Authentic Intellectual Work in Social Studies
Authentic intellectual work is not a new topic in the field of education. In fact, it was first introduced in nineteen eighty eight and has since been studied, modified, and revised by a variety of educators striving to improve American education and restructure the American educational system. In this paper, I will focus primarily on authentic pedagogy within the social studies classroom, the criteria for achieving authentic intellectual work, the impact on student achievement, and a slow but meaningful shift in educational practices.
Discussion
When most people describe their experience in a social studies classroom, they describe a classroom that is focused on rote memory and recall, lectures,
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In an effort to reform schools based on those principles, a collaborative project was conducted during the 1998 - 1999 school year to evaluate professional development for authentic pedagogy. Teachers who participated in the APSS Project significantly enhanced their ability to create more tasks that require students to construct knowledge, engage in disciplined inquiry, and make connections to the world beyond the classroom and the school (Palmer, 1999). In truth, improving the quality and frequency of authentic intellectual work offered to students is not a set of skills and a knowledge base that can be given to a teacher in a day or two of training; It is a way of thinking and teaching that develops through years of practice (King, 2016). Therefore, it is necessary to provide teachers with the proper support and resources to implement authentic pedagogy. Teachers also need reassurance through student achievement. Several studies have shown an increase in student achievement on standardized tests with students who participated in authentic intellectual …show more content…
Almost all lessons will contain a degree of uncertainty, and it is important for the teacher to be able to assess student work accordingly. All lessons should challenge the students with higher order thinking, connectedness to the real world, and the opportunity to arrive at a supported conclusion. The design of the lesson is an integral part of the success of authentic intellectual work and provides an excellent opportunity to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. The C3 Framework which was published in 2013 by the National Council for the Social Studies also supports authentic intellectual work and integrates the Common Core State Standards for literacy in social studies. Therefore, authentic intellectual work is not intended solely for social studies. The framework for authentic intellectual work can be used in any subject. Through school wide restructuring, authentic intellectual work can provide a foundation for increased student achievement in all subject areas and a shift in pedagogical practices. With the proper support and implementation, this restructuring would encourage teachers to reflect on their professional practices and collaborate with their colleagues for improved teaching and learning. Reflection and collaboration are both important aspects of authentic pedagogy by
I can help my teachers be professional learners by using observation and evaluation processes, like those found in Danielson’s model, to promote self-assessment, reflection on practices, and professional conversations with them. The Framework can help me have honest, reflective conversations with the teachers about their instruction and I can use it as a guide to help all involved in professional development decisions. In other words, I can use such teacher evaluation models to promote active engagement and encourage professional growth in all
Students will be able to compare “Henry’s Freedom Box” to their social studies textbook during a class discussion. 3. What is the difference between a'smart' and a'smart'? I will assess my student’s mastery of this objective by creating an open conversation within the entire class by asking questions, and before each student is dismissed, they will each hand in a piece of paper with one difference and similarity between the two texts written down. 4.
Intellectuality needs to be redefined; what does the word intellectual mean? Typically one would describe someone as either “street-smart” or “book-smart,” in other words someone who knows how to live in the real world versus someone who has knowledge about academics. But is one more “intellectual” than the other? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism,” Gerald Graff addresses this issue and brings to the audience’s—the audience being experts about the subject along with himself—attention that schools are missing the opportunity to fuse together street-smarts and book-smarts to increase overall academic performance. Graff definitively presents his opinion on this topic by manipulating ethos, pathos, and logos. Through ethos his credibility
A famous quote by Martin Luther King states “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” The two articles “Hidden Intellectualism” and “Blue Collar Brilliance” both emphasis the author's opinion on the qualifications and measurements of someone's intelligence. “Hidden Intellectualism” focuses on students or younger people who have trouble with academic work because, they are not interested in the topic. Today, in schools students are taught academic skills that are not very interesting, the author mentions this is why children are not motivated in schools. The main viewpoint of this article is that schools need to encourage students
As professionals, pedagogues are encouraged constantly to reflect on their practice and to apply both theoretical understandings and self-knowledge to the sometimes challenging demands with which they are
What is more important to education? The content or the how the content is taught? Many policy makers today believe that the former is far more crucial to the development of our youth. With high-stakes testing and an entire industry of textbooks and test making, the current system places empirical results over all else. Unfortunately, this approach only helps with the lower levels on the depths of knowledge (DOK) and Bloom’s Taxonomy charts. It only helps with basic recall of facts and knowledge. A second area of concern with this type of teaching is that only instills one point of view in the pupils. This is also problematic for diverse classrooms with students from various backgrounds. Would an approach that reinforces critical thinking and higher levels of DOK be more appropriate? A technique that incorporates the diversity of the classroom and life experiences of those students can be explained by Christopher Emdin and Django Paris who are two advocates of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy or Reality Pedagogy.
