Low Expectations
Part of my teaching philosophy that I pride myself on is my high expectations. I have had experiences in my student teaching this year with teachers that have low expectations for their students, either all of them or just a few. And it's really discouraging for the educator, as well as the students, because neither feels like a success. For my capstone we are studying what causes students to be apathetic or resistant to learning, and how we can combat that. One thing that has come up over and over is that when students are expected to fail, they do. And if you expect the child to be successful, then they are more likely to do so.
Unfortunately, the problem comes down to determining what those 'high expectations' are. Not each student has the ability/capability/opportunity to perform at the same level as every other student. Creating an individualized goal or expectation for each student seems really time consuming, but when we are lowering our expectations for some students, and not others, we are really doing that same thing. What we need to do is have high, tangible, achievable goals for each child based on their background, perceived ability and past, and then hold them to that constant improvement, and help them to devise goals for themselves that they can work towards. By creating a system of indvidualized goals, rather then relying on a graded point or average system, you can avoid the discouraging low expectations, and the lack of motivation that accompanies it.
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4 comments:
What I still fail to grasp from Ruth Ames' post is this: Has she completed the "Cultural Encounter" project? Did she meet some Baha'is? Did she talk to them? If so, for how long? What did she learn from Baha'is? What impressions does she have of the Baha'is that she talked to? What impression does she now have about the Baha'i Faith? Is there something new that she takes away from this encounter? Have her impressions changed as a result of the encounter? In what way have any of her impressions changed, and why?
The cultural encounter project is my final project for my Diversity in Education class, and we have just now started the preliminary aspects of the project. This coming Sunday me and some of my group members are attending a Baha'i worship group and that will be my first encounter with people of that faith. Don't jump the gun, this is all happening in real time!
Thanks, Ruthie. I am glad to hear that. I wish you well in your encounter. The people of the world need to have the courage you have displayed; the courage of deliberately going "outside" the normal, culturally accepted boundaries. I salute you for your courage and look forward to your report. You have really whetted my appetite!
Excellent! I look forward to hearing your feed back after my reflection on my encounter.
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