In the last few months the readership of this blog has increased significantly, which is really great, and it has occurred to me that there have been some pretty good posts in the past that are worth bringing up again. My last post touched on several issues that keep coming up and I thought some might be interested in seeing some of my past posts on these issues. These all have to do with who we have teaching our teachers, how they go about it, and what effects that has on the entire education system. I’ve long thought that when there are problems with what teachers do and how they do it, education faculties (and the educator academics -EAs – who populate them) need to take responsibility for the role they play in creating or perpetuating the problem.
So, without further ado, here are a few:
Knowing ‘X’ does not imply knowing ‘Y’
This one focuses on what some EAs say about digital game based learning, pedagogy, and design. While this post talks about educators (and others) making pronouncements about digital games, it applies equally to people who feel qualified to make pronouncements about any topic simply because they have some knowledge of a related topic. EAs seem to be particularly susceptible to this type of fallacy.
Horses, Buggies, and Trendy Sheep: Appropriate Technology and Modern Times
This one describes two types of teachers (this includes EAs): those who stick to what they know and resist change – the horse-and-buggy educators, and those who jump from bandwagon to bandwagon, convincing themselves that their trendiness makes them superior teachers.
Are Education Academics Clueless Snobs?
All EAs ought to know something besides education. They should not only know how to teach, they should know how to teach SOMETHING – and they should have had to do it. If nothing else, it might give them an appreciation for the difficulties specific to teaching some thing, as opposed to teaching in the general sense.
Pseudoteaching
Teaching teachers is essentially meta-teaching (see above) and if you really understand that, it is possible to do a good job of it. Sadly, some don’t. These are the ones who do a great job of looking like they’re teaching when really all they’re doing is acting the part.
