There have been many arguments for adding more creative and critical thinking to education, and moving away from "drill and kill." If you were making an argument for more "little scientists & critics," how would you convince parents, teachers, and administrators? What support and evidence would you use to argue for critical, creative, and scientific thinking?
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ReplyDeleteSince the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) act, schools have made a shift in their teaching strategies, based on what students are tested on in the standardized tests. Because there is a specific set of curriculum students are tested on, schools have started to “drill and kill” their students, even as young as preschool children. The “drill and kill” method is resulting is children’s enthusiasm to learn. The NLCB was originally implemented to ensure that all students get the most out of their education, but it is turning into the thought that the only test of intelligence is through standardized tests. It is also making school more of a competition between peers than a safe learning atmosphere. Kids and teenagers would rather get a better grade than their peer than to actually learn the material for their own benefit. One cannot see a student’s true academic potential through a standardized test, which is why I believe “drill and kill” should be eradicated.
ReplyDeleteIn order to stray away from this method of teaching, the teachers, parents, and administrators must be convinced it is a good idea. To convince them for more “little scientists and critics”, I would explain to them that the subjects they are learning in school can be learned in more various, fun, but still educational ways. For example, if students are learning multiplication, their can be various objects involved instead of just learning through rote counting (Stipek, 2006). This will catch the students’ attentions and make them more enthusiastic to learn. Instead of these unnecessary standardized tests, we should be focusing on the non-academic parts of a child’s development to ensure academic success (Stipek, 2006). Another reason to get away from “drill and kill”, is that all kids learn in their own way and at different paces, so just because they score low on a standardized test the first time, does not mean they are doomed to ever be academically successful.
Our society needs critical, creative and scientific thinking individuals. If schools are teaching through “drill and kill”, children are not learning the other important aspects of life that they need to know for when they grow up and function as members of society. All careers use different types of thinking, so not everyone can think the same way. Schools need to be teaching kids in diverse ways to accommodate different types of thinking. If “drill and kill” teaching keeps going the way it is, one day every member of society will think the same, and we will lose careers that need “out-of-the-box” thinkers.
Reference
Stipek, Deborah. (2006, June). Accountability Comes to Preschool: Can We Make It Work for
Young Children? Retrieved April 9, 2019 from https://moodlemtech.mrooms3.net/pluginfile.php/671245/mod_resource/content/1/Accountability%20comes%20to%20preschool.pdf
Kayla, I completely agree with you! I personally think that the “drill and kill” method is what make so many kids dread going to school. I think that they would enjoy it so much more if they were able to make it their own and own their own ways by using their creativity. I also think the critical thinking is also a very important skill to acquire and use at a young age, a skill that you will have to use through out your whole life. Great post!
DeleteGood post. I completely agree with you that more critical thinking needs to be incorporated into school. In fact, I found a great article on the Parenting Science magazine that lays out how to actually teach and sharpen critical thinking, which was interesting that I've added below in case you are interested in the article.
DeleteReading through the article, I think convincing the teachers and administrators why they should spend more time on overpopulated classrooms to potentially teach another subject of critical thinking would be an interesting discussion. I think most would agree, but the question would be how.
https://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-critical-thinking.html
It is important to convince teachers and parents to add more creative, critical, and scientific thinking into education for children. Shifting away from the “drill and kill” to the “little scientists and critics” has its obvious benefits for children in school. I think some benefits to bring up to parents, teachers, and administrators in order to convince them to make this change would be how creative thinking allows children to express themselves. Through creative thinking children can try new ideas and ways to learn as well as problem solve. All of these things would help them grow and develop more mentally. Critical thinking is also important for children. It allows them to dig deeper into topics that interest them. They also will learn how to go beyond basic facts and will have the ability to analyze situations and decide upon outcomes and make decisions. The benefits of scientific thinking that I think would be important to bring up to teachers, parents, and administrators would be that often times in scientific thinking, there is a more hands on approach needed. All children learn in different ways and the hands on approach may be what they need in order to learn more effectively. They are able to perform tests, make observations, and come up with conclusions that will help them learn. There are endless benefits to switching from the “drill and kill” way of teaching to “little scientists and critics” that are important to bring up to teachers, administrators, and parents.
