Reflection Sixteen

“I am entirely certain that twenty years from now we will look back at education as it is 
practiced in most schools today and wonder that we could have tolerated anything so 
primitive.”   John W. Gardner
What is your view of education and the future?  Do you think it will take twenty years for 
such a dramatic shift?  Do you agree with this quote or disagree?   Explain.  Post to your 
blog.

Do we look back twenty years and say this? No, in fact, we can look back to the Greeks thousands of years ago find aspects of their education that are not far removed from present practice. Of course we consider some aspects of education from previous times barbaric, but not all of it all of the time. This quote is hyperbole.

I expect that education will become less formal and more open to people in general. We can already see this happening. Websites such as coursera and udacity offer classes from universities all over the world for free and some top universities (Stanford, MIT, and Berkeley for example) offer lectures and materials to the public for free through YouTube and their respective websites.

I also expect that it will be more common for individuals to identify with what we call a life long learner. People will work in and be experts in multiple fields over the course of their lives. In general there will be a more widespread understanding science and the philosophies and the world will be a better place for it.

Reflection Fifteen

“The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.”  Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers was a humanist along with Maslow.  What does this quote mean to you personally and as a teacher and/or student?   Explain.  Post to your blog.

Learning how to learn is an important part of learning as well as education. Anyone who has studied more than one foreign language will note that the second was easier to learn than the first. This is because the learner has developed strategies for understanding and is more flexible concerning the new facts of the second (third) language.
Possessing the quality of an educated person, though, is much more than just knowing a large body of facts about the world. An educated person is able to apply facts about the world to a changing world and to new experiences. An educated persons person carries the tools of adaptability.

Reflection Thirteen

“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”  Sydney J. Harris
Interesting thought.  What do you think?   Explain.  Post to your blog.

I'm wasn't sure what to think so I looked around to see what other people say. Most say that the quote means that the uneducated person can only see himself/herself and his or her immediate surroundings. Whereas the educated person can see beyond the walls of his or her personal experience into the wider world. I think this is a reasonable interpretation.

I would like to see the original context and read the rest of what Mr. Harris had to say.

I found a little more of the quote. Here's some more context: Most people are mirrors reflecting the moods and emotions of the times; few are windows, bringing light to bear on the dark corners where troubles fester. The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. (http://dilliabdurnahi.tumblr.com/post/36997083747/most-people-are-mirrors-reflecting-the-moods-and)
The sentences preceding the quote seem to indicate that Mr. Harris is talking about the effect that educated and uneducated people have on the world around them. It seems he wants to say that the uneducated might be followers, people who simply go with the times. If there is injustice the uneducated will not challenge it. If bigotry and jingoism are the norm they will participate. They may be easily manipulated. He seems to indicate, on the other hand, that the educated will illuminate their world. They will resist injustice, bigotry and jingoism, and they will not be easily manipulated.

Reflection Twelve

Not this week, sorry. 

Reflection Eleven

“Teachers who inspire know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who 
would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers.”  Author 
Unknown
An analogy that I really love explains that friends are like roses. They are beautiful, but 
they have thorns.  In other words it’s a give-and-take relationship.  We never know what 
path our students are on or where they have been.  It doesn’t matter.  They are in our 
garden now and an important part of it.  How do you feel about this quote?  Do you think 
that it is important to get to know your students?   Explain.  Post to your blog.

A lot of people take the thorns analogy to mean that people will hurt you if you get too close. I don't take it this way though. I take it to mean that getting close to people will inevitably end up in one's being drawn into their problems and issues and in sharing their pain. 

It is really unavoidable. As people become closer they tend to experience more empathy toward one another. People tend to care more as they become closer. Problems that might once have been ignored now have a greater emotional impact. Lives become tangled and all the little thorns that a friend was once so discrete about become shared experiences. 

In my experience, this fact is especially important in interpreting. Interpreters live a constant struggle between being trusted and being impartial. Interpreters are supposed to be trusted and to be trusted means being friendly and open. Being friendly, however, often leads to real friendship and affection which can destroy impartiality. These friendships also lead to abuse of the interpreter's roll. And the unwary interpreter becomes a confidant whose number is on speed dial. Interpreters don't get paid for bailing their clients out of jail or for taking clients' pets to be euthanized.

Reflection Ten

“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and 
knowledge.”  
Albert Einstein
One of my joys is actually seeing things click for my students.  I love those ‘aha’ 
moments when the light bulb just came on.  What do you like best about teaching?  (Or if 
not teaching, what do you like best about your favorite teachers?)  Explain.  Post to your 
blog.

I like the words art and awaken in that quote. I like best about teaching the connections that I get to make with people who I would otherwise probably not meet. I like the places that teaching has taken me and the parts of the world that it has opened to me. I also like seeing my students make progress and watching their skills develop and I like the potential opening to them of our society as they learn to speak English. 

Reflection Nine

“It is not what is poured into a student that counts, but what is planted.”
Linda Conway
To me this is kind of reassuring.  It is like a garden, but we may never see the ‘seeds’ 
that we planted.  We nurtured them though, so they will grow later.  What do you think?  
What does this quote mean to you?  Explain.  Post to your blog.

I think it means that a part of teaching is planting the seeds of knowledge or the desire to seek knowledge. While we might find that any given student is or is not particularly motivated in our own classrooms, we might find that our influence has worked in small but persistent ways to push that person toward a thirst for knowledge and self-betterment. 

Sounds good to me. I've always found the gardner more compelling than the sergeant.