Post #9 - Teaching the Teacher

Reading Paulo Freire’s piece last week made me think about what the role of the instructor is in classrooms. Obviously the teacher must teach, but the question that arose after reading a section form the "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" is how exactly should a teacher teach? Freire conveyed the dangers of simply narrating to children because teachers run the risk of turning their students into “containers, into receptacles to be filled.” I completely agree with Freire because if teachers simply narrate the students become easily distracted and lose the enthusiasm to learn. Essentially nicely summed up my thoughts when he stated that in a strict narration method of teaching “education becomes an act of depositing in which the students are depositories and the teacher is the depositor.”

I decided to do some extra reading on this topic and discovered that there are actually a number of different styles of teaching. I found that some teachers claim a Formal Authority teaching style in which teachers focus on content. This type of teacher doesn't usually require much student participation in class. In essence this style centers on the philosophy of “Sage on the stage.” I think Freire would argue that this method is faulty because teachers can fall into the hazards of narrating to their children. On the other side of the spectrum fall teachers who use a Facilitator style in which they focus on activities and emphasize student-centered learning. This type of teaching style works best for students who are comfortable with independent learning and who can actively participate and collaborate with other students. Finally I also fund that there are teachers who choose to be somewhere in between the strict narrating style and the facilitating style. These teachers use the Demonstrator style in which they act as role models by demonstrating a certain skill and then as guides in helping students develop and apply these skills and knowledge.

I have to agree with Freire’s point on the misfortunes of narrating, but I also think that teaching at one point or another involves some sort of narration. For that reason I feel that if I were a teacher at St. Martin’s I would utilize the Demonstrator style in which the teacher allows the students to participate, BUT at the same time uses some narration to explain the subject material.

How would YOU teach if YOU were a teacher? Do YOU agree with Freire?

What do YOU think?...