Frequently I
have the honour to work with several schools and give Dalton training to an
unknown team of teachers somewhere in our country.
As a Senior Dalton
Consultant I work on free-lance base for Wenke Dalton Consultancy/KPZ.
It often
happens that I have the same kind of fundamental discussion.
Basic elements
of the Dalton concept are always in the centre of the attention.
I try to
challenge a school team to give their own interpretation of the three Dalton ‘cornerstones’:
responsibility – self-reliance – cooperation.
Some time ago,
a very nice colleague reacted very honestly and openly.
Elaborating
the independency of pupils, he spoke about his worries. The motivation of the
children in his class was low, the attention during the instruction was bad and
he ended with his conclusion: “These pupils are not learning enough”.
I asked him to
analyze his way of teaching and after short time most of the colleagues in this
school came to the same conclusion that in their education the teacher is the
most active person. And in their opinion it was the best and most effective way
to teach.
“Much
instruction is the best way to teach”, they explained.
This attitude
is a logical one.
Didn’t we all learn
in our pedagogical institutes that a good teacher is the teacher who can
explain the most difficult parts of the curriculum?
But there is
still that main problem on the background of this discussion:
*pupils are
not motivated anymore to listen.
*the attention
of children is declining.
I have to
provocate at that moment, to make my statement clear.
When I ask why
a teacher is putting so much energy in instruction, the answer is always:
“When pupils
don’t understand some assignment you have to explain, because that is the only
way to help them”.
The crucial
thing is of course: how can we make the children active and motivated?
I must admit
that teaching is the activity of the teacher and it will be forever.
But learning
is the activity of the pupil. No teacher can take over that activity!
Instruction is
not the only way to fill the gap.
We have to
arrange different instructional formats (teaching methods) to make the children
active.
Are we able to
realize that pupils nowadays belong to the E- generation?
The Dutch
professor Wim Veen is using ‘Homo Zappiens’ for this new generation.
They consume
information on their own way. They are used to calculators, television, Play
Station, computers.
They sit in
front of the television and they consume the products very quickly: if it is
not interesting enough they simply switch to another programme.
And computers
are their sixth organ.
The question
is if the teacher happy with that development? But they can be happy that the
remote control is not working in school.
Perhaps not. Because
even parents have problems to stimulate their own children to do their homework
instead of sitting in front of the television.
But most
likely you are the teacher of a whole group of such whiz kids.
It is not so
strange that my Dutch colleague complained about the learning attitude of his
students.
Students are
used to be active themselves instead of long listening for information. They
have the drive to explore. Listening to long instruction is for them like
reading the instruction guide of a new computer programme. And no-one will do
it, they all start to explore.
The first
child that wants to read the instruction booklet before he/she wants to work
with that programme has still to be born.
Students want
activity, want to discover, do it themselves. That’s not a negative attitude,
that’s real motivation.
And we
teachers have to accept the changes in the consumption pattern of the audience
in our classrooms. We are the
professionals and that’s why we don’t want to serve them every day the same
fast-food. Let’s be creative and make them real hungry.
Students want
to be challenged to demonstrate their competences. They are not interested in
the long demonstrations of the competence of the teacher. It will reduce their
own competence.
We have to use
our talents and it is not necessary to throw away everything from the former
century.
Helen
Parkhurst simply developed her Dalton concept on three basic needs of pupils:
·
they must have the feeling to be safe and respected
·
they must have the feeling to be competent
·
they must have the feeling to be independent
It is time for
a design of our education, based on these basic needs.
