Regular readers of this blog will probably remember that I have been a fairly regular devotee of the Renaissance Society, an education/networking program held every Friday on the campus of Sac State. The program is generally open only to those 55 and up. Last Friday was the first day of classes for this semester.
The general philosophy of Renaissance Society classes is that there is no instructor. Rather there is a coordinator who sees that the course material is assigned out to various students who actually make the presentation. I think there is some discussion going on about whether that is the best way to do things.
One of the classes I'm taking is about Ancient Rome from about 400 BC to 600 CE, I think. The instructor made no bones about the fact that he was going to do all the teaching. He said we deserve the best instruction on the subject and since he's been teaching it over 30 years he knows more about the subject than anyone else in the class. Okay, so he's a little arrogant but I'll grant that to someone who can lecture on Ancient Rome in Ancient Latin.
The other class I'm taking is Film Noir. According to Wikipedia: "Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. " The Instructor for his class feels that Film Noir is more true to reality than most other film genres. Should also be interesting.
Ooh, I look forward to recommendations on films.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt that your teacher knows more and can explain more clearly than anyone else in the class. That said, pedagogic theory and experiment both show clearly that more LEARNING happens when students are more involved. But he doesn't seem to care.
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