Garrett's (2008) article suggests that the philosophy we adopt in our teaching should align with the philosphy we embrace in our management - but, many teachers who believe in student-centered learning struggle to give up teacher-centered management. What do you think about Garrett's premise? Why do you think teachers struggle with this?
When I first read about this I was a little confused but it makes a lot more sense now. It does make sense to me that if you believe in having a student centered learning environment in your classroom then you should also have a student centered management environment in your classroom as well. I can understand how teachers may struggle with giving up the teacher-centered management because in my opinion I think giving students a say in management can be much more stressful and challenging than just giving them a say in the learning and activities for example when talking about student centered learning. I do agree with this idea though because in my opinion it wouldn't really make sense to have student centered management but not student centered learning or vice versa. This is something I think as an educator once you make a decision of if you want student centered or teacher centered you kind of have to go all in and use both strategies in the classroom even though some struggles may arise.
Gus shared his "sweet-spot" on the continuum. Where is your "sweet-spot?" Why do you belive that location is the best fit for you?
I think that my "sweet-spot" on the continuum is about halfway between student centered and collaborative. The reason for this placement for me personally is because when I go into my first classroom I really hope to be mainly student-centered when it comes to how I run my classroom but there are still aspects that I need to be in control of or have a say in as the teacher in the room. I would not want to be completely collaborative because I do want my students to have more of the say then I do as the teacher but there are still things that I do have to help with and take control with.
Overall great discussion! I like how you have stated all of this and said that giving students a say in management can be much more stressful and challenging than just giving them a say in the learning. It is very. true and being in a class for subbing its understandable on how you see that classroom management at times can be very difficult. And YES!!!! having the feeling that. you can. control and have a say in the classroom can be very pleasing! Love this blog
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reviewing my blog and for the great feedback! I do think that management is going to be stressful and hard at times but it will pay off in the end.
DeleteHi Celynne! I agree with you that even if teachers want a student-centered classroom, there also needs to be student-centered management. I can see that it might be hard to do student-centered management because when you are doing student-centered anything, it sometimes takes a longer time when you are also letting the students take over the conversation. Having those conversations with your students about respect in the classroom with also be so important! Great post and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDelaney,
DeleteThanks so much for reviewing my blog and giving me some feedback. I totally agree with you about how important conversations about classroom management can be so it is something I will make sure to take into consideration when starting my own classroom.
Celynne, I love how you say that you have to go all in! I have indeed found this to be the case. When we waiver back and forth in the middle, when we struggle within ourselves about what we are doing, we end up doing nothing well. "Go all in!" whatever you decide to do :)
ReplyDeleteGus,
DeleteThanks for looking at my blog and giving me some feedback. I totally agree with you that I should go all in when making those classroom decisions.