Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!

Reply to comment

FinnWing's picture

Creepy, Creepy

  My subject describes my opinion of power teaching (or whole brain teaching) as I have seen it.  I don't think that it necessarily has to be like this, but in practice it seems to take this form.  This video shows it in practice in a third grade classroom (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8WpiueGP5s&feature=related), if you do not wish to watch the whole video, please watch from 1:10-2:15 for a unique and baffling experience in editing. 

  I don't think that pure didactic teaching is perfect by any means, but I feel much more love for it after seeing power teaching videos.  As Angela said, power teaching (as shown) does not encourage any sort of creativity or co-constructive inquiry.  Thinking about this style actually is getting me worked up and upset. 

  In response to Simone, I think that an aspect of power teaching that is positive is how it does engage students, it asks them to teach, and it encourages them to move around (if only in their seats).  These aspects can surely be incorporated into a classroom.  A teacher can ask students to repeat some information, but why does it need to be so fast?  A teacher can give students the opportunity to teach one another, but why not throw in some background so they can say why in addition to what?  I would guess that the products of power teaching classrooms will be rote memorizers without the critical thinking skills and creativity that society seems to cherish.  These methods may help on standardized tests, but do you really want to deal with someone who has learned in this style? 

Reply

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
To prevent automated spam submissions leave this field empty.
1 + 0 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.