Chapter five comment
Whether or not I believe Bauerlein's total portrayal of the typical American youth, I will tell you I am the proud "owner" of a twixter. I have been frustrated for several years at my son's inability or nonexistant desire to get the teaching job he has worked so hard for- or move beyond his social life which involves writing groups (yah) and gaming (huh?). He is 29 and fits the description to a tee. (This is my personal issue- I know, but I present it to say that I can verify that twixters exist.)
I do happen to believe that we have fallen into the "rub your tummy and make you feel good" syndrome and what, by all imaginable, would make an individual want to change-if they have always been told, that they are GREAT just as they are??
I am interested in what Bauerlein says about studies showing NO advantages of collaborative learning (p. 187) over lecture. I question how he would propose advancing our teaching methods if everything we try fails by his standards.
I do believe there is value to "connecting to the ancients" as Matthew Arnold says (p.191) but the problem is that life moves on and there are "new" Arnold's (so to speak) out there who have something valid to offer us. We need to find them- we need to hear what they have to say and have the chance to integrate that into our collective consciousness, too.
I do happen to believe that we have fallen into the "rub your tummy and make you feel good" syndrome and what, by all imaginable, would make an individual want to change-if they have always been told, that they are GREAT just as they are??
I am interested in what Bauerlein says about studies showing NO advantages of collaborative learning (p. 187) over lecture. I question how he would propose advancing our teaching methods if everything we try fails by his standards.
I do believe there is value to "connecting to the ancients" as Matthew Arnold says (p.191) but the problem is that life moves on and there are "new" Arnold's (so to speak) out there who have something valid to offer us. We need to find them- we need to hear what they have to say and have the chance to integrate that into our collective consciousness, too.
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