ReplyDeleteMaggy,
DeleteI also believe that turning away from "drill and kill" has obvious benefits. Creative thinking is essential to young children's development, and this method of teaching is taking that away from them. With the "drill and kill" method of education, students are not learning other important aspects about the world and themselves. By using boring ways to teach children subjects, they are no longer excited to learn and lose interest in school altogether. I believe that if "drill and kill" keeps up like it is, eventually we may see more drop out rates due to the lack of interest in learning. Great post, I enjoyed reading it!
I think it is a very important that teachers and parents stray away from the “drill and kill” and go to the “little scientists and critics.” There are so many benefits to letting children be creative and critical thinkers in their education. I would convince parents, teachers and administrators to add more creative and critical thinking to their education by showing them that all the same lessons can still be taught, but by letting the children add their own creativity to it will make the child retain the information in their own creative ways. Also, by allowing the children to critically think about the topics at hand, it makes them more adaptive thinkers for the future and make them mentally stronger. The support and evidence I would use is have the teacher or parent let the children use creative and critical thinking for a week and they would see the difference it has on the children firsthand. Also, you could present them with information on past research done, to prove that the children retain the information better using creativity There are so many benefits to letting children use creative and critical thinking in their education.
ReplyDeleteLeah,
DeleteI completely agree with you! By letting children uses their own mind will help them to retain information. I like how you pointed out that all the same lessons can still be taught by adding their own creativity is important. I really hope that that they can stray away from “drill and kill”. One it would be better for the kids, and their minds to comprehend it all. Two, school wouldn’t be so boring for the kids. Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post and I agree with everything that you said.
Leah,
DeleteI 100% agree with you! I think it is crucial that parents and teacher create an environment that children can be creative thinkers. A place that they can think things through logically, without the "drill and kill" mentality. I see how the "drill and kill" strategy can cause damage to growing children and young adults. Good post!
I think that is very important for parents and children to move away from the “drill and kill” and “little scientists & critics”. In my own opinion, I think straying away from this stigma is the best thing for kids. They are “preparing” them for standardized tests. I think that children should be able to learn more creative, and scientific thinking in school. They shouldn’t be drilled to remember every little thing and then be tested on it. I understand why they are doing it though. They are doing this so that when the time for testing is here they can pass those tests. Passing the test helps the school with their score. I think that drilling the children just to get their scores up is wrong. A child should be learning creative and “fun” things in school. I know personally that when I was in school we always did fun things up until a certain age. Then we were “drilled and killed” for standardized testing. I think all schools should lighten up on the “drill and kill” and let the kids be more critical, creative, and scientific up in till a certain grade.
ReplyDeleteRae, I completely agree with you. I also think that with the drill and kill method, children build standards of needing to retain only the information that will be on the test and think that they have to conform to those standards, which is not a healthy way for a child to grow up. In order for children to learn, they should have fun experiences that are easy to remember.
DeleteRae, I liked all the factors you pointed out in this post. Children need the ability to think creative and critically or the child will have problems down the road. Creative and critical thinking is used not only in schools but also in work places and in daily life. I also liked how you mentioned the correlation between schools and scores. This is a big factor that I never took into consideration. Schools want higher over all test scores because this could lead to new funding for the schools and better opportunities becoming available. All in all, great post!!
DeleteA shift from the typical “drill and kill” method to one that promotes creative and critical thinking is necessary in order for kids to have a more adaptable mind. An argument I would make to teachers, parents, and administrators is how critical and creative thinking allows children to learn how to better obtain a formal operational mindset. They will better know how to problem solve for themselves, be more self expressive and they will know how to further their thinking in, and work through, abstract situations. Another benefit I would express to parents, teachers, and administrators is that all children learn differently and allowing them to think critically and creatively will work more so in the benefit of the children. If children are given the chance to learn in a way that benefits them most, they will be more successful and that will show.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to make an argument for more little scientists and critics, I would convince parents, teachers, and administrators by saying the children get more interaction with one another as well as with their parents and teachers. In a traditional classroom, children are placed in desks, which are lined up in rows. In this environment, children do not get a lot of interaction with their peers, nor their teacher who stands at the front of the classroom. To create little scientists and critics, children need to have hands on experiences, instead of just studying for tests and moving on to the next subject. The hands on activities that the children participate in can be done in groups or with parents and teachers there to help. Who doesn’t want to help their child learn in a fun and exciting way?
