Response to 1/30

As we talked about in class and these prompts, class discussion is not always effective. This is most often seen when students, in groups or individually, try to find the “right answer” that will please the teacher. In fact, for some classes, it seems that most of the discussion time is used in order to choose what is going to be discussed. When called upon, that person or group can only contribute that which was chosen and may know very little about the topic as a whole. Although the methods that we have been practicing in class have helped overcome some of those problems, it only reinforces the notion that motivation must be intrinsic. If students are “discussing” only to get an A for the day, discussion will likely be shallow, uninteresting, and ineffective. However, if students are motivated intrinsically, they will be naturally interested and more engaged leading to a valuable discussion.

So far, from experiences in the classroom and work, it seems that student engagement has very little to do with the subject being taught. For instance, I teach sex education for the county, and hormone-pumping middle school students could sometimes care less about what I have to say. In my field placement, when 1st and 2nd graders are asked to discuss a topic, and it often leads to a bit of chaos at some tables. Even in a classroom were there is a strong community present, and motivation seems to be intrinsic, it seems that teachers cannot always use discussion as a truly effective activity. Maybe, I’m just being pessimistic, or rambling, but it seems that this is going to be a struggle that we are going to deal with for the rest of our teaching careers.