Reflection 2: Most Likely To Succeed
The documentary “Most Likely To Succeed” ended up being a lot more engaging than I had originally anticipated. I do not mean this in an offensive way whatsoever, but I think my preconceived notion about what the documentary would be like addresses similar themes to those that were discussed. I attended a public school as basic and ordinary as any other, and when we had to watch documentaries, we were often forced into them, and they often contained perspectives from individuals students could not relate to (older individuals, scholars, historical figures, etc). This documentary on the other hand, focuses on the perspectives and passions of students, as well as features adults that are not afraid to shake up how children learn. Watching this documentary, and knowing that schools like High Tech High exist gives me a lot of food for thought in terms of how I will lead in my future classroom.
What?
From this documentary, I think I got better insight into the value of educating the way High Tech High does. By allowing students more freedom in what they learn, they are gaining knowledge about subject matters they are genuinely interested in, therefore increasing their motivation. Furthermore, it seems that the students attending High Tech High are encouraged to learn skills/subjects that will genuinely benefit them when it comes to their long-term lives. In the world today, this is far more beneficial than simply teaching children how to “ace” a test, as our economy is changing, and students that aced all of their tests and got through post secondary school are not always employed, regardless of their credentials. There is no real value in simply memorizing facts, as it often prevents students from actually absorbing the knowledge provided by those facts, this being why the way standard public schools operate is not serving the children in our world in the ways that are needed.
So What?
High Tech High surprised me very much upon first starting the documentary, and I knew that this would be a school that would make me nervous to attend, as I am very used to the basic, traditional structures that are typically provided for students. However, I realized that as the documentary states, this could be a potential drawback; this struck me during the scene where students attending a public high school were talking to their math teacher about what they hope to gain through what they are being taught. When they all answered “ace the test” rather than bring any information forward as valuable life experience, I realized that I would have said the same exact thing. I am in no way saying that I learned nothing from high school, however, the fact that it felt like performing well on a test was the only thing I had to show for my learning at the end of the year says a lot; we never addressed our material again after completing our test for it, and as a result, some of it I most likely could not recall at this point. As a future teacher, I think this documentary was very important to see, as I need to have an understanding of how the standard curriculum can be beneficial as well as damaging. I want to ensure that the knowledge I provide in my classroom genuinely benefits my students in their long-term lives, and that the entirety of their intelligence does not feel like it is being summarized by their scores on a few tests.
Now What?
With what I have gathered from this documentary, I think my ideas of how I will structure my classroom have definitely evolved. I do think test-taking can provide students with genuine benefits, but not necessarily with how it is presented/framed today. For my students, I want test-taking to feel like the self-assessment it might have been at one point before there was so much anxiety surrounding it. While I think there is something to be said about the facts my students are retaining, and the importance in ensuring they know these facts, I do not want to base their grade solely off whether they chose the right multiple choice option on their test. Were they engaged while we learned this subject? Did they put in effort to understand it? Do I think they will be able to carry this knowledge forward in some way? These are extraneous questions I want to have an equal amount of importance to their test results. Overall, I think this documentary communicates a valuable message in general, but especially to future educators, as we are the ones responsible for considering the knowledge taught in the future, and how it is taught.
While writing this reflection, I also browsed High Tech High’s website to try and get a little more insight, and will hyperlink it down below.