We received an email this past week that really caught my interest. It was about the value of a degree for Aboriginal students. Unfortunately, the statistics surrounding Aboriginal university graduation are not favourable. In 2006, only 8% of Aboriginal students graduated university, putting them at a grand disadvantage in terms of employment, income, and health. This low number was surprising for me, because I always viewed the Aboriginal people as being very intelligent.
Why, then, are so few of them graduating university? The article states : "Aboriginal Canadians ...often lack sufficient preparation in math and science, and face these challenges without the support of family and community nearby." Reading this reasoning, I thought back to an article we read earlier in the year (and discussed in class) about how students learn better when the material is linked to familiar concepts. We talked about the medicine wheel being used in Aboriginal classrooms for teaching math. Aboriginal students are more likely to be able to make connections with math concepts when they have a familiar tool to refer to. Lyle Mueller, director of Aboriginal Programs and Services, says, “Math is math—we’re just changing the way we look at math.” What a brilliant idea! There's no rule about how students must go about learning the math - what's important is that students fully understand the concepts and are able to apply them effectively. So, then, the teachers were able to design a learning plan using the medicine wheel, very popular in Aboriginal communities, as a tool for teaching math.
My question is, why can't we apply this concept to ALL student groups? Instead of being ultra aware of what needs to be taught, and sticking to a teacher-at-the-front-of-the-room, or to a lecture or seminar teaching style, concepts would be much more exciting if we could find ways to explain them which relate to subjects that the students are more familiar with.
In my opinion, an 'exeptionality' doesn't have to be something that hinders understanding or makes a student stick out from the rest. An exceptionality could also include a cultural difference between the teacher and students, as in the Aboriginal student scenario described above. An exceptionality is something that requires additional tools to best understand the course material. In this way, the Aboriginal students are exceptional, because their peak of learning occurs with the help of an additional learning tool, in this case, the medicine wheel.
I find it very interesting that sometimes it just takes a different means, to the same end, to garner that understanding in students. I love the fact that everyone is different and everyone's brain works in different ways. That "Aha!" moment is one of my favourite feelings in the world. The formation of that connection in my brain, when a new concept just clicks. And from the minimal teaching experience I have, I get almost as excited when I can help another person get to that "Aha!" moment. The best example I can think of was a little girl I used to teach piano to. She was very intuitive with the instrument, and rarely had any problems counting. But one day, she was frustrated with a section that was giving her trouble. I ended up having to explain the piece to her like a story, and we put words to the part of the piece that was giving her trouble, that she could say in her head while she played. After weeks of labouring over the piece, she finally understood. The relief and satisfaction and pride on her face is something I hope to see much more of in my students in the future, in any subject!
This is exactly the kind of thing that we need to be doing in our classrooms and lesson plans -- although I must admit that I'm a bit intimidated. In a real classroom situation, not only will I be making accommodations or modifications for my one piano-playing student, but an entire class of differing genders, races, religions, and learning-styles. Here's hoping my creativity and open-mindedness will be enough to give each student an equal learning opportunity!
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