How school harms introverted teachers and students (The Atlantic)

[NadaTeTurbe]

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/why-introverted-teachers-are-burning-out/425151/

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/introverts-at-school-overlook/407467/

I hate group work, and my vision of an ideal class is a teacher speaking while students are writing (with some questions at the end), so I liked these articles. Your thoughts ? 

[Gabriela]

I agree completely. It's typical for educators to get carried away by pedagogy fads. Right now, group learning is the fad. There's very little critical thinking about it, as is practically always the case with bandwagon thinking. Shameful for educators, though...

Have you seen this, Nada?

 

[Clare~Therese]

I agree with them. I never liked group work and would have preferred to work quietly and/or alone. 

[MarysLittleFlower]

I don't like group work too and there's often the student that does half the work for the group. 

[homeschoolmom]

I agree as well.

[superblue]

Thing will get better when the department of education is done away with. along with common core.

 

[MarysLittleFlower]

I'm a teacher... I read the teacher article. I totally agree that quieter teachers have a harder time. I'm one of those teachers. I usually come home completely exhausted. Even the staff room is often loud social time. No escape

 I don't really use the term introvert / extrovert because there are so many definitions of this related to various psychological theories.. I never know how people are using the term... And I'm not a fan of Carl Jung in general and aspects in his ideology seem at odds with the faith (not sure what he said on this topic in detail)

The article seems to just talk about people who like some quiet time. I agree that people who have quieter personalities get overwhelmed with modern classrooms. It used to be different I think. I think the modern style of teaching is very active social and loud "cooperative group work " etc

Edited January 29, 2016 by MarysLittleFlower

[Oremus Pro Invicem]

What can we expect from a society that is filled with constant distractions? Society views being alone and being in silence as unhealthy. You're called "anti-social" or "not being a team player" if you do not want to be 100% all the time working in a group.  You just want to do an Ecclesiastes style rant "A time for group work and a time for individual work. A time for social banter and a time for sweet silence."

I think teachers are just going to have to go against the fad and do what's right for their students and themselves.

[Ice_nine]

I remember the feelings of horror and dread when we needed to "pair up" or "get into groups of x." I still hate when those situations arise as an adult. Hate.

[NadaTeTurbe]

For me, it's also another symptom of a world who refuse the idea of the Truth... Maybe I'm extrapolating... But in a world where there's not ONE Truh, but where everybody can build its own "truth", well, the idea of someone speaking, passing down one knowledge who is true, while other people just listen and accept it, this idea is "bad". Better let people building their own things. I don't know if I'm clear. 

Also, group work can be horrible for people with learning disability. I'm a good student, so my teacher never think about my disability (Elhers Danlos Syndrom and severe dyspraxia https://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/about-dyspraxia/ ). For me, the best way to learn is to listen, write something, and having only one sheet of papers, with simple page setting. I struggled a lot in high school when we have to "buit by ourselves" and we had one billion of papers with numerous colours, etc... Impossible to focus on it. 

I'm studying history right now, and it's perfect, because you can't really do group work in history. We just sit, listen to our teachers (who are very good orators), write, ask questions, and learn. And only then, when we know something, we can train to critical thinking. 

Mary, you're a teacher ? Can I ask in wich level ? I'd like to be a teacher later  

[Gabriela]

12 hours ago, NadaTeTurbe said:

For me, it's also another symptom of a world who refuse the idea of the Truth... Maybe I'm extrapolating... But in a world where there's not ONE Truh, but where everybody can build its own "truth", well, the idea of someone speaking, passing down one knowledge who is true, while other people just listen and accept it, this idea is "bad". Better let people building their own things. I don't know if I'm clear. 

