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By Cody White, Communications Assistant
cwhite@pitsco.com
(Editor’s Note: Following is the second part in a two-part series on the changing role of the teacher in the ever-changing classroom. Part 1 appeared in the February-March 2012 issue of The Pitsco Network.)
The American classroom of
100 years ago is dramatically
different from its counterpart
today. From the days of the
13 colonies onward, thinkers
and reformers have shared their two cents
about the best practices for education,
and slowly but surely ripples of change
have shaped and reshaped the face of the
classroom. Even though the instigators of
those revolutions often had starkly different
motives and ideals in mind, in hindsight it
is nonetheless possible to see a shared
momentum and a common current in the
history of American education.
Prior to the middle of the nineteenth
century, instruction of the young was
somewhat unsystematic and largely given
in the home by parents. The rise of a
professional class of educators can trace
its early roots to a group of often itinerant,
privately paid schoolteachers. Although the
most famous example is Ichabod Crane,
in truth most were women, including those
who made dangerous journeys out west to
teach in American settlements. The image
in the popular imagination of the one-room
schoolhouse with no segregation of grades
and students being taught by memorization
and recitation en masse is pretty accurate,
at least as the broad picture.
Beginning in Massachusetts with the
reforms of Horace Mann, a gradual move
toward standardization and centralization
began to take place. For Mann and
his followers, part of the appeal of an
approved curriculum, teacher training,
and public schools was the promise of
an equitable, modernized nation. Many of
these threads were picked up again in the
early twentieth century by thinker John
Dewey, who championed individualized
approaches to instruction, including
student-directed learning and relevance of
content to the student’s life.
Couple these developments with the
drive for school diversity embodied in the
civil rights movement, the emphasis on
multiple learning styles, and the efforts
to move instruction further beyond the
rote possession of knowledge and toward
comprehension and higher-order thinking,
and it is apparent that the true dream of the
modern classroom is of a place reflecting
the best traits of both multiplicity and unity.
Here divergent individuals have a full range of tools to discover their distinct potentials in
a space enriched by their shared presence.
Technology and computer-delivered
content clearly have a huge role to play in
giving these ideals the fullest expression
they have ever been able to realize. For
schools wishing to reach the forefront, the
question is not whether to use these tools,
but which ones?
Even with the world of options available,
Pitsco’s offering stands a cut above. The
total package. What is it that truly sets us
apart? Here are a few reasons we believe
we have built a sterling reputation over the
last 40 years.
Pitsco curricula – from Modules to IPLs
to whole-class solutions – is written by
teachers with real classroom experience.
They draw not only from content expertise
but also from experience in what motivates
students and what works. This also gives
them keen abilities in correlating content to
national, state, and local standards.
Content and management systems are
only the beginning of what we provide to
teachers. In addition to our award-winning
customer service, we provide face-to-face
professional development workshops,
extensive online support, and the
opportunity to network with other Pitsco
teachers. Before coming aboard as Pitsco’s
Education Program Designer, Tammy
Pankey was a teacher, and she had this
to say about our support: “I can say as a
teacher who used some of our competitors’
out-of-the-box curriculum that no one
provides the service we do with installation,
ease of ordering and shipping, and having a
‘live’ person to talk to.”
On the topic of content delivery,
Director of Education (and former teacher)
Matt Frankenbery has this to say: “The
instructional framework we utilize, whereby
we integrate audio, video, graphics,
on-screen text, and hands on into one tidy
package is the best I’ve seen anywhere in
the country. There are plenty of people who
do a great job developing online software,
but they completely avoid the hands-on
piece. Or, there are people looking to
provide cheap solutions that cut corners
with the on-screen experience. No one
combines everything together into the
comprehensive solution we offer.”
Pitsco now offers up-front consultation
with customers to provide them with
customized solutions. Because we are
willing to develop a multitude of solutions
based on your needs, the range of our
offerings is truly limitless.
More than ever before, a greater
range of tools, classroom structures, and
teaching styles is available. Educators
and students alike are beginning to define
the type of classroom they truly desire,
whether it is a multi-station learning lab
or a traditional “teacher in front” setup
augmented with the latest technology and
hands-on resources. It is Pitsco’s privilege
to give you the power to bring
your classroom vision into reality.
Historical classrooms
In early ancient Greece, parents were
expected to provide an in-home education
for their children. If a father didn’t see to
this, sons were freed from the obligation to
support their father in old age.
Early writing instruction was accomplished with
the aid of a wax tablet and a stylus. The Roman
writer Horace remarked that every schoolboy
carried around a bag of stones for use on
counting boards – the calculators of the day.
Though the modern chalkboard
was a later invention, a similar predecessor might
have been in use in schools in India since at
least the eleventh century. Later, slates were a
common school supply for children in Europe
and America.
Magic lanterns, developed in the 1600s, were long
used in classrooms. A candle and a lens were used to
give teachers a version of the modern-day projector.
Historically, students have had to adapt to the uniform
instruction methods of their school. Now, with the advent
of new approaches, schools can provide numerous options and
tailored instruction for individual students. Pitsco provides the
tools to give students a cutting-edge education, whether in a
bustling modern learning institution or a one-room schoolhouse.