Rethinking Education: Chapter 6

     This chapter discussed the three eras of education. The chapter recaped the apprenticeship and universal-schooling eras and then examined the lifelong-learning era of today. It was interesting to read about how schooling has changed from being primarily taught by the parents at home, to being taught by outside teachers, to being taught anywhere through the use of technology. During the apprenticeship era, parents or relatives taught children the trade or craft of the family; children did not learn mathematics, science, and grammar as they do today, instead they learned the trade that was necessary for them to succeed in society. The next era following apprenticeship was universal schooling. Universal schooling brought about some changes to the things children were taught and the expectations that went along with these subjects. With universal schooling, for the first time, students were made to attend a school outside of their home. The school, similar to apprenticeship, was designed to teach students the skills they would need to succeed in society as an American; however, with universal schooling, the students learned how to be an American by learning traditional American values and subjects. Within universal schooling there were also vast changes. At first schools aimed to teach students everything that they needed to know to succeed as adults in society, but as knowledge began to expand it became impossible for schools to teach all of the knowledge; schools then decided that it was important to teach students to learn how to learn and how to find useful resources. I think that this is a very important concept; teachers cannot teach students everything, rather they must teach students to be resourceful and to seek out their own knowledge of things that they question or are interested in.

     It was interesting to read about the changes that occurred throughout the years, to get to the lifelong-learning that we see today. At first schooling was taught through apprenticeship, by one person to two or three other people. This learning was very individualized and thus very successful. I think that individualization is a large factor in helping students understand content; when students are encouraged to ask questions and seek advice, they will be more likely to do so and will be more likely to learn. Schooling has also changed from being primarily done in the home to being done in a separate building, to now being done anywhere (through the use of computers and the internet). Students can and will find information that they are interested in, on the web, but we as educators must teach our students how to be resourceful on the web and use the sites appropriately. 

     As a future teacher, I hope to encourage my students to learn how to learn. I hope that I will be able to teach my students the skills necessary to be successful adults. Students need to learn more than just the content in mathematics class, they must also learn how to succeed when they do not have a teacher available to help them. I hope to help my students become independent learners, who will try new things, and grow as learners. I hope to inspire my students to be lifelong-learners.