The Unrealized Power of Student Teaching
Education, from a student’s perspective, can seem quite uncomfortable. Why do some of our schools, organizations and institutions work the way they do?
Throughout most high schools in the United States, there is a scattered battle cry ballad heard throughout the land:
“Why am I learning this?!”
This may be the most characteristic phrase in all of education. When observed carefully, millions of individuals’ collective murmurs and shrugs coordinate harmonically in a silenced chorus. The sacred pledge is a rite present in all of childhood and adult education, a unifying incantation that reverberates across the globe. The message of the chorus and the cry from all students protest furiously for the right of a high-quality, practical education.
What are some of the issues?
Educational experiences are not personalized to student experiences or interests, as the pedagogical emphasis of course structures often conflicts with the pursuit of scholarship (or fun). Students are tired of a one-size-fits-all model and the frantic high-stakes environment of test-oriented learning which disrupts perceptual learning. Currently, an incentivized system of rote memorization and verbose impermanent content is promoted for professional test-takers, crammers and bubblers of standardized tests as students pursue the “only right answer”. Students are confined to their multiple-choice answer boxes rather than thinking outside the box. Often a consequence of such pedagogy, classes feel to students like an unrelated mix of boring and repetitive courses. Students are rarely able to develop agency outside the classroom to use the limited practicality of their courses for a tangible social purpose. It is uncommon for a student to fully conceptualize and pursue a multidisciplinary view of education. Few students in STEM fields will find an emphasis on linking science and engineering with literacy and citizenship. Literacy from not only a scientific perspective, but also citizenship from an engagement perspective to use these skills outside of the classroom to directly address the problems they see in society. As a result, these students become passive acceptors rather than co-creators of their education.
Why are students not involved in their own education? How do we deal with this? Here is a memorable experience for me from early 2015:
Walking through a downtown San Diego continuation high school classroom, something was not right. Despite the teacher’s best efforts, students were not engaged in their third attempt at retaking an Introductory Algebra course. Most students were struggling with understanding lines and the concept of a slope. What do positive and negative slopes even mean?
As a student-educator and tutor representing a UC San Diego Education Studies program, I observed the lessons and the students’ social interactions. At the conclusion of the brief on-board lesson, I was given permission to guide their activities.
Confidently, I scanned the room and saw a particularly bored student in basketball shorts. Approaching him with a question, I asked him to explain the relevance of slopes with a youthful college smile and shrug; he responded with a sense of deference, coolness and immediate attention. He felt the energy and sense of connection; he found his ‘human’ and relatable big brother role model.
High school students tend to have a sense of wonder and respect towards college students, they seem to be mysteriously different and an especially “cool” focus of attention; they are also more experienced students who can resonate with other younger students. The attraction was without much dialogue and largely unspoken, someone who looks / talks / acts like him seems to command interest. The sense of confidence and energy was infectious. Using this youthful relatability allows the formation of scaffolds through personal connections and enthusiasm to bring content to life.
I asked his table of friends once more what the usefulness of the slope concept was in daily life and why they are learning it. This time I added a purposeful flex of my wrist and extended my arm outward in a 45 degree angle with a delicate repetition of synchronous finger extensions. An artistic representation of purposeful mathematical and physical value.
After repeating the motion twice, a smile extended on his face as he realized it was a basketball shooting motion. “Basketball is life,” he claimed. He made the connection. Further elaborating his assertion, we discussed mathematical models for horizontal speed, vertical jump, strength, acceleration and other potential pseudo-linear models he suggested. After we finished class, we headed to lunch break to shoot some baskets and launch slopes. It was a mastery moment. I felt complete control over the situation inside and outside the classroom. Students self-defended the immediacy of the lesson curricula and grasped the importance of a foundational mathematics concept while also expressing thematic principles also present throughout Physics, Calculus, Human Physiology and multidisciplinary systems.
When students understand and can draw parallels between “different” subjects, they start to realize the unity of scientific laws and models — human constructs which explain and affect most aspects of our everyday lives. This realization leads to deeper and a more active appreciation of the semantic seeds, branches and roots of STEM and society. To use or understand any topic, one must realize the relationship and utility of the others. Those various classes which students so often compartmentalize (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Computer Science and others) begin to fulfill meaning as a complete panorama and empower students to discover themselves and articulate their opinions. Students from the Algebra class began to realize the inescapable bounds of applicability: my core belief that it is not possible to divorce science or humanities concepts from each other or from experiential learning. Similarly, this knowledge can be molded into a weapon which cansolve pressing issues in our society.
My understanding of student-engagement would similarly grow. This remained a particularly memorable experience for me. These experiences were the core of developing a proposal for a call to action. Every curriculum and structural design decision went back to the following principles: How can we get students to become personally engaged in STEM material? Why should students make a socially relevant connection with the material? What can instructors or mentors do differently to retain students who become disinterested in STEM or any other fields of education?
This would become one of many experiences behind the ideological core of SENDforC: an award-winning national nonprofit that develops student-run courses, mentorship programs and research experiences to help develop high-impact science and young social entrepreneurs. Learn more and see how you can involved as a mentor or volunteer at www.sendforc.org. Feel free to comment your thoughts below or contact me at balemu@sendforc.org.
