Innovators and Makers

When I first read this assignment, I thought of innovators as the people who came up with different ideas we as educators have found to be useful for our students.  I did not quite understand about the makers.  After seeing the information, I figured out that an innovator influences how we teach and a maker influences what we teach.

 I had a difficult time deciding on which “maker” I felt had influenced education as we know it today.  After much thought, I chose Henry Ford.  During the 1900’s, schools became a place to mold children for the future in the workplace.  According to the web site, www.leadership-with-you.com , Henry Ford felt work was an essential part of human beings and the fulfillment people needed.  He saw work as a large part of life that molds people into who they are.  Students are taught skills needed to become useful, working adults.  In high school, students are asked to pick a path according to their plans after high school.  This influences which classes they are required to enroll in and pass.  As college students, majors must be declared so the right path can be chosen.

Picking an innovator was not as difficult.  I chose John Dewey because of his educational theories.   In his book Dewey’s School and Society (1899), he stated that he believed experience was a better education than simply drilling and reciting information and facts.  This is something used today.  As educators we plan different activities into our lessons; because we know some students learn better by a hands-on experience.  I use as many hands-on activities as I can, especially when teaching math.  I find when the students can see something concrete it helps them with the abstract of many math equations.

                 Something commonly used in education today is connecting the lesson to a real life situation for our students.  In Experience and Education (1938), John Dewey said he thought a child’s education should be based on the world outside the classroom.  He also stated in the same book that a child’s psychological and physical development needed to be a base for education.  When I read this I immediately thought of differentiated instruction.  My most used differentiated instruction technique is when I am asking questions.  I choose my question according to the skill level of the student I am asking.