Rethink: Chapter 10

This chapter was great because it looked at all the main areas that we have to be considerate of when "rethinking" education in a technology world; how to learn, how to motivate, what's important to learn, career choices, the transitions between learning and work, educational leadership, and the government's role in education. The authors' also included their own vision for the future, what they hoped their book would inspire. I'm not going to lie, reading this last chapter intimidated me a lot because of the thought of all these changes that could be taking place in the next 10 or so years (who knows when, really). But it got me to thinking, as scared of all these changes as I am, it's what our future students need. Not even as teachers, but as members of our society, what we're doing now isn't meant for us, it's meant for the next generation. This chapter has really taught me that I need to not be as concerned as to what I'm comfortable with but to do what's best for the future generation.

I think it's a good time for me to be going through college right now; current teachers might struggle with this transition, thinking that if something's not broken, why fix it? But the truth is, something is broken. It broke my heart to know that only 14% of students with a C average will graduate from college. We know that nowadays, you pretty much need a college education to make real money; we need to help our students to get there. But they need to help themselves as well. I believe that students with a C average are more than capable of achieving good grades, but what we are teaching isn't applicable to them. We need to let them be in control of their learning, but with us there to offer them support and guidance when need be. They can't do everything on their own yet, that's why they are still in school. But we need to have more faith in them then we generally do. We need let them make some decisions for themselves. I think we'd find ourselves quite surprised that they can be greater then we give them credit for.