Book Reflection

While reading Daniel T. Willingham's "Why Don't Students Like School", I found several concepts in the book that made me "think" about teaching in new ways. When I called Borders to see if they had this book in stock, the person that was helping me started to giggle when I gave her the title of the book. After a good chuckle, she shared with me that both of her parents have been teachers for 25 years and ask this very question constantly.

One concept that caught my attention was when Willingham mentions that he has always been bothered by the advice to "make it relevant to students. He provides two reasons for this. First he discusses the fact that all content may not be relevant to student's lives at the time. He questions whether the Epic of Gilgamesh can be connected to students lives in a way they can understand now. Second, Willingham states that if a teacher cannot convince students some material is relevant to them, then should that material be taught? At times it is really difficult to make relevant connections and when the connections are not sound,then it may appear phony or weak.

While it is important to make connections between what student's are asked to think (learn) about and their lives, I think that constant focus on making these connections may lead to an expectation that "if something doesn't relate to a student's life, then there is no need to pay much attention to it". I have always hoped for my own children and my students when I was in the classroom, that learning would always "feel good" to them. Students should feel a sense of accomplishment and confidence while learning. I believe that one of the most important factors in accomplishing this, is the relationships that teachers build with students. If students feel genuinely cared for and respected by the teacher, then they will gain more confidence and value in their learning process. If the teacher "believes students can learn" then students will see the value in learning. I also think that when teachers show their own enthusiasm for learning,that it is contagious and students will more likely be enthusiastic about learning.

I very much enjoyed reading this book and found myself "thinking" about how we learn in new ways. I found myself looking at and thinking about a few educational ideas I had previously considered pretty sound,in new ways.