- Phuong's Reflections
- Teachers as Changing Agents
- Moral Education
- Sand, Brink and Seeds
- Education for Citizenship
- The principles and practice of teaching and class management
- Second Thoughts about Democratic Classrooms
- The Other Side of Inclusion
- Learning or Unlearning Racism
- The Victimization of LGB Youth
- Multicultural
- Education Toward a Culture of Peace
- Becoming a Professional
- LL's Reflections
- Why Teachers Must Become Change Agents
- Moral Education and the Need for Teacher Preparation
- Sands, bricks, and seeds: School change strategies and readiness for reform
- Educating for Citizenship in Canada
- Class Management from the Side of Teaching
- Democratic Classrooms: Promises and Challenges of Student Voice and Choice
- Learning in an Inclusive Community
- Breaking the Cycle of Racism in the Classroom
- Victimization of LGB
- Equity
- Psychological Needs
- Becoming a Professional
- Mike's Thoughts
- Jeremys stuff
I believe that “if people have choice and freedom to study what interests them, then they become more deeply engaged in, and thus less alienated from, their learning.” Life is about making the right choices not for others but for the individual themself. Everyone has different strengths and therefore will have different interests in what they want to learn. If an individual is given a set path of learning to follow regardless of what they want, they can become discouraged and the content can be meaningless to them. Whereas, the freedom to choose what is of interest to the individual allows more opportunity for active learning, full engagement and higher retention levels in the learning process. This also builds independence and self-thinking because the individual needs to evaluate what is better suited to their own needs and abilities. When I was in my last year of high school, calculus was a course requirement for practically every university course I wanted to take however it was not something that I was very interested in learning. I found that I did not fully immerse myself in studying it and only wanted to do the bare minimum and because of this, the end result reflected the amount of effort I put in. However once I got into university, I had the freedom to choose what courses I wanted to take, courses that I wanted to learn about. I was more engaged and enjoyed it because it was something I wanted to do. Being able to make my own choices in what I wanted to study resulted in more engaged learning and better results.
L.L.
Reference: Taking Sides (Issue 6: Are Truly Democratic Classrooms Possible?) pp. 84-102
• YES: Morrison, K. A. (2008). Democratic Classrooms: Promises and Challenges of Student Voice and Choice, Part One (pp. 86-95)
L.L.
Reference: Taking Sides (Issue 6: Are Truly Democratic Classrooms Possible?) pp. 84-102
• YES: Morrison, K. A. (2008). Democratic Classrooms: Promises and Challenges of Student Voice and Choice, Part One (pp. 86-95)