[etni] HOTS
- From: debora Siegel <debora.siegel@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:57:54 +0200
Hi fellow teachers,
I am one of those English teachers who is taking the on-line HOTS course --
I am taking the course to understand the program so I can express an
educated opinion. This is my educated opinion one task before finishing the
course:
Putting the payment issue aside -- only because I have nothing new to add
there -- and I certainly agree that every new program requires additional
work hours that must be paid for -- but here I want to discuss the program
itself.
What I have discovered is that those of us who have been teaching literature
in the classroom consistently -- the idea of HOTS is nothing new -- you
can't possibly teach literature properly -- in particular to non-native
speakers -- without engaging higher order thinking skills; in fact you can't
teach language in general properly without engaging HOTS. So I have no
problem with that premise.
I can cope with backward planning and with Unit Planners -- although I think
that it is essential to preserve spontaneity in the classroom and the
ability to change and select texts as issues arise in the classroom.
Furthermore, I do not have any problem with teachers being exposed or as in
most cases -- re-exposed -- to what is meant by higher order thinking skills
and how they are helpful to the learning process ; and I certainly do
not have any problem at all with making English literature a required
element of the English Bagrut -- nor do I take issue with allowing teachers
to choose between a standardized exam or a form of alternative assessment of
the literature taught.
The real problem in my opinion is the details of the HOTS program -- For
instance why force teachers to match particular texts to particular HOTS --
and to plan that matching in advance ?? That does not encourage educational
"flow" in the sense of Csíkszentmihályi, nor respect the particularity of
every learning situation. It's limiting us as teachers which should be the
opposite goal of such a program. The idea should be to empower teachers not
to clip their wings. And most importantly -- we all know that
teachers always have to make choices of what they do with the limited time
they have -- there is never enough time to get everything done, so we need
always to keep readjusting our priorities according to the needs of every
learning situation -- and moreover, I strongly believe that a good teacher
is an eclectic one, that does not stick to one methodology but that freely
flows between many such instructional methods -- imposing a program such as
HOTS on teachers does not take these facts into account.
In conclusion, I have no problem with the Ministry presenting HOTS and its
advantages, but I do have a lot of issues with forcing teachers to implement
the program as is.
Debora Siegel
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