This is very insightful. I agree 100%: The trend toward group work is related to the intellectual decline toward relativism and the "social construction of reality". I think ("Ecclesiastically", I guess ) that there is a time when it's important to let people discover Truth for themselves (alone or in groups), and there are also a great many times when we ought to humbly acknowledge our own ignorance, shut up, and listen to people who do know. Society's rejection of objective Truth implies that "nobody really 'knows'" because it implies there is no such thing as "knowing". Everyone just has "opinions". In that climate, "experts" are worthless and we might as well all just sit around talking in groups, because our opinions are as good as the "experts'". This makes us feel good, because it means we're not stupider than the "experts". Yay, self-esteem.

It's the beginning of the end.  

Edited January 30, 2016 by Gabriela

[Benedictus]

On 27/01/2016, 16:09:07, NadaTeTurbe said:

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/why-introverted-teachers-are-burning-out/425151/

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/introverts-at-school-overlook/407467/

I hate group work, and my vision of an ideal class is a teacher speaking while students are writing (with some questions at the end), so I liked these articles. Your thoughts ? 

I personally noticed differences in how various schools handled things. I've been to private and public schools in three or four countries. Private schools tended to nurture independent learning, academic competitiveness and critical thinking skills etc. You'd have more direct tutoring and time focused on personal projects and hobbies etc. Group work in academic matters wasn't so important because 'team work' skills were met in aspects of living together, sports, holidays etc.

However, public state schools tended to have bigger classes, less real engaged time and less of a personal focus. Teachers seemed to use group activity as a management class strategy (those who worked did and anyone else didn't have to sit silent or bored) and to divert the focus away from themselves. They'd have their time taken up with marking, dealing with problems, sorting out books or paperwork throughout the class etc.

Group work is often used as a time plug when a class lacks structure. I hated assessed projects in this context as lazy, flaky or less interested people placed more burden on the other group members. It's OK in a couple of classes but if it's a repeat cycle then a good student wastes a lot of time managing the fallout of those slackers. That time could have been spent advancing in a subject, getting a better grade or doing something else they enjoy.

[HopefulHeart]

The articles bring up some great points. In college, I enjoy class discussions led by the professor, and I'm usually eager to contribute my thoughts. At the same time, I really dislike splitting into groups of students to discuss topics or work through assignments. I don't like the forced interaction, and I often encounter an imbalance of interest and aptitude that hinders the group work. I am definitely an independent learner and worker.

17 hours ago, Gabriela said:

This is very insightful. I agree 100%: The trend toward group work is related to the intellectual decline toward relativism and the "social construction of reality". I think ("Ecclesiastically", I guess ) that there is a time when it's important to let people discover Truth for themselves (alone or in groups), and there are also a great many times when we ought to humbly acknowledge our own ignorance, shut up, and listen to people who do know. Society's rejection of objective Truth implies that "nobody really 'knows'" because it implies there is no such thing as "knowing". Everyone just has "opinions". In that climate, "experts" are worthless and we might as well all just sit around talking in groups, because our opinions are as good as the "experts'". This makes us feel good, because it means we're not stupider than the "experts". Yay, self-esteem.

It's the beginning of the end.  

Well said. I think people consider the humanities not useful partly because the study of humanities (at least in secular institutions) is no longer connected to finding objective Truth. Without a mooring in Truth, studying humanities can seem very unfocused and just a sharing of "opinions."

[Gabriela]

21 hours ago, HopefulHeart said:

Well said. I think people consider the humanities not useful partly because the study of humanities (at least in secular institutions) is no longer connected to finding objective Truth. Without a mooring in Truth, studying humanities can seem very unfocused and just a sharing of "opinions."

I agree again 100%. You really have a very clear view of the cultural landscape and its philosophical/theological assumptions, Nada! You will make a wonderful teacher.  

[NadaTeTurbe]

5 hours ago, Gabriela said:

I agree again 100%. You really have a very clear view of the cultural landscape and its philosophical/theological assumptions, Nada! You will make a wonderful teacher.  

This is kind, but all the merit goes to HopefulHeart that you just quoted ! 

I think that all of us should open a school.