Journal Entry: My son is undergoing a project where he needs to present to the class his favorite bear. This project encourages students to speak in class and share their thoughts. Although I like the fact that children are encouraged to speak in class, I am not too fond of forcing kids to pick a favorite. There are many situations where educators ask the student to share what their favorite something or other is. I wonder why it is necessary to ask such a question. I fear that as one asks a child to pick a favorite, one is forcing a child to select and defend a whimsical fancy that now has a potential to be fomented as an integral part of the child's being. Why do we encourage children to narrow their realm of possibilities to get behind a "favorite?"
Larger Essay on this Topic is in Progress. (See Future Posts Page)
So my son did his bear presentation. Only instead of selecting a "favorite" and "bear," he presented his "new toy Birdie" (from the Angry Bird game). My wife videotaped the presentation and it seemed as if the presentation went smoothly (he does need to work on being a bit louder throughout his speech). When we presented to the teacher that we were going to alter the presentation from presenting a "favorite" to a "New Toy," she was fine with it. This makes me wonder what would happen if more children would have done this. How would it change the kids understanding of what they are presenting? Would they understand the excercise not as sharing anything in particular but instead as an excercise to present. Your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteMy paper on favorites its on its Outline phase. Stay tuned.