School 2.0 Reflection Tool

Ken Robinson’s speech about creativity in our public education systems is enlightening in the way that he delves into the role of creativity in exposing the rigidity of our public school systems and  in the way that they are designed only towards defining academic success and intelligence within a narrow and out-dated context. Public school systems have historically positioned subjects within a specific hierarchy in which math and science are on top and arts are on the bottom. This is because society has always viewed schools as a place where students get their education in order to get a job, and because certain careers with certain skills are more valued in society than others, students are steered away from certain courses in school such as the arts and literature and as a result, the strengths and interests of students in these areas are devalued. This stands in conflict with Ken Robinson’s position that intelligence—in the way we measure and conceptualize it now (through the three R’s of the education)—is diverse, meaning that we think and react to stimulus in different ways, and dynamic, meaning that creativity comes about through the interaction of different ways of seeing things in a classroom environment. Looking at the way schools have destroyed students’ creativity by channeling their efforts within a narrow set of subjects and instruction methods reveals the importance of the NETS standard of “Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity”; specifically the idea to  “promote, support, and model creative and innovative thinking and inventiveness.” The speech gets across the basic idea that students learn in different ways and have different strengths. And if teachers do not realize this, some students will already be at a disadvantage in the classroom when we don’t take into account the advantages and strengths they do have. This kind of idea will have a substantial impact on my approach to teaching by promoting the idea of diversity; both in my method of instruction and accommodating to the way students absorb information differently. Moreover, watching the video reiterates the idea that it is often the case that students get engaged with the subject matter not because of the nature of the material per se, but the way the material is presented and the way students can manipulate and approach it in the way that best fits with their learning style.

Welcome to my world...

I’m George Esguerra. Aries. Filipino. I was born in the Philippines but on an American military base (kind of like Camp Pendleton) so that technically makes me an American citizen by birth even though I never stepped foot in the U.S. until I was 7. My father was in the navy so that meant that we moved 2 or 3 times between the United States and the Philippines before finally settling in Oceanside where I live now. My siblings and I all went to the same elementary, middle and high schools. After graduation I didn’t know what I really wanted to do in life so I decided to go to Palomar Community to have some time to figure that out. It was during my two years there that I developed my interests in History into something more serious. I transferred to CSUSM in the Fall of 2007 with an Associate’s Degree in Economics and pursued a Bachelor’s in History with a minor in Global Studies. I had some really great History professors here and they heavily influenced me towards pursuing a teaching career which is what I did after graduation this past Spring when I enrolled to take the pre-requisites that will hopefully lead me into the Credential program.

I’ve pretty much grown up with technology with my entire life. I got my first computer when I was 8. I got my first pager when I was 11 (Ha! remember those?), cell phone at 14, etc. For much of my teen years, I approached technology from a more expressive/artistic rather than technical standpoint because I took several digital art and media classes in High School and College that taught me how to create videos, music, web pages, works of digital art using several software programs. Recently, I’ve turned away from approaching technology in this way and more towards using it in a way that benefits me only within the context of achieving my academic goals—which is why I’ve not really caught up with the whole social networking thing yet. Although, music, which plays an important part in my life, also plays an important part in my connection with technology: I can't be without my IPOD, its with me everywhere I go, even in the shower.

The one part of the College of Education’s mission statement that attracted me the most to CSUSM’s approach to its teacher preparation and training program—and which has been reiterated in all my classes—is the word ‘diversity’. Given that we live in Southern California where many people from different backgrounds interact and the fact that teachers today face many different situations in the work environment, the need to be flexible in a myriad number of ways was reflected the most in diversity. Diversity is important in another way in that it mixes well with my academic background in Global Studies and my interests in History where I learn about different time periods and different cultures.