By Sunday, September 30 11PM please post a paragraph in response to the following response (from the handout).
When the Wal-Mart truck backs into the building for a delivery the driver walks in and announces “here it is, come get it.” The boxes are left in the truck for those receiving the delivery to unload.
When the Mayflower truck backs into the building for a delivery the driver walks in and announces “where do you want it?” The boxes are then moved to the different rooms for those receiving the delivery.
Write a reflection comparing the two. Address how this can apply to instruction in the classroom.
From Makiko Coakley
ReplyDeleteThe Walmart truck approach is a hands-off, receiver-centric approach. It involves the least interaction between the driver and the receiver. The Mayflower approach is a hands-on, full-service approach, and it involves more interaction between the people. In the classroom, this can be translated into the following: the Wal-Mart style is represented by a teacher who just explains the math, and then just lets the students do whatever they want with the teachings - with the most likely result being that the fewest number of students will grasp the concepts taught. The Mayflower approach is represented by the teacher who rigorously gives attention to the students, shows them how to apply the math subjects taught, and asks individual students how they best learn and adjusts the teaching approach according to the needs of each student. Most likely, this style would result in a greater number of students mastering the concepts.
To me, these delivery scenarios are the classic "come and get it" versus "I'll do it for you" approaches seen throughout life. These are easily illustrated in the parent who picks up the room for a child versus the parent who teaches their child to pick up for themselves or in the parent who cuts up food versus the parent who teaches their child how to cut. In each real-life scenario, the "come & get it" approach seems to be the one that actually TEACHES. Translating this to the classroom means teaching the class how to think, teaching the class to be confident, and teaching the class to be responsible for their learning. These are critical because when the students leave class, they need to have a sense of responsibility (to get the homework done) and confidence (to tackle the homework without help). An example of this approach in action is seen with our first "Do Now". The "Do Now" could have been placed at everyone's seat, however, by making us "come and get it" we've already learned the expectations and the level of responsibility we need to have for our own success in ARC.
ReplyDeleteElena Anderson 9/30
ReplyDeleteThe Wal-Mart driver is only concerned with bringing the goods from point A to point B, with minimal follow through or service. The Mayflower's attitude is an all inclusive service, with a demonstrated end result oriented approach. I agree with Makiko, that Wal-Mart driver reminds of a teacher just delivering the lecture, while the teacher modeled after the Mayflower driver will test the students, making sure the "goods" or the knowledge has been acquired by the students.
Good start! This is a HUGE underpinning of the philosophical approach pursued in ARC.
ReplyDeleteIn the example of the Wal-Mart truck, the work is done by the receivers so the delivery is not as helpful and creates more work for those receiving the material. The Mayflower truck is an example of working together to get things done more efficiently with a friendlier approach. The difference of these two delivery methods could be seen in education as a teacher who simply delivers material and lets the students comprehend on their own, which will be more work for students who may not know what to do with it and then things get lost. This Wal-Mart style could even be reduced to a teacher who gives students a book and assignments and is then available for any questions. Alternatively, the Mayflower teacher makes the material more accessible to the student and learning becomes a group effort. Part of this teacher’s job is to deliver the material in such a way to allow for better processing and understanding.
ReplyDeleteMy initial reaction was that the Walmart driver was not showing any initiative and not performing his job well, and that the Mayflower driver was doing a much better job as he was taking on more responsibility and being proactive – he was just not delivering the load. He seemed to be going beyond what was expected of him. However, it can possibly be that the job expectations for each driver are very different, and that the Walmart driver is actually doing a good job and meeting the expectations set for him.
ReplyDeleteMy takeaway with this scenario is that as a teacher you need to be very careful in setting clear objectives for your students. If you set low expectations for your students that is likely what they will deliver to you.
Like Eva, my initial thoughts morphed somewhat upon reading through other peoples' responses and reflecting further. My initial thoughts were that the Walmart driver was just doing his job, nothing more and the Mayflower driver was giving much higher (better) level of service. While this higher level of service might be desirable, there is value to letting people do things for themselves. In the classroom, I would agree with Makiko and Elena that the teacher that just delivers the content is not as effective as one who goes further towards getting the content to its destination. However, if what is being delivered is a problem or question, I'm with Shana: Don't deliver the solution, let the students add some sweat equity.
