Discussion 1
I watched the video titled “How to Escape Education's Death Valley". In this video Sir Ken Robinson talks
about how traditional teaching methods can not only be unsuitable but also to a point can be harmful
for the children. We learn from the video that 60% of kids drop out of high school and in native America
the number is 80%. Even though there have been many initiatives taken to solve the problem of drop
out, there have barely been any positive outcome seen. The speaker believes that children are natural
learners and making them sit down in one place for hours after hours will not help them learn
efficiently. I truly agree with Sir Robinson that children especially elementary school children do learn
from hands on learning environment. In United States there are Montessori schools which barely use
the traditional academic syllabus. They use building blocks, sand, arts and crafts as their curriculum in
teaching children letters, numbers etc. Teachers play a huge role in helping students to learn effectively
and resolve the issue of dropout from school. Different teaching environment for different students in
the same class can also help children feel safe and included in the classroom. Sir Robinson mentions
that teaching is not only delivering but also receiving. That is also a very important aspect in teaching as
teachers should focus on not only teaching the students but also focus on how the students are
responding. Thus, the teachers creating their own version of classroom rather than following the
traditional academic syllabus can help each and every student in the long run.