Education is awash with standardized tests, organization, large-scale bureaucracy, and just about everything else to make sure students are getting a proper lesson. Students are given huge books, learn theoretical knowledge in order to prepare for tests, and that’s that.
But that’s actually the education system of Harry Potter.
In the Order of the Phoenix, Professor Umbridge outlines how her classroom is going to run. Needless to say, it’s a tight ship. It’s scary close to real-world education, to be frank. I saw this clip posted on Reddit a few weeks ago and realized later on just how frighteningly similar it is to modern classrooms.
What do you think? Do you run a classroom like Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter or do you do a little more thinking outside the box?
Harry Potter clip via YouTube and thumbnail via harrypotter.wikia.com
“is a risk free environment” … yeah, learn about a subject but don’t touch it, hear it, see it, feel it, crash it, like it, or in any way interact or engage with it.
School could be this way, if you (the teacher) allow it to be this way, but I don’t believe this is how most teachers run their classrooms. If I ever catch myself running my classroom like this, I will gracefully bow out of education for good. If YOU ever catch me running my classroom like this, slap me.
I am a public high school principal in Colorado. I taught Physics, Astronomy, and Meteorology for 17 years before taking a detour from education into running my own business. All of my work as a teacher and as an educational leader (not administrator I hope) has been about igniting curiousity and building understanding of concepts and skills to tackle anything. Twenty two years as an educator and I’d be hard pressed to name 5 teachers like Professor Umbridge. It doesn’t have to be like that. Fight with all you’ve got for the minds and hearts of people
Glad to see your comment Brian, after all those years of within the system it is great to know “It doesn’t have to be like that.”
Thanks for the reassurance, it’s much appreciate.
um…, that would be appreciated.
What is really interesting to me is looking at the entire Harry Potter series and seeing the experiential and inquiry-based learning.
Love it! And true as well! Substitute “English as a Foreign Language” for “Magic” and there are still many, many schools around the world who teach this way!
Harry Potter has always been a favorite of mine, and in many ways, these books and the philosophies contained within them helped shape my childhood years. In my opinion, J.K. Rowling did an excellent job portraying how school plays an important part in an individual’s life, but also how that importance fuels the next steps to be taken – putting that education into action. The best teachers not only educate their students on a specific topic area, but also show them how this textbook information can have relevance in everyday life.