig breytingar í samfélagi krefja okkur um að endurhugsa skólana okkar. Hann talar sérstakalega um 3 breytingar. A. Hvernig við þurfum að rækta sérstöðu hjá nemendum, B. Að leyfa nemendum að vijja verkefni sem raunverulega skipta þau máli og C. Hvernig nám hefur sloppið úr skólastofunni.
“Too rarely do we give students the chance to do work that is meaningful to them!“
— Yong Zhao
Spurningar og svör frá Sli.Do
Q1: Too many teachers are afraid to step out of the safety of books, how do we get teachers to take the leap to new teaching methods and start teaching as students learn and not as teachers teach?
This is quite difficult and most important I don’t think we can and should “get” teachers to take the leap because I believe that teachers are creative individuals who want their students to do better. I think we need to help teachers understand that human societies have changed significantly. The state or system controlled curriculum is no longer sufficient for students to thrive in the new world and our students are capable of learning through many different platforms and resources with the support of teachers. As teachers, in the new age of technology, we should become more human educators than mechanical instructors. More important, I hope teachers can realize that they should be more responsible for the future of students than implementing mandates. Such realization would help teachers change their mind and take actions.
Q2: What can we do to change society's fixed mindset towards the exam-based education system and the "grades race" you mentioned at the beginning of the lecture?
Well, if we accept that exam-based education is obsolete and does harm to students, we, as teachers and school leaders, should take actions to create freedom for students so they are not subject to the harms of exams. At the same time, we should all work together to educate government education leaders so they understand the harms and are able to create new options of accountability.
Q3: Isn't the problem much bigger than the school system can handle? Rapid changes in the world and people's changing lifestyles have led to changes in student behavior and well-being - we must need some big social effort for change?
Yes, indeed, the problem is much bigger than the school system can handle. Human societies need to change and efforts at all levels are needed. However, we are part of the problem and part of the solution. While we cannot solve the problem alone, we do make a contribution so we should take actions whenever we can. We should also recognize that we are not the only ones who recognize the problem(s), people in other sectors have also recognized the problem(s) and are taking actions to change.
Hver er Yong Zhao?
Dr. Yong Zhao er prófessor við Menntavísindasvið Háskólans í Kansas og prófessor í menntunarforysta við Háskólann í Melbourne í Ástralíu. Hann starfaði áður sem prófessor í deild menntunarmælinga, stefnumótunar og forystu. Hann hefur gefið út rúmlega 40 bækur og yfir 100 rannsóknir á einstaklingsmiðuðu námi, framtíð menntunar og aukaverkunum af gagnreyndum aðferðum svo eitthvað sé nefnt. Tvær frábærar bækur eftir hann eru "World Class Learners," og "Never Send a Human to Do a Machine's Job"
