Social Issues in Classroom Environments

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I once walked into a high school classroom full of young adults, and while the teacher was giving a math lecture there was a bombardment of questions and rash probing of the teacher’s knowledge on the subject. It looked to me that the students were giving the lecture rather than the educator herself, and I was shocked to see the level of disrespect the students were showing this authority figure. In the book “Generation Me” Author Jean Twenge stated, “Classrooms are increasingly structured for teachers to be “facilitators” rather than authority figures” (Twenge 26). After analyzing the contents of this book, this quote shows the evolution of pedagogy in today’s classrooms, which I find very interesting. Classrooms today may have a “less structured” environment, which is in line with individualistic thinking, but I believe this often allows for greater behavior management issues. The power of the Internet has given kids a voice to be heard by anyone who wants to join a chat room or log onto a blog. Jean Twenge quotes author of In Growing Up Digital, Don Tapscott, stating, “Because they have the tools to question, challenge, and disagree, these kids are becoming a generation of critical thinkers.” (Twenge 37) The new wave of technology has made it easier to be heard. Children are more tuned in with the world, hence children of Generation Me seem to have the “know it all attitude” towards their studies and their educators. While this has created an emphasis on critical thinking, it has also made it more difficult to control a classroom environment where many different voices vie to be heard and expect to challenge their learning. I overheard a student once say to a professor, “Should I call you Susan? Or do you want me to call you by your last name?” Generation Me has been raised to see themselves as equals to everyone. No one person is greater than the other; it

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