We found a problem in our system and tried filling in those empty spaces in our education. We proved everyone and ourselves that even though we learn more effectively through experience, we also crave content. Of course, we will never forget the roots of hands-on learning and how that can be implemented in our content-based learning experiences.
How many times have we seen students yearning for more content-based learning or demanding a change in their education system? How many times have we seen students have a real passion for learning? As we began the IA, many people underestimated what we did just because our approach to education was distinctive and peculiar. Many times, it was associated to being the easy way out, something we constantly fighted to contradict. However, this was a fight that, at least I, realized that it wasn't worth fighting for because I didn't have to prove anyone else the value I saw in my learning. For a year and a half, everyone in the IA agreed that we all had that passion for learning that many other students didn't seem to have. About two days ago, I came to the realization that we truly did. We found ourselves--13 IA students--talking about how we could change our system, make our learning more effective and be more motivated to bring our business forward. We realized there was a PROBLEM and we found a SOLUTION. Our problem began when we didn't take advantage of the AUTONOMY that we had asked for about a month ago. We saw a lack of initiative and motivation and we weren't working towards the success of our business. We focused on short-term goals rather than long-term goals. Essential things that needed to be worked on, were ignored or not taking as a priority. But, even if we did focus on these things, many of them were tasks we could finish at home and use our class time for more effective learning that would help us--students--to reach our highest academic potential. This, however, sometimes meant focusing on more content-based learning. Experiential learning occured through our experience with BlendZ, but our time is VALUABLE and there were better ways to take advantage of it during class. We asked for more content we asked to learn more skills and we will. We brainstormed things we are interested in learning and how to learn it and now we are in the process of doing so. We have already had a Socratic Seminar and a fish bowl, were we have discussed real-world issues through articles and songs.
We found a problem in our system and tried filling in those empty spaces in our education. We proved everyone and ourselves that even though we learn more effectively through experience, we also crave content. Of course, we will never forget the roots of hands-on learning and how that can be implemented in our content-based learning experiences.
1 Comment
Corey Topf
11/16/2014 07:51:30 pm
Cool post, Special K! In our mission statement as an academy, one of aspects I love is the idea of all of us "adapting the way we learn to improve the way we live." It's a healthy reminder that we can learn in so many different ways, and that there should be a content of theory, content, experience, application, etc.
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AuthorStudent at Colegio Roosevelt in Lima, Peru. Archives
June 2015
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