When reading Cave for the first time I felt that the analogy was that of students fumbling around in the dark, brought up into the blinding light. I originally thought that we, the teachers, were the ones that were trying to expand the vision of our students, bring them into the light. It even worked on the level that the student that begins to understand what the teacher is trying to say, who embraces the teachers reality and becomes enlightened (the keener student), often faces ridicule and exclusion from the group that they originally belonged. Even how the prisoners competed with each other over who could guess the shadow, similar to students who compete for marks. What this had to do with educational technology I did not know. For the moment I forgot the theme of the course and just went with the picture in my head.
However, after going through the reading in class the picture in my mind transformed. Bringing in the themes from class, the freed prisoner went from the students to the teachers. My journey through the Faculty of Education sometimes felt like being trapped in the cave. I knew of this "teaching thing" that I was training for, but really had no idea of the reality that was coming. Within the first couple of years of my career I already feel like I am in the blinding light, fumbling around and trying to get my bearings. I am starting to see that some of the things that I once held as realities or truths are not valid, while others have morphed into other realities, much like the shadows that become real objects. I am trying to find my way, and I am the one that is the student. There are many that are helping me to form this new reality. The main difference between Plato's story and mine is that I will not (hopefully) travel back to the cave. It does feel sometimes that the other prisoners have escaped and have brought the negative attitude to me. The can not attitude, those that dismiss any view or practice other then their own, who resist change of any kind, are the prisoners in the cave that never see the light and are comfortable in their own realities because it is all they know.
How does technology fit into the story? As I try to grow as a teacher I am trying to incorporate practices that enhance the learning of my students, of which technology is a major part. Embracing change in this age means that we must embrace technology at least in some form. I have still seen those that argue that the calculator should not be allowed in school. I have to remind myself that they are still in the cave, it is all they know.
I sometimes see my applied math students believing their calculator a little too much. How many times do we hear "My calculator is not working right." Try to get a student to do an simple substitution to find a y-intercept instead of having the calculator tell them, and hear the groans and moans! I think the shadows of the dim TI 83 screen can also be seen as the cave. We have to teach math and not calculator and only then will our students be enlightened.
ReplyDeleteThis allegory is powerful because it has so many possible interpretations. It is interesting to see the various applications and lessons that come from it. Perhaps we, as educators are like those who re-enter the cave and try to explain the reality as we have seen it to our students - we try to get them to believe us and find the reality for themselves with our help. Your comparison of the allegory to teacher training makes me think in a similar way as I start my journey in my doctoral program, I am still learning about and interpreting "reality".
ReplyDeleteIn another vein - Paul's comments about technology, like the graphing calculator, is so true. I have seen TI-83s being used to great effect to deepen understanding, but also as a button pushing exercise to get an answer that the students cannot even judge as being reasonable. There has to be a balance and a learning purpose to the technology.
James, your interpretations say a lot. I find the teachers' one funny. How stubborn some can be, yet, given the work sometimes needed to adjust from established routine, it is understandable. Comfort is a powerful influence.
ReplyDeleteThe calculator cave is well decorated. I too have heard "the calculator said so," yet the answer to the question is way off. Like Mike said, students don't even think of the reasonableness of their answers. Estimation skill is weak to sometimes "huh?" Paul is right, the light of mathematics does not come from the calculator display. We need to teach math well, which can be tough for some teachers. I heard from a colleague who attended a workshop very recently that it was said that the reason why students don't learn math well is because the teachers who teach them don't understand it themselves. If that be true, can it be any wonder why some students regard the calculator as God? Perhaps the teachers did who taught them. Mike's last words are poignant: "there needs to be a balance and learning purpose to the technology."