tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post9100151953727294061..comments2024-03-26T23:57:42.268-04:00Comments on SpeEdChange: Answering questions with questions...irasocolhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-24386852945832795122010-01-11T07:47:26.522-05:002010-01-11T07:47:26.522-05:00I am going to save this post and refer people to i...I am going to save this post and refer people to it when they ask why let students choose to represent the UK, Wales, Scotland, England, South Vietnam etc in our annual UN week parade of nations.<br />Thanks,<br />Megan<br />Canadian International School (Singapore)Meganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11993685335243644998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-79421931119128538482010-01-10T16:15:56.826-05:002010-01-10T16:15:56.826-05:00Concrete:
I think we all too often teach for the ...Concrete:<br /><br />I think we all too often teach for the pre-determined, scantronable, answer. That's the "road to hell" as Yong Zhao has been saying lately.<br /><br />Derek:<br /><br />I'm not saying "base knowledge" is a problem. Indeed, it is a strength. I have a Portuguese friend who tells her MSU undergrad students that they "better be able to at least list the nations their nation has conquered." Though I doubt the "timed test" is anything but a parlor game. I can name a lot of nations, but I'd do it visually, moving around the globe - not quickly or automatically.<br /><br />But, you are right. It is not just "there are multiple answers." It is the "why" there are multiple answers, and how we decide. I had one "distinguished Ivy League faculty member" get very angry with me on a list serve a few years ago because I challenged him on making references to "the English government" - and, as we know - though there are Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish governments, there is no English government. But if we are discussing sense of nationality, English nationhood is an important idea. And Somaliland, well, that gets into that whole Wilson v Lincoln question, right? Who decides if a nation is a nation?<br /><br />So even when we say, "in this situation this definition is better," we still must know the limits we create through that definition. When we get that kind of conversation going, we're really getting to the critical thinking we need.<br /><br />- Ira Socolirasocolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01412837280249622430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-20632042393907641632010-01-10T14:31:01.451-05:002010-01-10T14:31:01.451-05:00Great post. Right in line with work by Perry and o...Great post. Right in line with work by Perry and others about stages of intellectual development. Many students often think that questions have single correct answers, answers that should be memorized. <br /><br />Others, noting that experts can disagree about things like the country question, take the stance that there are no right answers--that everything's totally subjective. I can see your points about the subjective nature of the definition of country leading some students in that direction. It's important to help students understand that some definitions of country (to continue your example) may be better than others in certain contexts. That's where the real critical thinking comes in.<br /><br />That being said, @courosa's original question is still a useful one to ask students, at least as formative assessment. Finding out that, for instance, one's students can't list many African nations or countries in the Middle East is useful information, since it points the way to future teaching directions. The question as an end point might have limited use, but as the starting point of something else (like your own response), it's very useful.Derek Bruffhttp://derekbruff.com/teachingwithcrsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-88308508626795130422010-01-10T14:14:46.192-05:002010-01-10T14:14:46.192-05:00Answering David's question, I do not think tha...Answering David's question, I do not think that we teach this way hardly ever. Instead we model that every question asked by the teacher has a "right" answer that students need to guess or figure out. From a young age I think we teach students to not be inquisitive and ask questions, but to conform to the pre-determined answers.concretekaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03817234454056267050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19457872.post-60357473772667093692010-01-10T13:06:46.038-05:002010-01-10T13:06:46.038-05:00The real question is, are we teaching/modeling cri...The real question is, are we teaching/modeling critical reflection? We can teach or encourage questions as answers, but without critical reflection, are we developing success?David Peterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13036729326580726927noreply@blogger.com