As I write this post, I sit in the library with an assortment of books in front of me. One is Verbal Behavior by B.F. Skinner, assigned by the research lab I am working in this semester as we look into different reinforcements for teaching language variability in children with autism. It sits on top of my notebook for Language Development in Children, where we discuss the acquisition of language (I cannot begin to count how many times I have written that phrase) and what types of childhood contexts and disorders influence it. Open next to this stack is my Developmental Psychology text book, where we are currently looking into different theories of development and how we socially, physically, cognitively, and emotionally grow through out the life span. Left out of all the fun is The Out-of-Sync Child, which rests safely in my backpack waiting for me to pick it up and continue picking apart auditory and language deficiencies in children with Sensory Processing Disorder.
Needless to say, my learning experiences at the moment seem to focus explicitly on two things: language and kids.
If these two things we separate topics of study, I do not believe I would be semi-procrastinating by "taking a break" to work on my honors class homework. That has to say something, right? No, instead of having one or two classes only focusing on one topic or the other, all of my classes (aside from the blessing that is Literature and Civilization II) focus heavily on BOTH. And how they interrelate. And talk about the same topics. At the same time. In strikingly similar contexts.
Of course I feel like I should not be complaining. All of my classes teaching the same stuff means less studying, right? True, the similar concepts help a lot with learning the material. Having different approaches and angles of the same topics being taught to me helps to get a more well-rounded idea of the theories, hopefully giving me the tools to apply them more effectively. Yet one cannot help but get a little bored sometimes. As helpful as overlapping criteria can be for my GPA, it does nothing good for my attention span. Sooner or later, the school days get monotonous.
When I really reflect and put my petty complaining aside, I truly cannot complain. Sure, I might have language acquisition and developmental delays being beaten into my skull, but I love it. Well, I love the content, not the beating. I chose my majors because I have a deep interest and fascination issues and concepts and, more importantly, because I want to be able to help children who need it most. So while it may be a little mind-numbing at the moment, it will all pay off in the end when I am equipped with the knowledge I need to do what I love.
Hi Kiley, Thanks for posting on your learning experiences. I think this is a great reflection on pedagogy and learning content. Hopefully the value of the content will outweigh the pedagogical beating. Your reflection is thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteThe days always do seem cyclical. It always just seems like the same thing but different day. All the same classes seem to reviewing the same topics over and over but just presenting differing perspectives. I think that this idea that I guess others feel here at TCU, at least I am not the only one. I also believe this just show us how true working life is and how it may be like a constant "beating."
ReplyDeleteIts awesome you love what you study. It is something I envy greatly, as I honestly have no idea what I want to do with my life haha. I feel like this love you have for education and children is one that many people are striving for. It helps me understand that I need to be patient, so I can truly find out what I wish to do. Your drive is inspiring and you sound like a teacher we need in this world
(This will be my second try at commenting on this blog.. lets hope it works)
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with the repetitiveness of classes sometimes. In my major(education too) classes are pretty repetitive. While this nice with my GPA, like you mentioned, it is not nice for my attention span. I am in education as well and I don't feel its doing the best job of preparing us for teaching. Learning on theories and ideas is necessary to have a base, I understand that, but is necessary to relearn it in every class? A rather cynical thought I have is these classes are getting us prepared for the constant similarity of teaching classes in schools? I hope not because I would like to think teaching is different everyday with new challenges. A part of teaching is being prepared for many different situations. Therefore that cynical thought doesn't quite work with our major. Therefore why are we repetitive?
I can't help thinking about jokes when reading this. A joke the first time is funny, the second time maybe more funny but by the 5th time aren't we bored? Comedians have to come up with new material or use material from a while ago to keep us entertained. If we had the same jokes thrown at us every day we would get bored too. Maybe TCU is a old joke getting replayed over and over again? (And that was a joke, even if it wasn't very good)
I feel the same way when I look at the classes I take and I agree that it can become very monotonous (I too am writing this while procrastinating on studying for one of my major's classes). I first got this feeling when taking Principles of Behavior I and II. BOTH of these classes are required for neuroscience majors and in BOTH classes, they cover chapters 1, 2, and 3 of the exact same textbook. I know the scientific method is important, but come on, we've learned about it since the 4th grade. I just keep telling myself that once I'm in all upper level classes, it should get better, and so far it has this semester. I hope the same thing happens for you!
ReplyDelete