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There were several comments made and thoughts shared in class that left me thinking…We were discussing different learning styles and the practicality (or impracticality) of a teacher being able to cater to those styles found within its students. In my opinion, not only is it practical, but necessary. I would even dare to say that if a teacher fails to acknowledge the diversity of their students than they fail to teach [effectively]. The teacher should base their role on how they need to challenge their students and increase the skills their students need to be successful learners. A part of learning is accepting or should I say, acknowledging difference. It is essential for students to be aware of this difference and see a variety of perspectives or approaches to learning. Yes, it is a difficult and often overwhelming task for teachers, but not an impossible one. Figuring out how to achieve this in the classroom is a learning experience in itself and after all, teaching is learning.

The statement was made that “different kinds of things need to be learned in different contexts”. (I agree!) I think that this speaks to approach that has dominated the education system since forever and its failure to step beyond the confines of the classroom. In a way, this relates to and gives some validity to the comment made my skindeep’s teacher, “the system of education we are following [is] redundant.” In thinking about this, I looked up the word “teach” and one of the definitions given was that teaching is “bringing understand to something or somebody, especially through an experience”. The emphasis that this definition places on experience is key because I think that experience provides us with those different contexts for learning. No one experience is exactly the same.

An interesting question posed was, “Is there only one way to survive?” I think that society likes to make us think that the concept of survival or the means by which we survive is universal, but is it? I don’t think so. I mean, I think that knowledge is essential for survival, not necessarily the knowledge obtained from school, but knowledge of who you are and what you believe or value which is different from person to person.