Garnering Knowledge for Teaching

I just read a NYT article describing a private high school that utilizes a new (well, new to me)  theraputic system that seems to offer some fascinating options for educating students who have a diagnosis within the Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD). The method is an interesting combination of Montessori and Dewey and I can see how it would fit the needs of many students with ASD.

But also, just thinking about the methodology used in this article made me think about the students with milder forms of ASD who are in elementary classrooms now.  No, we can’t necessarily encourage their insistence that they spend the day engaged in an obsession, but how can you take that obsession (or focus of the day) and make it work for you as a teacher?  I remember using those interests of my students with ASD as rewards for doing what I wanted them to do.  It worked because they were willing to work to get time to make a choice about what THEY wanted.

I realized though, that a lot of times, just giving my kids a choice, gave them the motivation they needed to do the task at hand.  I always wanted to try and build on the strengths of my students and that often meant giving them an opportunity to explore their interests (obsessions, foci, whatever it is).  Allowing them to push out against the world a bit and figure things out on their own.  It’s with time away from the classroom that I can see the power of a philosophy of choice.

But seriously, how does one extend that beyond a classroom of 10 students?  How do we apply it on a mass scale?

The sadness of the modern public classroom is that there is no room for catering to the curiosity of the child.  No room in the 2hr scripted literacy period for a child to even voice a preference, much less explore one.  It’s all about the teacher and the book and the test.  But, my teacher friends, I believe that at some point, this too shall pass and some rational form of education will take its place.

Here’s an interesting example of what I see as a rational option in educating students who really need a new way of accessing success in school.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/magazine/19Autism-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2