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Concerns and Questions

I applaud what you’re trying to accomplish in Thailand by changing the philosophy of education.
Your website is illuminating on the weakness of an educational system in which the students merely
regurgitate what the teachers present to them.

However I do have 2 concerns:

1.) Are you going too far in the other direction when you propose that the students set goals and objectives?
Every discipline has a body of knowledge that should be learned by the students.
While students should actively participate in the learning process, the teachers and administrators must set
the goals and objectives.

2.) I like the fact that the students hold the teachers in high esteem and would hope that when they are retrained
to teach in the Socratic method there is no lessening of that esteem.

Best of luck on this wonderful project.
All the best to you and PO.
Dick (Eisner)

One reply on “Concerns and Questions”

Students setting their own learning goals are different from curriculum objectives and those that are present in every discipline. This is more of a way for a student to take responsibility for their own learning. Only the student knows what would be a personal challenge for them. As for the teacher remaining the “sage on the stage” so to speak, teaching using the Socratic method leaves the teacher leading the learning by controlling the questioning. However, teachers need to be more of a “guide on the side” as through inquiry the students again, take more responsibility for their own learning. There is nothing like challenging students with a question that interests them enough to go discover the answers on their own fostering an environment where they are excited to learn. Afterall, don’t we want them to know how to find answers to their own questions rather than the teacher “being the holder of all the knowledge”? This encourages students to be life long learners when they realize they can find answers to anything they want to know on their own.
Terrific topics here, Peter! I just met some teachers from China who also would like to see more group leaning and student centered classrooms where they teach as well.

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