My name is Mitch Wells and I am currently a student at Central Connecticut State University. I am a Physical Education major, so throughout my class schedule one will find many education courses. In one class particular, we talked a great deal about the schooling of children from the K-12 level. Numerous questions, thoughts, and comments arose in this class that I have never really thought of. I am not going to say all, but the majority of the teaching that goes on in these classrooms is teacher based learning. What does this mean? Teacher based learning is learning that is centered on the teacher only. The teacher is “the one with the knowledge” there for “the teacher has all the power.” How can one say the teacher has all the knowledge when, on most occasions, the teacher is reading straight out of a text book? We argued in my class that as future teachers we need to have a learning atmosphere that is student based. Student based learning is when the students and the teacher are both the learners and the ones teaching. We need to approach our students open minded and learn where they are coming from in attempt to give the best possible chance for education growth. I have been in all various levels of education, as I am sure many others have as well. What I do realize now is that I was/am most of the time in a classroom that is teacher based; however, I can say that those classes that are student based are a lot more effective in me being successful in learning. I know that when I go out into the teaching world that I will do my best to make my classroom a learning environment for all students. The best way to learn is to do!
Mitch Wells