Am I the Drama?

 Am I the Drama? 

While watching Sugata Mitra's powerful talk, I couldn't help but think of this iconic TikTok sound. Mitra's talk is built on his research that asserts, learning can and should happen in a way that vastly differs from our current system. 

Our current system originated over 300 years ago in the former British Empire. The British Empire violently occupied massive amounts of stolen land. In order to keep their oppressive hold over the land and its people, they created what Mitra calls the bureaucratic administrative machine. This machine is how the British communicated and maintained what they thought was 'order.' However, they needed workers to keep this system afloat. They needed to have neat handwriting, be able to read and to do basic computations. More importantly, the 'students' needed to have identical information. 

Flash forward 300 years, and our education system still strives to produce students with identical knowledge banks. I thought of this TikTok sound because, as Mitra was speaking, I was agreeing until I realized I am the system. Being a teacher today, and having to follow the punitive, assessment based curriculums I am given feeds this system that values performance under threat. 

However I do not agree with this system. I have seen in my science classroom what Mitra saw in his Hole in the Wall computer research: when students have access and encouragement they can accomplish unbelievable things. 

"It's not about making learning happen, it's about letting it happen. The teacher sets the process in motion and then she stands back in awe and watches learning happen" 

- Sugata Mitra

I think there are a lot of ways I can begin to bring this into my own practice, even under the pressures of our current school systems. In my next post, where I will be talking about my ideas for my project, I want to explore platforms that students can use to learn more about their passions. The first that comes to mind is Khan Academy, but I know there are others out there.