#14: Teaching Ideologies

"Technology can serve as a catalyst to move teachers toward an instructional style that is more student centered, active, and relevant to the world we now live in (Robelyer, 327)."

Last year, I was given the opportunity to revamp much of the curriculum for the department at my middle school. Previously, our curriculum had been solely driven by the textbook and the only time the kids were asked to speak in the second language (L2) or write in the L2 was on the midterm and final exam. My first year teaching this curriculum, I felt as if I was cheating the kids. The expectations were extremely low and none of the material presented to the kids was in a real manner. With knowledge of Spanish being coveted in today's workforce, where was the authenticity of what we were delivering to the kids? How in the world would they be able to really learn when our curriculum was based on rote memorization of vocabulary and grammar concepts?

When I introduced the changes to be made, the first question I was asked by a teacher who has been teaching for over 30 years was, "Why fix something that isn't broken? We have always done this curriculum and we have never had any problems." This is true to an extent. I mean, our students do well on the assessments we give them and will do most everything we ask of them, even if it's just compliant behavior. The problem is, the teaching style which the curriculum demanded, was not relevant to the student of today. As times change, so must education. As all companies and business across the nation must adapt to the "now", so must the way we teach our children.

Direct instruction has developed a bad stigma around its name. This should not be the case. Direct instruction is very important in teaching important concepts. The problem lies when students cannot use the material presented through direct instruction in real, relevant ways.