Intellectualism? Have you ever thought what it really means? Does it come naturally or with time and effort? Hidden intellectualism by Gerald Graff explores the concept of street smart incorporated with intelligence, while What College is for? By Gary Gutting explores the theme of books and teachers that will help us achieve intellectualism. These two essays may be different, but contain similar ideas such as intellectualism. They both state that is is important, but they interpret it differently. Gutting describes intellect as something a person can achieve through reading and studying, which make you book smart, while Graff mentions that you don 't have to be book smart in order to be intelligent. Second topic they agree on is openness. Gutting mentions that a student should be open to his teacher 's style of teaching, whereas, Graff argues that students should embrace their own learning style and teachers should accommodate with
The future of this country, and the planet as a whole, rests upon how well-educated our youth are. They will one day be leading this world, and contemporary leaders must ensure that that is a success. Consequently, education is always a hotly contested issue. The way we teach kids now shapes the days of tomorrow, and everyone gives their full effort toward implementing an educational system that they believe is right. Professor Gerald Graff puts forth his opinion in the essay, “Hidden Intellectualism.” He argues that schools fail a multitude of students by ignoring their interests in subjects generally considered to be non-academic, such as cars, sports, television, or video games (Graff p. 198). He cites sports specifically as a personal example, saying that discussions pertaining to athletics taught him many different argumentative and literary skills before his teachers even tried to (Graff p. 202).
Traditionally, teacher development typically occurs through trial and error in the isolated confinements of each teacher’s classroom with some periodic whole-group professional development (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Within the past few decades, many schools and districts, including ours, have considered and experimented with Professional Learning Communities (PLC) as an alternative framework in guiding a more efficient development program for their teachers. PLCs are focused on enhancing student learning through developing teacher practices. The concept of PLC relies on using structured collaborative sessions amongst teachers within the school to build internal capacity. Through PLCs, teachers critically reflect on current practices, brainstorm solutions, and obtain help and advice from others in a supportive growth-oriented environment over an extended period of time (Vescio, Ross, & Adams, 2008; Nelson, 2009; Scher & O'Reilly, 2009; Bolam, McMahon, Stoll, Thomas, & Wallace, 2005). The theory of change guiding PLCs holds that by providing teachers with targeted support from within the school community, as oppose to hiring additional outside experts, professional developments can become for efficient. Implementation of effective PLCs requires intentional effort, school-wide and possibly district-wide restructuring of teacher schedules, and additional resources. For schools considering implementing PLCs, it is important to understand the logic of action and the benefits of PLCs as it relates to teacher improvement and increased student achievement.
Jaime Escalante, a great educator, once said, “The teacher gives us the desire to learn, the desire to be Somebody.” As a teacher, my goal will be to show students that each of them can be whatever they want to be, and not only are they capable of being good at what they do, they can be the best. To reach this goal, I must be an effective teacher, which I believe can best be accomplished by teaching in a way that is comfortable for me. Therefore, I will not base my classroom around one single philosophy; I am going to seek comfort by utilizing certain aspects of different educational philosophies, namely essentialism, existentialism, progressivism, and social reconstructionism.
Newmann, F. M. & Archbald, D. A. (1992). The nature of authentic academic achievement. Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment. State University of New York Press, Albany New York. 71-84.
In today’s society, teachers are faced with ongoing challenges and need to be equipped with a range of teaching options and strategies so they are able to make the best possible decisions in their lessons. A teacher needs to be equipped to make appropriate decisions and consistently reflect on their effectiveness. This essay explains how professionalism, teacher reflection, decision making, classroom management, effective questioning and adhering to the constructivist model of thinking are all elements contributing to a valued professional in today’s society.
It provides the fundamental and advanced knowledge needed to improve the well-being of a country. Education is critical to the development of a country’s youth, as the popular saying goes, children are the future. The education received from teachers can either leave a lasting impact or have little or no effect on understanding. The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation asserted that there is a need for “new paradigms, new practices and new people” (as cited in Holaday et al, 2007, 99). Professional development of teacher is required, as mentioned by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, “to build a culture supportive of a new generation of scholar citizens” (Holaday et al, 2007, p.99). Thus, it is imperative that the teachers’ in all institutions in a country receive the best possible training and resources needed to fulfil the responsibilities set before
Social Studies education is a subject in today’s schools that is undervalued. The study of social studies in schools help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (Seefeldt, Castle, & Falconer, 2010). When participating in social studies class children are learning so much about who they are, where they came from, how to succeed in the world, and more. Most of what we teach daily includes an aspect of social studies. But, since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 de-emphasis or nonexistence of elementary social studies is the national focus because of high stakes testing (Sunal, & Sunal, 2008). Social studies
This class is all about these different interactions and what happened because of them. Additionally, this class teaches the ways in which citizens can partake in their civic duty that is granted by being a part of this democratic society. It is this class that teaches them how to do this and what it entails. The final question of how we should teach our students lies directly on the students. They should be our guiding way. Our teaching methods should provide for our students. In doing this, a variety of teaching methods are used to accompany a variety of learning styles. By knowing all of this and putting it into practice, it will create powerful and authentic social studies and will provide each child a way to succeed and enjoy Social