November 10 blog - Engaged vs. Meaningful Learning

During the presentation about engaged learning and meaningful learning, along with the discussion that followed, prompted me to explore the actual differences between these two terms. Often they are used together and/or interchangeably, and that is not the correct way to interpret these two terms.

As I said in class, I think engaged learning refers to the means by which knowledge is experienced by students who are actively participating in their learning. It is, in my opinion, strongly connected to student motivation. If a student is interested in the material presented to them, they will be more inclined to participate in the learning process itself.

Meaningful learning refers to the means by which knowledge is cognitively processed by students in way that the develop personal meaning. Students are able to connect new concepts to things that they already have knowledge of and how new concepts relate to previously acquired knowledge. The contrast to this type of learning is rote memorization where students retain information for a set purpose in a set amount of time, when connections are not necessarily established to prior knowledge.

It's important as educators to consider both of these terms when teaching. Students are much more likely to create a meaninful learning experience when they are engaged in the content. Basically, by getting students excited and motivated about learning, a teacher can much more easily create an environment by which the students will develop a deeper and more meaninful understanding of content and concepts presented.

November 3 blog - Montessori and Constructivism

In reflecting on the presentation about Constructivism and the following discussion that included Montessori schools, I decided to look more closely at this type of schooling. While I feel my personal experience as a Montessori student was not ideal, I wanted to take the time to explore the topic further.

I found several discussion boards where people posted to the very questions I raise about Montessori schools - experiences with them, satisfaction with student performance, and overall impression. Of course, I found people who were totally "pro" Montessori, and people who were "con" Montessori. Regardless, I did find some overlying themes to the discussions: Many of the people posting lived in areas where public schools struggle and were looking for educational options for their children; parents were concerned about children who may have special needs; experiences relied heavily on individual schools as opposed to Montessori as a whole; observations were an absolute must before selecting a Montessori; most parents who posted had children of a younger age, ones who were involved in the Pre-K and early elementary level groups. There was not a lot of posts from parents of older children who were either in upper elementary level Montessori or had transitioned to public school.

What did this tell me? Well, that my concerns from my own Montessori days are valid. The school I attended no longer exists, so I cannot do any follow-up on it to see if it followed "true" Montessori philosophy and curriculum or if it was an accredited Montessori. What I can say is that some children have a wonderful experience at Montessori and excel as learners, while others have no business being in that type of environment. =) I definitely fall in the latter category, and am glad my parents switched me to a public school when they did. I do have to say, looking at the parent discussions, it did make me want to explore the possibility of a Montessori pre-school for my son...it never hurts to check things out! Seeing as he is only one, I think I have some time to decide.