The Gaining of Knowledge

When I think of the gaining of knowledge, I think of a holistic, student-focused, learning for the sake of learning model of instruction. My idea of what good instruction looks like is that the students take a role in the ownership of their own learning. However, what I have discovered, and what has been modeled to me in my field placements, is that the gaining of knowledge is more structured, more rigorous, and less organic. There are so many restrictions that are placed on teachers to meet state requirements and for students to pass standardized tests that I think sometimes learning through play and engaging the students’ imagination is put by the wayside and the instruction is more teacher-centered than student-centered. Where’s the joy of discovery?

Don’t get me wrong, the teaching has been sound. It’s just that I wonder if there is a different way to engage students’ interest and attention than filling out worksheets day after day or the teacher modeling everything and taking the moment of discovery away from the students .Does everything have to be modeled to them? Can’t they discover some things on their own? And, what about the students that still don’t comprehend the new information, even after it has been modeled to them several times? What’s next?

As I work with my students each day, I have been trying to learn as much about them as I can. From my observations and from listening to their stories, I have gained knowledge of who they truly are, how they see themselves and the world around them.Each child brings something to the table--their experiences, their beliefs, their culture. So, I try to tap into that intellectual capital. This has been extremely helpful as I try to relate the concepts that they need to learn in school with ones out in the real world--their world. I engage them with things they already know or things they have always wondered about. I want to prepare them for the world around them, but I have to do it in a way that makes sense to them, otherwise they won’t understand the importance of the gaining of knowledge.