ReplyDeleteMacKenzie,
DeleteI also think that interaction has a lot to do with how children learn and develop. The mini science experiments and hands-on learning is a great idea as long as schools could keep costs down. I know I definitely learn better and remember concepts longer when I am taught them in a "hands-on" way. Do you tend to learn better "hands-on"?
While the "drill and kill" method may work for some students, it is not effective for all students. Teachers who decide to shuffle the routine of a normal class can find better participation and better effort from the students. On a personally note, I noticed that teachers who had the class write papers would not go over well. What I mean by that is how some students who weren't particularly good writers or simply did not like to write papers would not hand one in. If they did, it was not a good example and fell unbelievably short of the requirements. But we had one teacher who would give us a different assignment to increase comprehension of a book. An example would be that she would have us write a comic book of a particular scene in the book, make a commercial of a potion in the book (we were reading Shakespeare at the time), host a "talk show" and interview the characters in the book, or we could simply write a paper. Not only did the students receive good grades, but we all enjoyed doing it. We would have to present to the class our projects, but we all had so much doing it, it didn't really feel like homework. The creative approach doesn't even necessarily have to be every time, but just enough for the students to get a break from the normal routine and to get a chance to have a different approach to an assignment. Overtime, teachers could gradually transition to the method where they could give the students a list of possible assignments that encourage different ways to express creative and scientific thinking.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to be making an argument for making more children into “little scientists and critics” it would include a balance between “drill and kill” and creative thinking. I think that children need to go through the repetitive drill to gain an understanding of how the world works, then they should be able to us creative thinking to “think outside of the box”. In order to convince parents, teachers, and administrators to teach in a balance way such as this one, they must understand that no creative boundaries are to be set, but children also need to learn a certain curriculum in order to succeed. I think that critical, creative, and scientific thinking are all very important characteristics for every child to have an understanding of. Each should be taught equally and with the same attention.
ReplyDeleteSydney,
DeleteI totally agree with you about keeping a balance between "drill and kill" and "little scientists and critics." How would you go about keeping a certain curriculum but also making sure there are no creative boundaries?
I think there are many benefits of changing our education approach to being more about creativity and critical thinking. As some others have mentioned above, the current system focuses mainly on preparing children for standardized tests. It’s this “drill and kill” mentality that has children worn down and unable to see the enjoyment of learning. By introducing more creative ways of learning and making sure that we cover more subjects than just what the children will be tested on I think the rate that children grasp concepts and begin thinking on their own will increase. One of the downsides to the “drill and kill” method of teaching is that children have little chance to “choose” areas of learning that they are interested in and focus on them. When we look at Montessori and Piaget’s thinking, there is some strong evidence that points toward the success of letting children choose the areas of study that they want to focus therefore letting their creative juices start flowing from the very beginning. I think I would suggest to parents and teachers that the more children are allowed to express themselves and choose what area of learning they want to master, the better those children will be at thinking critically and using their creativity to solve problems.
ReplyDeleteI think there has to be a balance between rote memorization and creative thinking. Memorizing things such as basic formulas for gas laws or the bones of the body lays foundation. Where I think schools need to spend more time and engage students is with the application of these foundations. As I watch my 7th grader work on his math recently, at the beginning he was frustrated, mainly because he hadn’t memorized the fact that Area of a circle= Ï€R2 or area of a triangle = ½ BH. Once we understood that, he was able to understand what he was looking at and apply it to the problems. As more complicated problems and shapes came up, he could pull from his foundation of formulas and apply it. It’s cool to see him move through this, but his next question was when am I ever going to use it.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting article published on the National Education Association website talked about ‘deeper learning.’ It gave specifics about students working on projects and how being able to dive deeper and critically assess areas, students do better on tests and better in life. It talks about how kids, through critical thinking, are exposed to more than they would be through memorizing book work (Towler,2015). By tying in the foundations memorized to problems that look at a bigger picture, kids are more engaged, more interested and learn more than just how to plug numbers into a memorized formula.
Towler,L. (2014,November 4) Deeper Learning: Moving Students Beyond Memorization. neaToday. Retrieved from http://neatoday.org/2014/11/25/deeper-learning-moving-students-beyond-memorization-2/
You make a really good point that memorization and critical thinking both have their place and that one is not more important than the other. It is very easy to dismiss some memorization and say "when will I ever have to retain this." However, with that being said these types of skills do train specific neural pathways that one may use even without thinking. The application of all this I would agree is the most important.
