Letting go is definitely a major limitation to student-centered teaching in mathematics. As teachers, we tend to teach the way we were taught which is traditional the teacher-centered model. Teacher’s attitude toward the concept is another limitation. Teachers are already responsible for covering a certain amount of content within a year and may feel pressured. Some moving out of their comfort zone may not be a priority.
Moving toward student-centered teaching methods will be beneficial to the student because it increase student skills, motivate student involvement and participation, as well as, force high level thinking. Student-centered teaching also requires time for planning. Teacher must provide opportunities for students to solve problems, construct examples, answer questions, explain reasoning, and summarize discussion. Teachers must think ahead, we must do less telling and allow students to discover. The ultimate goal is for students to retain knowledge and know why they are doing what they are doing.
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2 comments:
You brought up some excellent points. I think the main things we need to do to move toward student-centered teaching is plan well and let go. We must plan well (engineer our lessons) with the constraints in mind so we will be able to let go.
it seems that alot more time must be spent planning with the student-centered approach. Lesson planning is already a very time-consuming process for me. Time and time management is definitely a constraint for me.When does a new teacher going to school for certification get the time to do this efficiently?
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