We want entrepreneurial students who work proactively, discuss with each other, submit questions and prepare for the lesson. Do you recognize this wish? Many teachers and perhaps you too, have the ambition to design and give education that provokes learning behavior among students. To my great surprise, I see in practice that students come into resistance with these new forms of education and express their preference for 'passive' education . In this blog I explore the question 'What causes this resistance?'
There are several explanations for this question. Students may find it 'easy', do not connect the test form with this learning behavior or there is too little structure. Yet the resistance often does not seem to be in the form, but in the assumption that the new form of education does not yield them much. Can the teacher not simply tell them what they should know and can do? 'What does that discussion with their fellow students mean' or 'the teacher can not indicate which steps I have to go through'.
What if we look at this situation from the perspective of the student. In school life and afterschool program they have learned to regard everything they have learned as true and that teachers are expected to give true answers to their questions. How confusing it is when teachers expect you to make choices yourself, come proactively with solutions and proposals and ask critical questions from sources. The confusion reaches its peak if the teacher himself also questions the theories, is he now the expert or not?
NOTHING ABOUT STUDENT BEHAVIOR IS STRANGE TO US ...
Perhaps you are now also reading the blog, longing for 'the' answer to this complex question. If this blog does not answer this question, what is this for a crappy blog? You quickly search for an expert who can give you this answer or give you the hope to look further for this answer. Too bad, because I'm just looking for proactive teachers who enter into the discussion, ask questions, want to experiment and come up with fantastic solutions! How can I trigger this behavior with you?
EVERYTHING IN THIS BLOG IS NOT TRUE
Experience shows that this way of thinking takes months. As a person (expert, teacher or student) you have lost all your security, because there are no more certainties. However, this method also has an advantage, because in order to become a better professional and there are no ready-made answers, you have to look for yourself here! This is exactly what you want to achieve with students. Students are no longer the lesser, but participate in discussions at a level.
The question is, of course, whether you want this and / or whether it is necessary for your students to be able to do this. Is it relevant that students are critical, enterprising and creative? The process for arriving at such a method takes time and can be divided into four phases:
Unbelief
Acceptance
Integration
To reach point 4 you have to dare to struggle as a team. In other words: do you want high student satisfaction scores or do you want to train students with a critical, enterprising and creative attitude?
It is clear that I do not have the truth with this blog. I am very curious about your reactions, additions, solutions and especially other viewpoints to explore this issue together.
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