I noticed the Tyler rational in my classes when I had a teacher, who had quite obviously been a neurotically “good student” before their days of becoming a student. I noticed they had a lack of understanding and empathy towards someone who did not grasp a concept right away, or struggled with testing. The blame was immediately placed on the student, and it was not a possibility for the’ failure to understand’ to be the fault of the teacher.
I believe there are issues with the Tyler rational because it takes away individuality of students and views them and their classroom as a production to be perfected. When the Tyler Rational is being put in place, I see a board room full of adults, who are distance from actually spending time in the classroom with the students and teacher, trying to make their curriculum as efficient as possible, with the best overall test scores. Each student is different, each classroom is different, just like each school division is different as well as each city or area of the country. Some communities are in cities, some are based around Agriculture, some around fishing, and that makes all those students realities, at home and school, very different from one another. So problems can arise while trying to create a uniformed teaching method. The individual and their ability to shine in their strengths, might only bloom for a short period of time in their school year, leading them to feel as if they are struggling more than they actually are, and creating a lack of confidence.
With the objectives being laid out, it could make it easier for students who have a supportive home life to reach targets and goals, or to have another educator find a way to help a particular student reach they desired learning outcome. All students are expected to reach the same targets so they could lean on one another for support as well.
Another benefit could be for a student who is struggle socially in their school with other students and peers. If a student is experiencing bullying, it does make it easier for them to pick up their studies and move to another school in their area without falling behind.
Hi Jada! I love what you have to say here. It is so true that the blame of failure is often put on the student rather than circumstantial causes like what could be going on in a students life or faulty teaching practices. I also agree that this leads to lack of confidence in students. It is so important to allow students the space to learn and grow and give them acceptance. Every student is indeed different with unique needs. Student’s voices need to be heard and valued. Thanks for your post and thoughts, Jada!
Hi Jada, I enjoyed reading your blog post! I have felt the same way about teachers who seem to be more of a traditional learner/teacher. It seems that for the older generations it is harder to relate or sympathize with different learning types because they were always shown that the status quo was what was the norm and that is what we should all strive for.
I also think that the individuality of students is one of the most important things we have in our schools so I agree with you that taking that away would be a big issue.