Underlying traditional kindergarten activities is a spiraling learning process in which children imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas (using blocks, finger paint, or other materials), play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences — all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. This iterative learning process is ideal preparation for today’s fast-changing society, in which people must continually come up with innovative solutions to unexpected situations in their lives.
I found this link while reading another post and realized how true it was, and that anything that I’ve learned that I use and like using has been learned through this model. I learned how to do databases in a class that was basically structured around creating databases, reflecting on them, and creating more. My ministry experience can pretty much fit this paradigm as well. It’s a history of dreaming, creating, reflecting and dreaming again.
Am I the only one who resonates with this? Have you had an education experience that fits this model, what did you think? For those of you who do teaching or training of some sort, have you ever used a similar structure?
Solomon looked at me for a moment and then he burst out laughing. He was not convinced of my words in the slightest. “Aw c’mon Ms. Baker, nobody thinks we’re smart! If they did, they wouldn’t give us this broken-down school and these ratty old books. You don’t even have enough paper and pencils for us!”
As a first-year teacher, I was shocked that a 10-year-old was fully aware of the implicit disparity in our country’s two-tiered public education system. He wondered why someone like me — an African American who had graduated from college and “made it” — would ever choose to teach in his low-income public school.
The article itself is a good read, but the section above struck me, because it also illustrates how messages that we never explicitly state can still be clearly communicated through our actions. If we truly value those who have the least, then we must pay attention to how the societal structures we are a part of reflect that value.
Yes, I know I’m probably preaching to the choir with my readers. So for those of you who are working to make it happen, I salute you and hope you continue to find encouragement in your work.
I just wanted to highlight this bit of news from the Jamaica Gleaner. I love what these teachers are doing with what, in general, is not a lot of resources.
They were employed to teach but Carol Jennings-Smith, Jacquelin Greenland and Curline Christie of St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) have gone the extra mile.
The teachers, among other educators, have established a school welfare committee. Funds raised from this committee are used for the school’s breakfast programme and the purchase of shoes for needy students, among other things.
The educators were also instrumental in the success of Kamal Gilzene, a resident of Grants Pen, a depressed neighbourhood in St Andrew, who defied the odds and earned a university degree.
One of the reasons, from a ministry perspective, why I think the work that we’re doing on campus is so important is that these are the students who will determine what the world looks like over the next 20, 30 or 50 years. It is important for our world that students graduate committed to serving humanity, to impeccable integrity and, although this is not what Patrick Awuah talks about, to serving God.
I think that Awuah is on the right path, and I wish that more schools in Jamaica would follow his lead.