DeleteTeachers should make the shift from the “drill and kill” method to the “little scientists and critics” method of teaching. There would need to be some obstacles to overcome before completely switching to the new method. One would be the school system, who need students’ scores on standardized test to be high. They need to know that this new method will teach them the same, if not more, than the last “drill and kill” method. Parents would need to be convinced as well. Their concerns will most likely be that the new system will fail, and their child will suffer. They could also be worried that their child will not learn enough and may not be a critical thinker. All of their arguments are valid, but we could follow up their concerns with evidence and support on how making the change to critical, creative, and scientific thinking will benefit their child’s educational needs. Some evidence will be that they will actually want to learn. They will not be put in a box of how they should think, but go through the motions of what they think and come to their own conclusion. This means that children’s attendance will increase, and they will be in school more to learn more material. This thinking will help them immensely when they graduate, because critical thinking is what everyone does in their careers. This will improve these skills early on, so they do not have to struggle with them later in life. When children are not concerned with getting a right answer, their skills of critical thinking will flourish. Overall, I think that this method will increase attendance, make school more enjoyable, and teach children what real world thinking is like.
ReplyDeleteJulia,
DeleteI agree that convincing teachers to move to a more critical and creative thinking style of teaching may be a challenge. Many teachers are worried about how their students will score on tests, because their jobs depend on their students doing well in their class. However, I think it is important for students to be able to learn in new ways and use their own creativity to help them remember information. Many students only memorize information long enough to regurgitate it on a test, and then forget everything they just learned. The drill and kill teaching method makes learning boring and unenjoyable. If students were able to think critically and creatively, they would be able to retain information better. Overall, I think that it is important for students to be able to learn through hands on and interactive ways, and use creative and critical thinking skills to learn and retain new information.
I think that shifting away from “drill and kill” and adding more creative and critical thinking in education would be a lot more beneficial toward developing children. In many of the other posts they mentioned using “drill and kill” as a way to prepare for standardized tests which I also agree with. The drill and kill method of having students memorize and use only certain things that do apply toward a standardized test may not be all that beneficial in the long run. After the standardized test is over, many students will not need to apply all the things they learned into the real world. There could, however, be a balance used with drill and kill and creative and critical thinking. There are some basic things that everyone should learn and know such as basic math skills and other various things that will be used throughout the course of one’s life, but adding more creative and critical thinking allows for children to see things from many different points of view and makes them use deeper thinking as to how they can solve multiple problems. Applying creative and critical thinking allows children to think deeper and use their own mind rather than memorizing only one way to do things, and also allows them to engage more in the learning process. Being able to be hands on and interactive with their own learning, children would probably be more excited to learn new things. I think that shifting away from straight drill and kill and using a balance of that and adding creative and critical thinking would be extremely beneficial in the learning process for developing children.
ReplyDeleteCameron,
DeleteI agree that we need to start shifting away from strict drill and kill techniques in many schools. You brought up a great point though, I agree that a balance between drill and kill and critcal and creative thinking would be best. The drill and kill method doesn't have many long run advantages however, it is very beneficial to score high on placement exams. But, if we were able to also instill the creative and critical thinking, the students would also have a deeper understanding of how to apply their knowledge and use deeper thinking.
Education should move away from the "kill and drill" teaching technique and move towards a more creative and critical thinking technique. The "kill and drill" approach pushes children to perform well on tests, however it is exhausting for the children and is not the best way for them to retain information. If I were in a position to argue for a more creative and critical thinking technique, I would discuss the benefits of this technique with teachers, parents, and administrators. For example, some children learn better with a more hands on approach, rather than just discussing a topic, and a creative approach would allow for that. A critical thinking approach would allow children to think about many aspects of the subject, rather than just being told about the subject. Using this approach will impact children in the long run, because they will be better at problem solving and thinking on their toes. Overall, children that learn with a creative and critical thinking technique understand information better and can apply what they learn in school to the outside world in a more proficient way.
