A School in the Clouds

In the TED talk A School in the Clouds Sugata Mitra seems to pose the idea that teachers are not necessary and antiquated .Schools were created to keep the "bureaucratic administrative machine" running.  He suggests our education system was designed to create students who could produce handwriting, read and do basic math "like a secretary in the west." He speaks in a playful tone and when you get past what could be taken as derogatory, the suggestion that changes need to happen in education are valid. 

Certainly education needs to be different than the 1800's. Our world is vastly different. I disagree however that just sticking a computer in front of a child is the ideal way for a child to learn. We saw this spring when we were thrust into the world of online learning, that some children found success and others struggled. Some children engaged in the content provided online and some families requested paper and pencil activities as the computer was not a good way for their children to process new information

There are children who thrive in a self directed environment without the distraction of the social piece of school. At the dentist today I ran into a former student with her mom and mom was describing to me the relief of being free of the drama of fourth grade girls. I don't think that she was suggesting that we do away with teachers or our schools as they are though. 

There is room for the idea that children work at different paces, in different ways and engage differently in learning. I believe this is where Wesch and Mitra's ideas on learning align. Mitra suggests a computer is equally as effective as a teacher at dumping ideas into the brains of children.  Wecsh  believes that learning happens when children can engage critically and develop questions focused on the process rather than the product.

I believe that education should look different from the brain dump of the past but I don't believe that computers can effectively replace teachers and I don't believe that is what Mitra meant to say entirely. Teachers need to set up situations and experiences where children can engage and take over the process. 

In early childhood I see this in my classroom especially during choice time. This is a free and unstructured time where children can draw, play pretend, create with a variety of materials such as legos and blocks and play games.  The kind of authentic engagement and creativity as well as collaboration that happens during choice time is magical. I would very much like to create more opportunities to engage with the academic standards through play and choice.