Goals and Challenges

Our goals as educators should be to get students to think outside their own lives and experiences, to get them to be independent thinkers whom are critical of the world around them, to participate and take responsibility in their own learning, and to facilitate intellectual growth. Learning needs to be authentic and meaningful. I don’t know how many times since June I have heard that, but it’s true. Why else would students care? Education needs to be connected with students’ lives, and it needs to be stretched across the entire school year so they see the things that are important, real and worth knowing and doing. Educators need to know their students and shift their teaching style to fit their students. We should model critical habits of mind. Students need motivation, and passion for what they do. We need to be meaning makers, and accept that there are many, many different perspectives in the world and there is no right one. There is a difference between people and ideas, and constructive thought and empowerment.