Educatorshavespentagesarguingaboutwhetherthetraditionalclassroomstructurewithstudentsallworkingonthesamelessonisreallysuitedtodifferentlearningstyles.
Twelve-year-oldYuvalKaganlookslikehe’sreadytoworkatacallcenter.He’samong10studentssittingatalongtablecoveredwithlaptopcomputerstalkingintotheirheadphones.”Yes”hesayslookingathiscomputerscreen.Yuralistalkingtoamathteacher.Ifhehasaquestionhehitsabuttoncalled“raiseyourhand”andtheteacherspeakstohim.
Yuvalsaysheenjoysthisformofteaching.“Inalessonwithaclasstheteacheralwayshastotellotherstudentstostoptalkingbuthereyoucanhaveone-on-oneteaching.”
ThatpersonalizedapproachiswhatmakesSchoolofOnedifferent.It’sanafter-schoolmathprogramtakingplacehereatI.S.228andtwoothermiddleschools.Kidsspendpartoftheirtimeworkingwithonlineteachers.Butteacherscanalsosetinstructioninsmallgroupswhereateacherexplainsaspecialmathproblem.Andsometimestheyworktogetherasdemonstratedbytwoboysusingcolorfulblockstofigureoutageometryproblem.
SchoolofOnewasfirstpilotedlastsummerwithmiddlescholarsinChinatown.AssessmenttestsshowedsomuchprogressthattheDepartmentofEducationexpandedtheprogram.DominickD’AngelotheprincipalofI.S.228sayshewantedhissixthgraderstotakepartbecausethetraditionalclassroomdoesn’tserveeverychild.ButSchoolofOneiswhatitsnamesuggests.
“Astudentisworkingathisorherownpace”saysD’Angelo.“Notwithagroupof30otherstudents.Iftheydon’tgetittodaytheyhavetoworkonitagaintomorrow.They’renotleftbehindbecausetheycan’tcatchupwiththeclass.It’sattheirownpace.”
ChancellorJoelKleinsays“Thiskindofapproach---studentscenterednotclassroomcentered---isgoingtobeapartofthefutureofEducation.”
ButDanielWillinghamaprofessorofPsychologysays“Studieshavebeendonetryingtoprovethatsomepeoplelearnbestvisuallyhoweverotherpeoplelearnbestaurally(听觉上).Theyhaveshownthatthere’snobenefitinmeetingtheneedsofthoselearningstyles.”Headds“It’snotclearwhetherconsideringdifferentstylesoflearningmakesarealdifference.”
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