ReplyDeleteFrom Henry Nearing:
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts are that teaching should be a blend of both approaches. Some students will do fine with the “come get it” approach and may actually thrive because they can take what they want, including more knowledge if you simply show them how to get it. Of course there will be other students who need a more personalized approach when delivering knowledge. You may have to walk them through every step, but eventually they need to learn the process themselves. Ideally the driver (teacher) works WITH the people accepting the delivery (students) so the goal (learning) can be accomplished efficiently and effectively.
Diane Robbins
ReplyDeleteThe Walmart delivery approach transfers ownership and accountability for the boxes much earlier in the process. Certainly there are advantages to this approach, fewer handoffs during the process and more end-to-end responsibility for the recipients. Also, the Walmart recipients will be more likely to remember where all the boxes are since they delivered them. There are situations where this approach would not work very well, for instance, if the recipients did not know which boxes on the truck were theirs or if the recipients did not have the skill to unload the truck themselves. Certainly, this is why a Mayflower moving van unloads the boxes for its household customers.
This could be translated to the classroom by considering the Walmart approach to be analogous to self-guided learning and the Mayflower approach to be analogous to more teacher provided instruction. Self-guided learning does have the advantage of increase ownership and accountability for a student’s education. Conversely, however, Self-guided learning shares similar challenges. How do the students know what is important to learn and retain? What if the students do not have the skill (or motivation) to attain the knowledge on their own? Fortunately, in the educational process these approaches are not mutually exclusive nor is there a requirement to clearly define the transfer point. This gives the teacher the choice to apply a variety of approaches to transfer knowledge depending on the situation based upon the skill & motivation of the students and the specific contents of the lesson.
Without knowing company rules it is hard to say that one approach is better than the other. At first glance one may think that the Mayflower driver is doing a better job but Wal-Mart company policy may be such that its not the drivers responsiblity to do anymore than deliver the goods to the building. As a teacher I feel that both methods can be effective when used in the proper situations. Sometimes students need to be given a task and ask to work it out on their own. Other times students need more support in order to complete a specific task. This can also apply to a specific classroom were some students in the class are better at handling a task on their own, whereas other students may need more guidance.
ReplyDeleteI think the primary difference between the WalMart truck and the Mayflower truck is the question of whose stuff is on those trucks. In the case of the WalMart truck the stuff being delivered is company stuff that's just going to be sold to other (unknown) people. There's no ownership except in a vague corporate sense. In the case of the Mayflower truck it's your own stuff that's arriving. You own it, you claim it, you have a place for it to go so that it will make your home a home. It's personal.
ReplyDeleteThe two trucks scenario could be seen as two different approaches to teaching. The WalMart approach involves imparting what other people have developed to students who are expected only to process that knowledge and display it for a period of time on sale (i.e. get through the test). This approach would tend to manifest itself in throughput volume -- success is measured in how much stuff makes it off the truck and out the door on the other side of the store.
The Mayflower approach involves taking what you've made your own (once the stuff was displayed in WalMart but then you bought it and made it a necessary part of your home), and sharing that with students with the expectation that they'll make it their own too. Knowledge in this approach is not a throughput, but rather a formative element of a life and a home.
The metaphors probably don't hold up to strict one to one identification but the point is the difference in ownership: in one, teaching involves taking something that isn't yours and giving it to someone else who won't own it either. In the other teaching involves personalization -- taking knowledge that I've made my own and sharing it with someone else with the expectation that they'll make it their own too.
Different companies have different philosophies/policies on how to conduct business. For instruction in a classroom, different teachers may have different ways of teaching. One may make the students do the work vs some who would offer the students a little extra help. That is, some teachers put it out there for students to come learn on their own, whereas the other teachers are proactive to reach out to the students.
ReplyDeleteOops, that last comment was from Pranitha Sada.
ReplyDeleteIt occurs to me that the Wal-Mart truck is a little passive in its approach to deliveries. The truck comes and it is the responsibility of the receivers to get what they need. The Mayflower delivery is much more active, with the driver helping (or fully responsible, that is unclear) to distribute goods.
ReplyDeleteThe same may be true of teaching. I am the teacher. I tell you "bring" you what you need to know and you are responsible for storing on your "shelves". Or I might try to be more active in my approach, bringing content knowledge to you in such a way that it is retained.
In the end, I think that the preferred method lies somewhere in the middle. Just presenting information relies too heavily on the active involvement of the student. The "Mayflower" method puts too much burden on the teacher. I think everyone needs to be engaged in order for the classroom to work successfully.