Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Progressive vs Traditional Education
Monday in class we discussed progressive vs. traditional education. When asked to sit on the side of the room that favored the type of education you thought best, I sat in the middle. I think that education needs to be a mix of both progressive and traditional. I feel that when students are younger, they need a little more direction in the classroom. They don't really know what is best for them, and may not have yet discovered their talents and what they like best. The traditional education in younger years helps give students a look into the core subjects and a taste of everything. As students get older, I think that giving them a little more freedom through progressive education would be beneficial to the learner. Once students have touched into different areas, they will hopefully have been able to figure out their interests. Now, they will be able to choose for themselves what things they would like to study. I think the transformation from a more traditional education towards a loser, progressive education, would be something that students could really excel with.
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You make a good point, Michelle, that neither "progressivism" nor "traditionalism" will be beneficial for all students at all times - I think this is a lot of what Delpit was trying to say in her book. I tend to agree with your ideas that a traditional education would generally be more appropriate for elementary kids, while more choices/progressive teaching would generally be better for older students: so why does it seem like we're doing the opposite in this country? Why are we replacing the joy of learning with standardized test and graduation requirements for high school students? It's no wonder so many kids start hating school after they graduate from 5th grade!
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