ReplyDeleteBecause children retain more information by creating networks of meanings around each word, you would be doing a disservice to the child to make them memorize and regurgitate information. Although the idea of a child being a critic to some parents and teachers could be viewed as a nuisance, preparing children with the tools to think critically will set them up in the future. When children are given opportunity and encouraged to be independent at a young age, they are more likely to make responsible choices or be more engaged with the material because they aren’t constantly trying to fight for control and power.
ReplyDeleteCamryn,
DeleteI completely agree with your statement that children need to be critical thinkers. I believe that it helps build their character and it definitely better prepares them for the future. Being creative can help children build healthier relationships in their futures and maybe even help them better cope with stressful situations. Good post!
If I were making an argument for more "little scientists and critics", I would convince parents, teachers, and administrators of this concept by providing a picture of a child's ideal future if they became thinkers related to science. I would provide evidence on how they would become more successful in their careers and how they would have room for improvement and advancement in the current scientific and technological field. I would use dates and populations relating to the current workforce and the new developments that have occurred within the past few decades (televisions, cell phones, etc.) With facts and ideas, most people would hop on board to this ideal teaching of how to think.
ReplyDeleteI find it extremely important for society as a whole to move away from "drill and kill' method. With the drill and kill children are forcing themselves to learn material just purely for a grade. Most of the time this is short memory learning and does not stick. Children learn more through associations we have learned throughout this course. Critical thinking is so important, and mostly just allows someone to think through a problem without having all the answers every time. Convincing a parent of this would not be hard if you take all the facts into consideration. Being able to make decisions based off of purely your knowledge and best judgement is what is best for anyone in that matter. This is very important tool for kids to learn early on in life. Creative thinking is also very important. Being creative and thinking ideas on your own helps a lot in the real world. Being creative in your own learning makes things that the actual person is learning easier. Teaching away from drill and kill only can benefit a child.
ReplyDeleteLynsi,
DeleteI agree with your statement saying the drill and kill method children are focusing on learning the subject for just a grade. I myself am guilty of this, learning material just to get an A on the test and as soon as the test is over all the information I learned is lost. This is how this generation is being taught, instead of teaching critical thinking that will show students how to make important decisions through out life. Great Post!
To make a solid argument about transferring to a "little scientists and critics" way of education, I would first mention that "kill and drill" education is needed first. Children need a solid understanding of the basic before they are able to branch out and think critically. When they reach this level of understanding, they are more likely to form their own opinions and be able to discuss them with others. If you ask parents about how many times they use the formula PV=nRT in a year, I bet there won't be many hands up. But if you ask the parents why a balloon deflates when it is cold, most would be able to tell you. These are both the same concept, the difference is that one is mathematical and one is using critical thinking. If you can get the parents and teachers to understand that critical thinking is used more than "kill and drill" learned skills, it would be easier to convince them.
ReplyDeleteHey Maggie,
DeleteI enjoyed reading your perspective on this topic. I hadn't though about how the "kill and drill" method could help build a good foundation for the "creative and critical thinking" method. After reading this though I completely agree with you, and I do think it would be good for kids to have that solid foundation under them.
I don't think we should remove the "drill and kill", but I do think that creative and critical thinking should be applied more to our students in all educational programs. Due to the No Child Left Behind act, students are expected to get a certain score or higher on a standordized test. Both teaching methods in my opinion and experience are needed to target all parts of the brain when it comes to learning. To convince parents and teachers that both methods are needed we should approach how every "typical human/ student" is starting to think the same and precise their worlds or lives the same as others. In order to continue excelling in future discoveries students need to be taught to think differently from their peers and expand their creative thinking skills.
ReplyDeleteAnn,
DeleteI agree with your statement about how both methods are needed to target each part of the brain in learning. I think that both methods need to be implemented but the focus should shift more toward creative and critical thinking because as of right now it is mostly drill and kill. If children are able to think "outside the box," it allows them to come up with more than one solution to solve problems and make new discoveries. I enjoyed reading your post, great work.
