New teaching worrisome

Internet did not broaden horizons; it narrowed them: teacher

Re: Massive shift in teaching underway, Aug. 29

Tracy Sherlock writes “With students able to instantly search an infinite amount of information online … it is clear that schools will have to move away from a traditional model …” Clear to whom?

Teachers and textbooks do more than provide information, they provide guidance and direction, selecting for the student what is deemed important or necessary for her development. The inundation of information hasn’t negated this role, but made it more important.

It’s a mistake to assume that because kids can access more information, they will. As a high school teacher I found the opposite. An example: Occasionally, I have students memorize and recite a poem of their choice, 10 lines or longer. In the past, students usually chose one of the poems from the anthology we used in the class. More ambitious students went to the library and found a poem from an author they liked. Occasionally one or two students ended up doing the same poem, but most of the students chose a poem that no one else had chosen. However, recently, I had a class in which six or seven students all memorized the same poem. Even though the Internet had given them greater access to poetry, and search engines made it easier than ever to find poems that might appeal to them, these six or seven students had all gone to Google, typed in “ten line poem” and memorized the first poem that came up.

The Internet did not broaden their horizons; it narrowed them.

While the article gives generous space to quotes from the education minister and the superintendent of graduation, it fails to adequately report the concerns of parents and teachers. It reports “teachers … like (the new curriculum’s) focus on big ideas.” Which teachers? All teachers? The majority? As a teacher myself (and as a parent) I have deep reservations about the new curriculum, (and many teachers I know share them.)

Why is the government so determined to foist on our school system — despite the resistance of parents and teachers — a curriculum for which there are “no global examples to follow” and which is “untested?”

SHAWN STIBBARDS North Vancouver