Hello Ms. Nielsen! This is an interesting clip. What a great question. If learning has not happened, has teaching occurred?? Do we hold teachers to a higher standard? My thoughts, and my thoughts only, are that teachers are held to higher standards. I know that at the end of each quarter at the school I teach at, the teachers are reviewed according to their EQT scores. How did your students do? Were your students proficient? So, this is a great question. I liked the other comment from Meg Hill. "Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." ~~ Chinese Proverb. This is very true. Ms. Nielsen, thank you for sharing this strip with us. Do you think teaching has happened if learning has not occurred?
no learning does not = no teaching. no learning = no learning. as an educator, that's not okay with me. so when my students don't learn, i believe it a professional responsibility to reflect on my teaching. and guess what? every time i've come up with something i could have done differently that may have solved the problems that stood in the way of student learning or created better conditions for learning to happen. just as i would hope that a doctor would reflect on the procedure performed/medications prescribed/counsel given after a patient dies and a lawyer would reflect on the defense mounted after a guilty verdict.
As teaching is becoming less about transmitting knowledge and more about facilitating learning it becomes imperative that we focus on learning more than teaching. Saying "I taught a great lesson but the kids didn't learn" is equivalent to saying: "The operation was a success but the patient didn't make it"
"As teaching is becoming less about transmitting knowledge and more about facilitating learning..."
I'm not sure how this jives with all learning (and teaching) being judged solely against standardized test scores.
Anyway, I like Einstein's take on the question: "I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." and Winston Churchill's: "Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught."
The comic strip makes two assumptions in its comparison to lawyers and doctors - that the client and patient would have been found guilty or died regardless of the high quality of the respective professional. In some cases, this is probably true for both professions. But are we willing to accept that some students, regardless of the teacher in front of them, are unable to learn?
If the question had been "If a doctor lost a patient, has "healing" taken place?" - clearly, the answer would be no.
And in the comparison with lawyers - there is no objective way of judging if justice was served, so the decision of how accountable a lawyer is,is taking place using a different set of criteria.
"Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." - Chinese Proverb
ReplyDeleteHello Ms. Nielsen! This is an interesting clip. What a great question. If learning has not happened, has teaching occurred?? Do we hold teachers to a higher standard? My thoughts, and my thoughts only, are that teachers are held to higher standards. I know that at the end of each quarter at the school I teach at, the teachers are reviewed according to their EQT scores. How did your students do? Were your students proficient? So, this is a great question. I liked the other comment from Meg Hill. "Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself." ~~ Chinese Proverb. This is very true. Ms. Nielsen, thank you for sharing this strip with us. Do you think teaching has happened if learning has not occurred?
ReplyDeleteno learning does not = no teaching. no learning = no learning. as an educator, that's not okay with me. so when my students don't learn, i believe it a professional responsibility to reflect on my teaching. and guess what? every time i've come up with something i could have done differently that may have solved the problems that stood in the way of student learning or created better conditions for learning to happen. just as i would hope that a doctor would reflect on the procedure performed/medications prescribed/counsel given after a patient dies and a lawyer would reflect on the defense mounted after a guilty verdict.
ReplyDeleteAs teaching is becoming less about transmitting knowledge and more about facilitating learning it becomes imperative that we focus on learning more than teaching. Saying "I taught a great lesson but the kids didn't learn" is equivalent to saying: "The operation was a success but the patient didn't make it"
ReplyDelete"As teaching is becoming less about transmitting knowledge and more about facilitating learning..."
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how this jives with all learning (and teaching) being judged solely against standardized test scores.
Anyway, I like Einstein's take on the question:
"I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn."
and Winston Churchill's:
"Personally, I am always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught."
The comic strip makes two assumptions in its comparison to lawyers and doctors - that the client and patient would have been found guilty or died regardless of the high quality of the respective professional. In some cases, this is probably true for both professions. But are we willing to accept that some students, regardless of the teacher in front of them, are unable to learn?
ReplyDeleteI certainly hope not.
Everyone dies. Some defendants are guilty. Everyone can learn.
ReplyDeleteThis is a semantic game.
ReplyDeleteIf the question had been "If a doctor lost a patient, has "healing" taken place?" - clearly, the answer would be no.
And in the comparison with lawyers - there is no objective way of judging if justice was served, so the decision of how accountable a lawyer is,is taking place using a different set of criteria.