Children retain more information and are better critical thinkers later in life if they are able to think like “little scientists & critics”. From a personal experience it super hard for me to understand anything when the teachers just “drill and kill”. I have to look up almost everything to understand it. Since kids will probably not ask for help to understand the subject, so they get lost in their learning. I would convince parents, teachers and administrators that letting children be critical thinkers in their own way would help them learn and retain information faster now and in the future. When parents hear this, I am sure they would jump at the chance of helping their kids become smarter, faster. I would maybe take two children who are struggling with school a bit and experiment with them. I would have a girl and boy, so there would not be any arguments about why the experiment didn’t work as well. I would let them learn with their creative side. They could use construction paper, blocks, and colored crayons to solve math problems. This helps immensely with my siblings, who are home schooled, because they need motivation to learn and these help keep them interested. Letting them do it themselves with colored and fun objects help to retain information because they correlate the colors or shapes with numbers or words.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there does need to be more creative and critical thinking within schools. We should not completely get rid of drill and kill but we could use more creative thinking. I believe that both of these teaching methods are beneficial and are needed within a school. I would try to convince the parents and teachers that they should introduce more creative/critical thinking whenever they can. Creative and critical thinking can help a child later on with their IQ and problem solving. Both teaching methods are beneficial for a child so I believe that we need an even balance of both.
ReplyDeleteSchools currently are trying to teach their students how to master the concepts that will be tested on national exams and placement exams. High scores on these exams may set the child up for a higher chance at acceptance into colleges and more scholarships based off of their grades, and high-test scores will even benefit the school as their funding will be guaranteed. However, the drill and kill mindset that is being enforced by teachers and memorized by students, the benefits tend to level out after those high school tests. I am trying to argue for the benefits of teaching students how to become critics and think/argue with a critical, creative, and scientific thinking. If a child learns how to think critically, they will constantly be searching for evidence and research that supports something they are being taught/told. If a child searches for evidence constantly their reasoning skills will increase dramatically as their knowledge for other aspects increases. These skills would then follow the children throughout their lives and allow them to question anything until there is proof and allowing their research to lead them on a learning experience.
ReplyDeleteIf society moved away from the drill and kill teaching and moved towards creative and critical thinking, children will open up a whole new mindset. Kill and drill teaching is when a teacher assigns more memorization tasks or the same assignment repetitively. This can occur in almost any subject but is more commonly seen in arithmetic, spelling, grammar and many more subjects. Often times, teachers don’t realize they are a kill and drill teacher. On the other hand, teachers need to move children to more creative and critical thinking. Creative and critical thinking makes children dig deep into problems and solve them on their own. Creative thinking is when children can look at problems multiple ways and develop a different understanding about them. In addition to, critical thinking is when a child can think clearly and rationally and use prior knowledge to help solve problems that are new. Critical and creative thinking help children form new ideas and figure out problems by themselves. Children will not always have someone by their side to help them solve problems. Everyone needs to form critical and creative thinking and get away from the drill and kill. In the long run, drill and kill will not help individuals in jobs, higher classes, and even everyday life. All in all, creative and critical thinking is the way to teach and progress children.
ReplyDeleteCritical thinking is a type of learning that school districts should start implementing in their lessons because right now teachers are only focused the “drill and kill” technique for learning. Standardize testing has become the core reason for “drill and kill”, teachers are only teaching their students subjects that are tested in standardize testing. This is making the children think more like a robot, instead of teaching them critical thinking. I believe standardize testing should be erased from school systems because they do not accurately show a student’s intelligence and are not personalized at all. For example, a student could be a genius but happens to be a slow test taker, so during standardize tests he/she will not have time to completely think through problems and double check themselves. Critical thinking is taught through hands on, fun activities that will keep children engaged and interested in learning and “drill and kill” is the typical pencil and paper homework problems doing the same type of question repeatedly. Learning critical thinking has many benefits to it therefore, school districts should seriously consider switching their techniques of teaching.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to move away from the “drill and kill” teaching technique. Students are drilled with information until they have it memorized, which in turn kills their drive to continue learning. Students are forced to memorize and repeat information, which makes learning unenjoyable and dreadful for students of all ages. For these reasons, and more, I believe it would be very beneficial to move to a more critical and creative education system. Children learn in different ways. Giving them information to memorize and regurgitate will not work for all children. A more hands on and interactive teaching technique could allow children to create their own creative ways of remembering the information. This would also allow children to obtain a deeper understanding of the information they are learning. Although this drill and kill technique can work for some students, it doesn’t work for all, and can come with many downfalls. Students no longer enjoy going to school, and often times memorize information to pass a test and forget what they learned the next day. If schools were to use a more creative approach to teaching, students would find more ways to relate to the new information through different ways of learning.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think the “drill and kill” method is not very efficient in teaching the kids how to learn and adapt to the world around them. I feel like schools have made this relationship between good grades and being successful in life. Although this can be true sometimes it does not work for everybody. There was an example where a fish, a monkey, and a dog are asked to climb a tree. The animal that could complete this task would then be given a passing grade. This example relates to children as well. Not everyone learns the same and those with better memory are going to have better test scores due to the “drill and kill” method. I think teaching certain subjects is very important, but we shouldn’t focus all of our attention on that. I think we should put more effort into teaching kids how to problem solve so that when they are faced with a problem they are unfamiliar with they can overcome such obstacle.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy, Braxton! I didn't think of it that way. What examples for problem solving do you think would help?
