The Pedagogy of the Past is the
present timeworn methodology and techniques used
by the large mass of teachers throughout the world.
While the research for exemplary teachers is monumental,
the implementation of the research is like finding
a large rock on a ember wave of grain... The Pedagogy
of the Past includes too many teachers without a
clue about technology, the lack of technology in
ample enough quantities to assure all students a
adequate amount of daily computer time, the lack
of Internet connections-amazing in this third year
of the 21 t Century. If Buck Rogers was a student
in the vast majority of American schools today,
his rocket ship would make it over the school building
but not much further. The Pedagogy of the Past includes
timeworn practices that worked for grandmother and
by gosh can work for you too. For all the efforts
of State legislatures, state departments of educations,
colleges of education, and school systems to improve
the effectiveness of teachers-the same old is still
the same old. It doesn't work, teachers do not want
it to work, why mess with it, and who really cares
anyway...come on, let's go home.., and while teachers
all speed off in their advanced automobiles with
weather control, CD ROMs, air conditioning, turbo-engines,
and speedometers which reach 180 mph, the schools
they leave behind putter along on the original Ford
tires and first year of production. Now the Model
T was a wonderful car...but really...
The Pedagogy of the Future is the opposite of the
Pedagogy of the Past. The Pedagogy of the Future
is technology in all its wonders. No matter what
the field of education does to effect change and
improve teaching, the dismal effect on a very small
number of teachers and therefore a very small number
of students is too little and way too late. The
Pedagogy of the Future does not need teachers, but
only assistants with technology skills who can aid
students in achieving the computer skills on the
software they are using. Technological software
is getting so good, that few teachers, even the
great ones, can compete against it. The software
is fun, exciting, challenging, motivational, interactive,
connective to the real world, and gives the student
immediate feedback: All critical factors in great
teaching. New technology perfected for the visually
disabled can also jump start learners of all ages.
Technology is available which can read a book, speak
to the student while the student is writing, give
directions for using the software directly to the
student by voice, and provides a multisensory experience
that is not attainable otherwise. The problem with
the Pedagogy of the Future is two-fold: The cost
and the elimination of the teacher from the educational
system. The advantages of going the technology approach
are that the largest proportion of any school system's
budget is teachers salaries, so the money is available
soon after the change to computers is made, the
computers do not need lunch breaks, holidays, summer
vacations, or personal leave days, although they
might need sick days, a computer does not care if
a student is poor, what his race is, what his social
background is, what the parents are like, or what
their values are: The computer accepts all users:
An equal opportunity teacher in the real sense of
the word. A teacher making $30000 per year, cannot
teach as well, cannot teach with such immediate
feedback, and can be replaced with thirty computers
over a three-year period. Computers and software
do need replacing, but the cost should still be
less than what is paid to many teachers making the
top salary scale who have just had the same experience
twenty times. Surely, I jest. Surely, I do not.
Computers are the future of education, and the sooner
the educational world recognizes this fact, the
sooner mankind can arrive on Mars. The Pedagogy
of the Future is not pedagogy, but technology...but
computer-assisted instruction is a solution to centuries
of educational bankruptcies.
The Pedagogy of the Future is also the National
Board for Professional Teaching Standards and its
National Board Certified Teachers. The National
Board process enables teachers to demonstrate their
skills through portfolio development over a school
year, videotapes, and testing. The future of teaching
is being changed by the thousands of newly certified
teachers. Unfortunately, there are millions of teachers
in America and the National Board is only reaching
the tip of the iceberg. Even so, the future of education
can be clearly seen in the rigorous and challenging
National Board process, which forever changes the
way teachers teach.
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