Wesch video response

What does Mike Wesch believe about how students learn?

Dr. Wesch believes that students are disconnected from education. Learning is defined in a specific way, "dumping information into people's heads". He believes that asking questions is where the real learning happens. " Asking questions, making connections and taking chances took us down from the trees and took us to the moon "

It was interesting to watch Dr. Wesch compare students to his own son learning to walk down stairs. He brings up an interesting point about students when he suggests they (we) are programmed to think more about the grade or the "right" answers than the process of learning. While his son found failure to be fun and entertaining, students are often penalized by the grading systems in education. Colleges look at SAT scores and class rank to determine the worthiness of a student.

So much of education is about teaching to the test in a way that Ken Robinson suggests that more successful educational systems do not. Teaching is not held in the same regard in the US as in other countries.  

In my own classroom with my kindergartners, I like to point out my mistakes and make light of them so that I create a safe learning space where my students are not afraid of getting the "wrong" answer or taking a risk. We talk openly about how mistakes or the "wrong answer"  help to make you a better learner and to understand more. I often find that students for whom learning comes easily are more afraid to take risks in their learning.

What if school and funding moved away from the standardized test and became more about the process?