DeleteThe saying "drill and kill" is very realistic. I think we have all experienced it at some point or another. We are forced to learn tons of information (most of the time taht will never be used again) that we might be interested in which in turn kills motivation and drive to want to learn or like school. There are many ways to change this. For one, I am aware that most stuff is curriculum that cannot be changed, but it can be presented in a more hands on and fun way for students to learn. Elementary school kids are not interested in reading from textbooks. From my own experience, it wasn't until high school that there were hands on science projects. Every person is different in the way they learn, but applying a concept to a real life situation and being able to do it and see it happen enhances learning for everyone. While following curriculum, more hands-on and applicable projects should be added in. Otherwise, children lose interest and there is nothing to look forward to at school, in my opinion. Learning can be fun! It takes a good teacher and a little fun to change the way a child thinks about learning.
ReplyDeleteThe "drill and kill" method of teaching has almost no benefit to children, in my opinion. I believe that it doesn't allow children to think logically or critically. All children learn at different paces. I believe that if schools applied more creative and critical thinking, they would see a huge improvement. Being able to express your creativity and critical thinking is one of the best ways for children to find their "voice" and build their personalities. It give them an opportunity to strive at their own pace. From personal experience I believe that if I had more critical/ creative learning style growing up, I wouldn't struggle with school as I do today. Schools should continue to stick to a curriculum but should involve more hands-on experiences and encourage children to think critically. Children can lose focus very quickly if they don't find a topic interesting (which can lead to other issues). If we can find a way to make the subject more entertaining and stimulating, maybe we would have children who are better equipped in their future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteTaylor, I really enjoyed reading your post! The part that stuck out to me the most is when you mentioned that allowing students to be more creative helps them find their voice. I completely agree with that statement. I also believe that allowing children to work creatively helps them be more confident in their work.
DeleteI think that is important for parents and teachers to move away from the “drill and kill” and “little scientists & critics”. Its important for kids to embrace their creativity. If they are able to explore it, can you imagine what kind of cool stuff they would come up with? That is how we get to have cool new things now days because of the creative minds of people. If kids are not allowed to be creative, how can they expand their minds once they go out in the "real world"? I think its a important trait to have as a person if they have one.
ReplyDeleteKatarina, I completely agree. If we don't allow children to explore their thinking, how will they learn to create new things. I believe allowing the creativity to grow will help them in the real world as well!
DeleteThe method of "drill and kill" does not work in my opinion. It doesn't have any benefit and it causes unwanted stress on the children. So much information is being taught all at once and is expected to be remembered, and not every child is able to do that. Some children are and that's because they learn and remember things faster. All children learn at different paces and teachers need to remember that when teaching. You can't change the curriculum, but you can change how it is taught. Instead of making students take notes and read from the text book, why not let them do hands on projects, or group discussions. I know when I was in high school that's the best way I learned and remembered the information. I believe students need this change because if not they lose focus and not learn anything. If they feel they aren't learning most likely they will have no reason to go to school. If you change that and make learning fun and easier, kids will have to urge to learn.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we need to more more creative in our education, vs the "Drill and Kill" method. This will enhance so many more qualities and motivation to do better and learn more in our kids. With the "Drill and kill" method children are forced to learn as much as they can in a short amount of time and this then decreases their motivation to want to continue learning. I believe this is why a lot of people drop of out high school because they are pushed at a level that they are maybe not ready for and they think their only option is to drop out.
ReplyDeleteThe next step would be to convince everyone else that we need more creative ways of learning in our education. Children can still learn and achieve many things as long as it is in a better way that makes them want to learn more instead of cramming in whatever they can. I think every thing we learn is school is important but I also believe that adding in more life skills and problem solving would help more in the long run.
