Thursday, May 28, 2009

reflections on teaching econ104h


Rather than beginning with some posts on economic history, I've gone a different route by opening this blog with subjects closer to teaching/education, and I continue that with this post, which is something that has been on my mind all semester and still haunts me as I enter my final grades into Spire: what are the most effective methods/styles of teaching? Is there one method or style that works better than all others, or should the teacher find one that suits him or her best?

The answer will be obvious to anyone who has spent hours talking with students outside of the classroom and, after some time, feels a certain level of companionship with his students.

Once I realized this feeling of companionship, I slowly came to understand that there is no hierarchical teacher-student relationship in the classroom, and if one (either the teacher or student) walks into the classroom with that view one immediately sets the stage for certain attitudes and dispositions that are barriers to learning (both for the teacher and student).

Perhaps this is common sense, but I found it to be very enlightening and has helped me formalize my style and method. I thought I had more to say regarding this but perhaps it's best left for a separate, more focused post.


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