In Moscow, during our debrief, we were asked to look at these words from the lens of our travel time in Russia. I felt this was a valuable task. I experienced JOY when watching faces and emotions of students relax when I would try Russian words and phrases and do poorly, laughing with me and at me. I remember being FRUSTRATED with lessons cut short, hurried, not digging deeper. Too many opportunities missed for higher order thinking. An expression of BEAUTY is present in the care the adults have for younger children. The preciousness, pride, and concern is palpable. And finally, authentic SADNESS upon our departure from the lyceum by our English teaching colleagues. I feel sadness for the system where students have limited opportunity to truly think for themselves.
The students were wonderful - each school held dedicated teachers, excellent students, and caring support staff. This blog entry is about exploration, critical thinking, and synthesis. The light sensing robot above is following a path - if built correctly the device should drive straight line and curves returning. Russia schools focus greatly on the presentation of information, this was AWESOME - watching presentations encouraged me to return to teaching Debate and using more student presentations next year in my high school. In a small gymnasium, a PE class waits patiently in long lines to do a single task as part of a relay. Only two students are moving at a time in a 40 minute class. Four lines would have more students moving? And finally, there were three kits in a third grade classroom. The 12 students (small classes!) in groups of 4 assembled the kits. It was a race to build them quickly, a competition. In a balanced class of girls and boys, only one girl took an active role in the construction process (see the picture on right above). The students competed the task. Then the cars were lined up. The battery was attached. Car #1 was medium paced, car #2 fast, and car #3 was SLOW. The kits differed by drive wheel size (cog type) and axle wheel size. The teacher then explained quickly - small drive, large axle wheel slow car, medium with medium is average speed, large drive, small axle is fast car. Then they moved on, lesson over.
This was such a MISSED OPPORTUNITY in my opinion - offer the students all the parts, let the students think, theorize, hypothesize, build, test, retest, create a chart, focus on different tasks and competitions (fastest, slowest, pulls most weight, set a time over distance goal, predict times). This wasn't an option. A colleague observed a chemistry lab with similar thoughts. It feels like there is always a layer of control that gives the right answer, and moves past the opportunity to dig deeper. I coined "a kilometer wide and a centimeter deep" describing this attachment to INFORMATION ONLY. I sympathize because I understand in the Russian system NATIONAL testing determines real life opportunities. Thanks for reading. I also observed: 1) when a teacher calls on the same student often - "a star will be a star", 2) any time a student is unable to perform - "(he/she) is lazy, is sick, perhaps tired", 3) if a teacher thinks the question is too easy - "I think you know this answer, we will move on" or "I think this is too easy for you" or "you understand, yes" with no check for understanding, 4) everything is a contest, 5) "that man is Chechen", 6) very few male teachers, 7) harasho, harasho, da da da, harasho, dasvadanya, 7) cell phones out, but students not disrespectful, 8) "is it alright" after being given instructions, 9) lunch ladies, and 10) "English isn't just a subject, it is an opportunity."
4) Fear of making errors or mistakes is entrenched in the psyche - sometimes seemingly paralyzing students from even trying (it happens in classrooms in the states, even in my classes). 5) Lessons to students and questions asked of students seemed fact or knowledge based with little need for comprehension, application, critical thinking, synthesis, or even evaluation. 6) In two weeks in Russia, I saw one object in the sky - a helicopter an hour south of Moscow from the train (limited disposable income, few private pilot licenses, flying lessons, and controlled airspace?"). There are a few pictures below with captions to remind me.
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“This blog is not an official U.S. State Dept. blog. The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State.” |