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Teacher and Student Roles

Posted on Nov 20, 2009 - 02:52 PM by Shawn Strader in Op-Education

Just about anybody who has attended public school has experienced the distinction that seems to often exist between student and teacher.

The teacher calls the shots, runs the show, sets the agenda and the deadlines, informs students of how things will go on in their classroom, and is the person who has the knowledge -- which is to be passed on from his or her mind to the students of the classroom. And this is all usually done through teacher-led discourse and method, within the constraints of school curriculum of course.

The students (in theory) are to absorb all of the knowledge being offered to them, respond diligently and respectfully to the teacher's commands and direction, raise...

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Why Do Finland’s Schools Get the Best Results?

Posted on May 04, 2010 - 04:57 AM by Sara Schmidt in News Feed

The Finnish philosophy with education is that everyone has something to contribute and those who struggle in certain subjects should not be left behind.

A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject.

Finland’s Education Minister, Henna Virkkunen is proud of her country’s record but her next goal is to target the brightest pupils.

‘‘The Finnish system supports very much those pupils who have learning difficulties but we have to pay more attention also to those pupils who are very talented. Now we have started a pilot project about how to support those pupils who are very gifted in certain areas.’’

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Is Chaos a Bad Thing?

Posted on Jun 10, 2010 - 09:06 AM by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu

I am teaching two summer classes this year (my "summer vacation, ahhhh" was actually just for one week!) and in one of them we have been talking a lot lately about free schools. Of the 18 students in my class, I would say that about 75 percent of them reacted extremely negatively to the idea that kids should have freedom to learn what they wish, how they wish, and when they wish. Now, my students are definitely not in favor of our current conventional, very constrained system of education, but they seemed pretty appalled by the level of freedom that kids have at places like Summerhill, the Albany Free School, and the Sudbury Valley School. The most oft-cited opposition to these schools...

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A Fifteen-Year-Old’s Perspective on Testing

Posted on Jan 13, 2011 - 12:18 AM by Claire Russell in Pulse

Hello Everyone!

Here I am, it is 12:20 in the morning on January 13th 2011, and I am doing homework. Today was a snow day, and I, instead of staying home and doing homework all day, made the somewhat irresponsible decision of going out to my friend's house and having a snowball fight and making a snowman and laughing the whole day away. And now I am mad at myself for it. But, before I fall into such a pit of self loathing, I have to ask myself, why? Why is it so dreadfully important that I, a social fifteen-year-old, stay home out of the beautiful snowy weather and study? And at what point did I become so deeply involved in school that I would be so disappointed in myself for something...

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