Kim asked: "How important is it that students enjoy their education and should this be a goal in teaching?"
I do not claim to be an expert in education, though I do think that enjoyability plays a certain factor into learning. Speaking from experience, several of my teachers in prep school (notably history and English teachers -- funny how the humanities tends to find folks who are talented at making human connections) were quite effective at doing just that. I mentioned a US history teacher in a previous post who had a knack for drawing amusing, informative analogies between history and our school. It was, I think, a very effective way to keep the class engaged while imparting the information.
Making education enjoyable is, at the least, a useful tool for teachers, and at least from my experience, is an effective way to keep students interested in their education while they learn. While entertaining education should not be the ONLY goal, it certainly seems to have its place in the classroom.
To end with a question: What methods might make learning math or science enjoyable?
I responded to your question.
ReplyDelete