I'd like to reflect and also argue on some of the things I read and watched. After looking at Kohns chart, I agree with most of it but some of the things on the "Possible Reasons To Worry" side, I have some disagreements. For example, I believe yes, a teacher should be respectful and genuine towards their students but also there comes a time when you need to be controlling or rather be in control especially when a class is out of focus. There are many perspectives to look at this from being if you are an elementary teacher or secondary teacher, while not too different, the difference could be eight year olds and eighteen year olds, that there lies a difference. You want to be warm and genuine to both groups but it's a different kind of controlling and stern tone you want to use. Also the part about emphasis on thoughtful exploration as to emphasis on facts and right answers. Again I agree that students should be allowed to be open minded and let their mind explore but it is still important to know whats right and whats wrong, and I feel a good educator can incorporate both of those aspects into one. Also why should we be worried about textbooks, and worksheets? Again you can incorporate both aspects of having a colorful and interactive classroom while using textbooks and worksheets. In my APUSH class Junior year of High School, we mainly worked out of textbooks and worksheets. Was it boring? Yes but it was effective and as we had to do that boring work, we also always had open class discussions on what we read where the teacher would take a step back and leave the discussion only to us and let us generate our own arguments and discussion points while only chiming in when necessary. In this same class where textbooks and worksheets were the primary source of education, we also had interactive projects that were always fun to make and that's just coming from me, the entire class enjoyed participating in these projects and it made learning from the textbooks more fun. It isn't the textbooks but the educator and what they do with those textbooks and how they incorporate them into the lesson.
In the classroom I am in with Inspiring Minds, it is a first-grade classroom so very much different than an APUSH class in high school, is very vibrant and filled with color. For kids at that age, it is appropriate for this to happen and is more of an interactive classroom rather than a textbook based classroom. The student's artwork is displayed across the room with their desks in squared sections for better communication. In my APUSH class, the desks were single and in rows and columns. That did not stop us from frequently collaborating. The way your classroom is depends on the age you are teaching and what is appropriate. There is no right and there is no wrong in how your class should be set up (in most cases) but it is how you execute it. Try different things, see what your student's like, it is good to have feedback.
I have provided an article from Yale Universitys center for teaching and learning on classroom arrangement. Seating Arrangements Yale University
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