Micheal Wesch : How Students Learn

 Dr. Michael  Wesch’s Ted talk was so inspiring and had me thinking about how my students learn and thrive and if I act on my beliefs of learning.   Dr. Wesch believes that students learn through having a connection with students.  He gets to know them and what is going on in their lives that could be causing issues.  He believes that students learn when they ask questions and take those questions outside the classroom.  He focuses on three questions:

  1. Who am I?

  2. What am I going to do?

  3. Am I going to make it?


Throughout the video I noticed that Dr. Wesch also believes in having students use their strengths to succeed.  For instance, instead of getting angry at his student that sleeps in class because he's playing video games, Dr. Wesch has that student use his talent to participate in class.  It’s like he individualizes activities for his students so they can succeed.  Dr. Wesch also believes in team work/group projects for students to learn.  He talks about a mountain in which all the students are at the bottom, but with scaffolding and teamwork the students help each other to get to the top. What an amazing take on learning.  The “not yet” instead of receiving an F reminds me of the Growth Mindset that we use in our classroom.  A statement like “I can’t read” turns into ‘I can’t read YET!  With time, perseverance, and practice that student will reach the top of the mountain with the support of their classmates and teacher.  Through his son, baby George,  Dr. Wesch wants his students to realize learning is about failure and having the courage to get back up and try again.  Dr. Wesch acts out on his beliefs by making a connection with his students, getting to know them outside of school, and making his classroom a learning environment where students can take risks.  

Dr. Mike Wesch talks about the design of the classroom being large with fixed speakers where learning is about dumping information into students' heads made me think how this relates to Paulo Freire’s Banking Concept of Education. This is the type of teaching where it is teacher- lead.  Students are the containers and the teacher deposits the information.  This form of teaching lacks creativity, transformation, and knowledge (pg.77) This is the type of learning that Dr. Wesch believes it hinders learning. Dr. Wesch and Paulo Freire both  believe classrooms should be  more student-centered, with collaboration among students and teachers, and dialogue.

Reference

Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the Oppressed (50th ed.). New York, NY: Bloomsbury Academic

Comments

  1. Alyssa MasonJune 28, 2022 at 5:37 PM

    Elena,

    Like you, I also connected Wesch's teaching beliefs to implementing a growth mindset. I really enjoy the video you have attached here to explain growth mindset (I had not seen it before today) and foresee myself using it in the future with students and colleagues alike. Thank you for sharing this piece of media!

    ReplyDelete
  2. John BrennanJune 28, 2022 at 6:00 PM

    Elena,
    I really like your ideas on this talk. I almost made that comparison with Freire's banking concept as well in regards to the dumping of information into the students. I did not do that in my blog post, but I was thinking about it, and I am glad I was not the only one. You make some really great points in your blog post. Take care!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jenarita PlanteJune 29, 2022 at 5:06 AM

    Thank you for connecting Wesch to growth mindset because he totally uses it! As he gained a growth mindset he was able to teach his students to have a growth mindset. I think you make some really great points in your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  4. LesleyJune 30, 2022 at 6:36 AM

    Beautiful connection to Freire here! I hear that, too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. HannahJuly 13, 2022 at 6:11 AM

    I also felt very connected to this Ted talk. There's so much more to teaching than just depositing information. I also really push the growth mindset in my classroom, where many of my students claim they "can't do" certain things. Dr. Wesch was amazing at motivating his student by learning about them and how to get him to connect to his class. That kind of relationship development was something I found really worked for me in my classroom as well. Thank you for your good insight in this post!

    ReplyDelete

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