Submitted by Scott Shuler (not verified) on June 12, 2007 - 10:27.
The biggest issues in secondary learning have little to do with grade level format, and much more to do with instruction and content.
Secondary students, including middle grade students, need to be presented with content in ways that engage them. There are many strategies that increase engagement, some of which have appeared in Edutopia previously -- for example, integration of technology and media, inclusion of arts content and real-world, issue-based content that engage students emotionally as well as intellectually. To make this happen secondary teachers, who unfortunately too often tend to teach in the awful, lectures-with-textbook style that they endured during college, must change their instructional practices.
All Secondary Students Need Engagement as well as Content
Submitted by Scott Shuler (not verified) on June 12, 2007 - 10:27.
The biggest issues in secondary learning have little to do with grade level format, and much more to do with instruction and content.
Secondary students, including middle grade students, need to be presented with content in ways that engage them. There are many strategies that increase engagement, some of which have appeared in Edutopia previously -- for example, integration of technology and media, inclusion of arts content and real-world, issue-based content that engage students emotionally as well as intellectually. To make this happen secondary teachers, who unfortunately too often tend to teach in the awful, lectures-with-textbook style that they endured during college, must change their instructional practices.