To support this theory I would first start by convincing a small class and a teacher that would participate. Then have a two week study doing more creative and hands on activities to build and grow their thinking. After the two week study I would ask the students on what they learned and what they think helped their learning.
To conclude I believe that it would help a lot of students if we made an effort to teach in a more creative way and more hands on activities.
ReplyDeleteI strongly believe that it is important for parents and teachers to steer away from the “drill and kill” style and lean towards the “little scientists and critics”. There are many benefits for both involved. When children are allowed to be creative and think for themselves, the outcome can be so much better. I would convince parents, teachers, and administrators to add more creative and critical thinking to education plans by explaining that something does not just have one way to be taught, and that not every child can learn from that one way. Learning is such an individual process that is not the same for any two people so using the “drill and kill” teaching can really be pointless at times. If all children received information or a question, but then was able to explore it creatively and uniquely, they would be able to give a more genuine and enriched answer. Very few children can be taught in the “drill and kill” way and still want to return to school every day to face the same teaching. If changing the gear of teaching lead to higher school attendance, it would be worth it. The more children there are who want to learn, the more that will become “little scientists and critics”. Letting a child experience both types of teaching would provide a real and accurate example of why creative thinking is more beneficial than the other. It would be easy to see the differences in the child’s mood and their performances. Evidence of this being a beneficial practice can be found in “Learing from Creative Teachers” by Danah Henriksen and Punya Mishra. Implementing this teaching could positively impact the future of education.
I personally believe that the "drill and kill" method of teaching is not very beneficial to students, and that it can sometimes be harmful to children. By drilling a bunch of material into someones head, one is only going to remember the material to do well on a test. It is not a good method to use to attract children's attention to specific school subjects, or anything in particular. It almost reminds me of the authoritarian parenting style in some way. I have personally experienced this in some of my classes over the last few years, and it has made me lose interest in subjects that I one had favored over others. I believe that shifting towards more creative and critical thinking and steering away from the drill and kill method would make it easier for children to find out what they are actually interested in and what they are not interested in. The "little scientists and critics" method is when curious children figure out how the world works with experimentation and exploration. It helps children become more creative and think outside the box in certain situations. I think shifting more towards this method would be more beneficial in helping children find their interests and hobbies, and could also make them a better student. I would convince the parents, teachers, and administrators that shifting more towards the little scientists method would be to make them use the "drill or kill" method for a short period of time and then switch to letting the children think more creatively or use the "little scientists and critics" for a short period of time to prove that letting kids be more adaptive and creative is more efficient for the children and helps spark their interest more.
ReplyDeleteLearning a new concept can be challenging. Especially if one struggles to find the topic interesting. That’s why it’s imperative for teachers, parents, and administrators to avoid the “drill and kill” method. Although all children have their own ways of learning, they also struggle with a shortened attention span. Therefore, being forced or “drilled” to try and understand new material can make it even more difficult and in like terms “kill” their motivation to learn.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, the “little scientists and critics” method is what teachers, parents, and administrators should be shifting their educational system to. This method allows children to expand their thinking in a more abstract direction, be more creative, and remain engaged with their work. It’s also more beneficial in the retention of information they are perceiving. Lastly, the support and evidence I would use to strengthen my argument is I would compare the grades and test scores of students in a traditional classroom with the grades and test scores of students that work with more hands on projects.
It is important for children to develop creativity along with critical thinking skills. The use of “drill and kill” may work for some areas, but it does not give a child the freedom they need to learn for themselves. Adding creative and critical thinking options to the curriculum of young students would allow a child to express themselves in a more personal way. I would show parents and teachers that with the help of a more creative and critical approach that children are more open minded and will take different approaches to tackling problems. Teaching critical thinking skills will allow a child to look at something from multiple perspectives and will keep a student engaged in the topic. The “drill and kill” methods of teaching in my experience, can often be very boring and causing me to zone out or loose interest. Cutting down on the method would keep children more invested in schooling throughout the day. Although I think the “drill and kill” method should be cut back on, I don’t think that it should be done away with. I believe that the method does develop skills that are needed to progress through levels of education, but creative and critical methods are also needed to develop skills a young student will need. I think that a balance of the two methods would be ideal for the development of a child’s mind.
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