Response to Stasis and Change

This article really made me think and I found it extremely fitting for where I am at in my educational career. The article really made me think about what I was going to need to do to change school and the way English is taught today. It blew my mind when the author talked about how the way English is taught in schools today hasn't changed since the of WWII. To me that is ridiculous and unnecessary. The world is constantly changing and progressing, education should be doing the same. I also found it very interesting when the author is discussing how many teachers, parents, administrators, politicians and so many other people who have stake in schools and determine what happens there don't vital and important things about language and literacy and what it takes to teach those.  I think it so very true but I applaud the fact that he was strong and secure enough to actually state this and acknowledge that truth in his article.

I got all kinds of warm fuzzies at the beginning of his article when he talks about how teaching ultimately comes down to the interaction between student and teacher. I have always said that my relationship with my students will always mean more to me than the curriculum that I am teaching. Not to say the curriculum isn't important but the relationships I build will always be most important. Going right along with that topic I think are the two questions he asked at the end, the "what we need to know" questions.

The first question is "What kinds of communities do we wish to create and inhabit?" I think this plays such a huge role in the relationships we build with our students as well as how we can prepare and shape them for the emerging global culture. We as teachers have so much power to instill within our students positive, loving, adventurous and creative individuals who challenge and explore the world. Are we doing that? Are the relationships we make with our students building and filling them up to know all they are capable of?

The second question "How do writing and reading shape our understanding of ourselves as beings in the world?" Again in think this can have huge correlation with what we instill in our students as a result of the relationships that we build with them.