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How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

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Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#61

Post by Dewie »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #35
pinaceae wrote: post #20

let's have some dissenting opinion here. not all kids are equal. not all kids want to learn. in each and every discussion over this topic people bring up quotes by very smart people, like kubrick, sagan, etc. on how organised learning is not needed, a young mind wants to learn, grows like a flower, all by itself, even better without the shackles of structured education. i call bullshit. this is biased through the peo…

Frankly, I hope none of the education-related ideas coming out of high tech hubs such as the Silicon Valley, come true. Nothing wrong with the fine individuals living and working here, but we are not the most gifted ones when it comes to figuring out how human beings function. We are great at figuring out systems . Hardware. Computers. Robots. Networks thereof. But self-aware nature-made wetware... please, just step…

"SV types" can't solve more socially-oriented/soft problems? All of them? That's too bad, since these skills seem to be vital for things like human computer interaction and interaction design.

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#62

Post by aortega »

mathattack wrote: post #5
phorese wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Relevant Carl Sagan: "Every kid starts out as a natural-born scientist, and then we beat it out of them. A few trickle through the system with their wonder and enthusiasm for science intact." ( http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199601/carl-sagan?pa... )

True. But it is VERY hard to encourage the enthusiasm of a 4 year old who asks "Why?" 600 times a day. :-)

I always wondered how old Pinocchio was. In that Disney movie he exhibited this behaviour, so now I know he was the human equivalent of between 4 and 5 years old.

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#63

Post by Apocryphon »

samatman wrote: post #34
pinaceae wrote: post #20

let's have some dissenting opinion here. not all kids are equal. not all kids want to learn. in each and every discussion over this topic people bring up quotes by very smart people, like kubrick, sagan, etc. on how organised learning is not needed, a young mind wants to learn, grows like a flower, all by itself, even better without the shackles of structured education. i call bullshit. this is biased through the peo…

Perhaps a tangent, but Waldorf education is the polar opposite of an open school system. It does emphasize the whole human, giving a lot of time to various arts, but the program is curriculum oriented and teacher driven. It's also quite rigorous; having formed the basis of my education, transferring into public high school was a shock. It's also closely connected to an odd but harmless religious sect, which is a tang…

Do you have a rivalry with the Montessori?

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#64

Post by niccl »

Ologn wrote: post #47
evunveot wrote: post #40

Unsurprisingly, the headline's "new" teaching method isn't particularly new (as the timeline sidebar in the article itself makes somewhat apparent). For example, the Sudbury Valley School [1] has been around since 1968 and is even more "radical". No grades, no curriculum, no classes, no separation by age. The governance of the school is democratic, with all decisions -- including those regarding budget and staff -- d…

You're right that there is nothing new about almost all of these ideas. John Dewey covered a lot of this in his 1902 book "The Child and the Curriculum".

So what if it's not absolutely new? It's new to the people in their specific context and _appears_ to be producing results, again, in that specific context. Very little of what we do is new, but still has merit when applied in a novel way or a novel context.

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#65

Post by Afton »

ihsw wrote: post #23
mathattack wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. But it is VERY hard to encourage the enthusiasm of a 4 year old who asks "Why?" 600 times a day. :-)

Asking "Why?" 400 times a day is enthusiasm. The problem is getting them to be self-sufficient and find answers by themselves.

Nope. It's play-acting. They are learning the question/answer role. You can tell this by the simple fact that a rampaging 3 year old is not listening to the answers.

Don't get me wrong, I'm in the unschooling/homeschooling camp, but this isn't evidence of enthusiasm. :)

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#66

Post by UK-AL »

pinaceae wrote: post #20

let's have some dissenting opinion here. not all kids are equal. not all kids want to learn. in each and every discussion over this topic people bring up quotes by very smart people, like kubrick, sagan, etc. on how organised learning is not needed, a young mind wants to learn, grows like a flower, all by itself, even better without the shackles of structured education. i call bullshit. this is biased through the peo…

Have you tried doing nothing over a long time? I'm not a smart person, and it felt bad. At first its feels great, Sitting down at couch, playing video games, eating and drinking what you want.

Few weeks pass, and you became bored and un-stimulated. You start to crave novelty, and curiosity. You pick up a book, you watch educational videos and so forth. Except its self directed. You become addicted, to some activities because your doing it for internal values, not external pressures. This is how I mastered subjects. This is also the point when a teacher becomes truly useful, because they will working with you to feed YOUR curiosity rather than following a set standard.

Most people do this.

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#68

Post by mathattack »

Afton wrote: post #65
ihsw wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Asking "Why?" 400 times a day is enthusiasm. The problem is getting them to be self-sufficient and find answers by themselves.

Nope. It's play-acting. They are learning the question/answer role. You can tell this by the simple fact that a rampaging 3 year old is not listening to the answers . Don't get me wrong, I'm in the unschooling/homeschooling camp, but this isn't evidence of enthusiasm. :)

Do they listen to anything other than accidental F bombs?

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#69

Post by aantix »

vdaniuk wrote: post #56
aantix wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Khan Academy? "Today, there have been 85 million users to date. Each month, there are 6 million unique users on the Khan Academy site. In total, there have been 260 million lessons delivered and over 1 billion problems answered on the related exercises." http://jpalfrey.andover.edu/2013/05/09/khan-academy-meets-ph...

I guess the sarcasm tag should have been more obvious :D

Sorry, lately it's been hard to distinguish whether people are being sarcastic or are just idiots.

My apologies.

Re: How a Radical New Teaching Method Could Unleash a Generation of Geniuses

#70

Post by vdaniuk »

aantix wrote: post #69
vdaniuk wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess the sarcasm tag should have been more obvious :D

Sorry, lately it's been hard to distinguish whether people are being sarcastic or are just idiots. My apologies.

Very relevant to your thoughts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law
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