I noticed in the Amish video we watched today that the teens who stepped away from the Amish culture had difficulty speaking and expressing themselves when asked direct questions. To me, they spoke as if they were uneducated and maybe even illiterate. When it came time to speak up about personal matters, they were unable to formulate their opinions because perhaps they were not used to having a voice in which to do so. Could this be attributed to the low-quality Amish schools they attended like the one Fishman studied?
Something that stuck out from the Amish reading was the conformity of each student. There was no time during the day for creative activities that aids the development of the individual. Something that I value highly is individuality. I want my students to take pride in their individual differences and develop as much as they can into who they want to be in the future.
In my CI 280 class, we discuss diversity in the classroom a lot. It is important to remember that each student brings different experiences to the classroom that the entire class can learn from. Whether it is their family culture or places they’ve visited, each student has different perspectives on life that everyone in the class can benefit from hearing about. Especially in a language arts class where creativity is vital, I am going to encourage my students to take pride in their differences and not suppress their individuality as the Amish seemed to do. (Although I understand that the Amish obviously share the same culture).
Do you value individuality and creativity in a classroom? How will you encourage students not to succumb the pressure of conformity within peers but instead, take pride in who they are and develop their individual voice?
Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day!
-
On the last Saturday in April, Independent Bookstore Day is recognized! It
brings together the celebration of classics, entrepreneurship, and …
The post ...
6 days ago
4 comments:
I don't agree that the ex-Amish sounded uneducated when they answered the questions. They may not have sounded like an academic, but rarely do I when I am asked a question without time to prepare an "intellectual" answer.
I also disagree with your claim that the Amish schools are low quality. They may not be like our schools and they may have different emphases, but they are sufficient (perhaps even good) Amish schools for Amish purposes.
The key to your response is "for AMISH purposes." I guess I was comparing apples to oranges in that our school system is no where near their school system. They teach for their own purposes, and I guess we do too.
But after reading the article, I still am not convinced that the Amish school system is a "good" system, not even for their purposes.
I highly value individuality and creativity in the classroom. For me, I feel like these are two things I did not get enough of once I reached the high school level. The one class I had that really encouraged these was my "Art Extensions" class, in which we basically spent our time creating art projects on the computer using PhotoShop. The only other times I've experienced creativity being encouraged have been in my Junior year at Penn State. I took a creative writing class last semester and I absolutely loved it. I've always been passionate about writing, and for the first time in my education, this class had me writing about things I wanted to write about and creating stories based off my own ideas. This semester, my LLED classes encourage us as individuals and also encourage us to be creative in looking at our careers as future teachers. Classes like these have made me love school more than I ever have because I'm finally being encouraged to do things that I want to do.
As a future English teacher, I really hope that my school's curriculum allows me to encourage them to write creatively. Because I never got this in my high school years, I am very passionate about giving my students an opportunity that I never had. I will inspire them to use their imaginations and their own ideas to construct stories and projects, not just write based off what I tell them to do.
Post a Comment