The Children’s Machine
I have been out of touch for awhile but have been reading The Children’s Machine. I just finished it and I am very glad I read it. Each time I began reading it, I got very interested in it all over again. My problem was that I had so much going on that I could not read too much at a time. I have been so busy that I could not get caught up enough to post anything. This week will hopefully be better since we are on spring break, but then so is MSU…. aren’t we?
I took some time to read my reader and there are several things I want to comment on but I will wait until I post on Pappert. This book was very interesting to me. I could see much of what is happening in our schools in the reading. For example, chapter 7 titled “Instructionism versus constructionism”. The term instructionism meaning teaching, which according to the book does not mean learning or any type of pedagogy. It simply means that in order to promote better learning we must provide better teaching. They don’t even acknowledge the learner. the term constructionism refers to the process of allowing learners to learn what they want and in the way they want. Pappert used an African Proverb to compare the two. “If a man is hungry you can give him a fish, but it is better to give him a line and teach him to catch fish himself.” The way we are expected to teach in a traditional classroom with our lesson plans to follow is considered “giving him a fish”. The best way which is allowing learners to engage in learning in their own way what they can from a computer or any learning experience that they determine is “giving him a line and teaching him to catch fish himself”.
In most school systems today, we must dictate what is learned and how. We must adhere to curriculum maps and timelines which also dictate lesson plans we must follow. Material must be covered in a certain amount of time. According to Pappert this learning is not learning for real life. It is the kind of learning they forget after the test. Speaking of the test, we are also holding our learners back by teaching the test which does not allow for freedom of learners to learn content they will retain.
The last chapter also discusses “What can be done?” The suggestion is that it can be done slowly with one teacher and/or classroom at a time. Another concept discussed is “little schools” which would exist within schools but would be able to actually implement the changes that are necessary to allow learners the freedom they need to learn freely. This does not make megachange however it does allow those teachers who are willing to allow their students to have a choice. This would be an opportunity for change.
