ues orientation prompts the question “how do you learn?”
September 18th, 2007 by Ken
Like students and staff at other Venture campuses, I find that early September is not short on things to do. This semester, I varied my usual routine by facilitating the orientation for Venture’s Urban Education Semester. This Fall, 11 students from all over the world descended on New York City to examine public education by spending three days a week in classrooms and two days studying education, public policy, and current issues that affect teachers, parents, students, and learning.
During the orientation, one of my colleagues asked each of us to consider the question, “How do I learn?” Someone indicated that she “really gets it” when she’s given an example; another student said that she needs to be energized to learn about a topic that she finds boring. And while it’s no surprise that all of us in the room had very different answers to the question, the reality that teachers address a diversity of learning styles struck me. Somehow, in between every other expectation that parents and policy makers place on teachers, the good ones become keen observers of their students’ “ah ha” moments. Each interaction with a student becomes another opportunity for the teacher to learn how to best adapt to the learner. Doing this for a classroom of students isn’t easy. I don’t recall a teacher ever asking me about how I learn, and I can not recall going out of my way to tell them.
Although I’m not a classroom teacher, I share information with colleagues, students, and peers everyday. Likewise, colleagues are constantly sharing information with me. While these interactions tend to go smoothly, a coworker and I occasionally run into situations in which we don’t understand why someone “doesn’t get it.” We’ve emailed him/her, sent them instructions or suggestions, but still they don’t understand. And while it’s possible that he/she just does not get it, perhaps our teaching style could be adjusted to consider how they learn.
Some graduates of the Urban Education Semester go on to be teachers, some go on to work on public school policy, and others leave the field completely. Whatever career path they choose, a semester considering how students learn, how teachers teach, and how administrators maintain school systems is a great step in making them better leaders.
Deadlines for the Spring 2008 Semester are approaching.