Increasingly, and exacerbated by financial pressures, ESL instruction seems more and more geared to the production line. What is your experience? What are your concerns?
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Background Search
I have searching "slow education." There's quite a bit out there--most of which is related to the "slow food" movement. I think this is a good start. Has anybody found anything interesting to share?
I couldn't agree more with the idea of "crammed information method. I hope that as a matter of financial priorities, that the ESL community doesn't get left out? The emphasis seems to be basically credit courses, without due regard to our ESL students. One aspect overlooked is that the person who really wants to learn English,will work and pay taxes. So, if it's all about the monies, perhaps this will be considered. Thanks for your thoughts, and hopefully others will see fit to understand our students are "special" in many ways...
The trend in education seems to be more and more content in less and less time, and this troubles me. I think that our notion of what constitutes "learning" is faulty, as though it consisted of memorizing and regurgitating information--a "production line" approach to education.
In contrast, I believe "learning" to be a process of maturation: physical changes in the brain, psychological and emotional development of the person. The difference between the "crammed information" method of production line learning and learning as integrating a richer mode of being is particularly obvious with language learners--and among them, of critical importance to the immigrants and refugees among us.
I am a member of the newly re-organized Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas. I have graduate degrees in Theology a certified Texas Master Naturalist. I think the environment is one of the most important issues facing us today, and is an important arena for exploring and living out our lives as Christians.
My blog entries are sporadic, depending not on the readings of the day, but on when my job allows me to spend enough time to respond to them in writing.
Hi E
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with the idea of "crammed information method. I hope that as a matter of financial priorities, that the ESL community doesn't get left out? The emphasis seems to be basically credit courses, without due regard to our ESL students. One aspect overlooked is that the person who really wants to learn English,will work and pay taxes. So, if it's all about the monies, perhaps this will be considered. Thanks for your thoughts, and hopefully others will see fit to understand our students are "special" in many ways...