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Relevance of progressivism to education
Relevance of progressivism to education
Reflections on philosophy of teaching
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Meghanology- The Philosophy of a Creative Teacher
“Ineffective teachers will teach out of a book, follow a program, or complain about the culture of the neighborhood of the students.” – Harry Wong (Wong) I believe that students deserve a chance to succeed no matter what the circumstances are in their lives. Students will only be as successful as their teacher is in teaching them. I’ve always believed in thinking outside of the box. I’ve never liked to believe that one way of doing a task is the only way to do that task. This concept is the same in the classroom, sometimes the book isn’t always the best option for your students. Students all think and work differently, they don’t all work well with reading out of a book or sitting in a lecture, some work well in groups and on hands on activities. As educators we have to find ways to engage all of our students. I follow the progressivist approach of education that believes that education focuses on experimentation. Students need to experience what is being taught to them, they need hands on learning and teaching. Learn by doing is key in this philosophy.
Role of the School
The school’s role should be to integrate the students into a creative environment where they are challenged daily by various philosophies, experiences, opinions, and views to which the students should have the chances to explore, reason through, evaluate, and even take home and be able to discuss with their families and the community around them. According to the Philosophical and Ideological Views in Education, the progressivists approach to education “is to get out of the four walls that enclose the schools from the rest of the culture and society and open the doors to the larger society, the community.”...
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...ing, it should be something that pushes the students. Students should be active in their schooling, they should be challenged, and they should be continually growing in their education. The Common Core addresses this thinking. They ask that students are encouraged by their teachers to think critically and investigate in the classroom. Students should be able to make inferences from the text in an English classroom. They should be encouraged to do so in all lessons and activities.
The progressivist believes in the progress of student’s education. I believe that all students deserve success, but that the parent, student, and teacher must work together to achieve that success. Creativity and encouragement in the classroom are key to my philosophy of education. The only way to be an effective teacher is to step out of the box and into the lives of each of our students.
One of the ideas that I have learned is that all students learn in different ways and teachers need to teach to their needs. This is described with an analogy in Finding Freedom. The analogy used is, “ . . . anyone would laugh themselves silly at the thought that children with different body sizes ought to be made to wear the same size clothes . . .” (Hinchey, 67). We would laugh if someone said all children should wear the same size clothing, yet teachers are still teaching students all in the same way. Some students learn from lecturing and memorizing, whereas others learn from examples and trial and error. Finding Freedom states that teachers need to modify work for students so that they can learn the material (Hinchey, 11). Delpit also states, “Some of the [black students] even learned how to read, but none of them as quickly as my white students. I was doing the same thing for all of my kids--what was the problem?” (Delpit, 13). Before reading these two statements as well as others and discussing them in class I thought that almost all students learned in the same way. I thought this because I learned from lecturing, memorizing, and a few examples. I figured that if I could learn in that way and most of my peers learned in that way then most students could.
Common Core is pushing students to think critically by answering questions with more explanation. Students are required back their answer providing evidence for their answers. “The Common Core strives to create a uniform playing field for all kids and an evidence-based, robust learning system in every grade, with the end goal of college and career success in clear and obtainable sight” (How Will the Common Core Standards Affect You Child?, 2014). On a positive note, this is great for the students, but will require corporation from everyone to make it happen. Teachers are required to make their math and literacy lesson plans rigor. “Urged to dig deeper, students will find themselves interacting with subject matter at an enhanced level, allowing for long-term retention of information and an enhanced ability to utilize analytical thinking throughout multiple areas of their lives” (How Will the Common Core Standards Affect You Child?, 2014). Common Core not only affects student learning, but it affects test also. With Common Core, tests will be more challenging and scores are said to drop. “As a measure of accountability, both for students and for schools, testing under the Common Core will be more challenging and for some, might produce temporarily drop scores and possibly the need for summer school” (How Will
It is my strong belief that each child is entitled to a safe, secure, stimulating and caring learning environment. I always believed that each child is a unique individual with much curiosity and many academic, social and emotional needs. Children need our support in order to mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. As a teacher, one should aim to help students in fulfilling their dreams to become successful and educated individuals. We must provide them with a safe learning environment for their learning to succeed.
Defined by Princeton University’s WordNet research source, progressivism is (the political orientation of those who favor progress toward better conditions in government and society. From an educational standpoint, the term converts to define a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. (Wikipedia.org) The idea of progressivism was introduced around the late 1890s (early 1900s) during the Progressive Era, in an effort to respond to the economic (industrial) and social issues that industrialization acquainted. The movement created the downfall of an exclusive government and converted it into a pro-reform network, made laws that set salaries and working standards, gave more rights to women, controlled child labor, and many more things that have impacted today’s government and legal decisions. Progressivism has greatly influenced the way that educators effectively educate their students, and how the students affected by it operate.
The American system of education is considered to be one of the most progressive in the world. One of the surveys on attitudes toward teaching around the world found that the United States is unique in its strong emphasis on "good teaching." My experience at State College has helped me to understand better how this system works, and what methods and techniques American teachers use to motivate their students for creative and active learning. However, I can also see that this system doesn’t work perfectly in every classroom. Reading Ernest Boyer’s article “Creativity in the Classroom” helped me with my understanding of the main problem that nowadays exists with the American college education system. According to the author, the problem is that teachers and students don’t see each other as one team doing the same business; therefore, in most classrooms the process of learning becomes a boring procedure instead of being mind-blowing. Moreover, reading this article, I could analyze the reasons of this problem that the author identifies through my own experiences at State College.
In order to be an effective teacher there needs to be an understanding that we all learn differently, this means that no single teaching strategy is effective for all students/learners all the time. This makes teaching a complex process because you need to understand and meet the requirements of all of your learners. Students learn best when they aren’t asked to simply memorise information but when they form their own understandings of what is being taught. When a student has successfully learnt a new idea they are able to then intergrate this information with their previously learnt information and make sense of it. To be an effective teacher you need to work jointly with students to asses where they are at, be able to give feedback on how the student is going and ensure that they are understanding the lesson (Killen, 2013) According to Lovat and Smith (2003) students learning must result in a change in a student’s understanding of the information being taught. In order to show understanding they must be able to share this information with others and want to learn more (Killen, 2013). In order to have a deeper understanding of what is being taught they need to be aware of the relationship that exists between what they knew previously and the new information that is being learned (Killen, 2013).. Students need to be given goals that they can achieve in order to feel a sense of mastery over their own learning, this gives students motivation that they are able to complete tasks and to keep going.
The use of progressivism in the classroom broadens students? points of views and expands their abilities to understand differences in opinions. Furthermore, it inculcates students with a vast array of knowledge about their surrounding environment and everyone in it. Without the use of the progressive method, it is almost impossible to thoroughly educate children on complex topics such as racism, religion, and people that come from different societies, nationalities, or ethnic groups. A lack of knowledge of this sort le...
A branch of progressivism is logic and it is one that the students will come to know by the progressivist ideal that what is learned in the classroom has relevance to the real world. Progressivists believe that education should mirror life. Education often uses past experiences to gain more knowledge, much like life. Therefore, e...
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.
For an effective education creativity needs to be present within all aspects of a primary classroom. So what does it mean to be ‘creative’? According to Sir Ken Robinson “creativity is the process of having original ideas which have value”. Creativity can be demonstrated through the use of technology, problem solving experiments and allowing children the freedom to explore and express new ideas. It is very important to ensure a child can get the best creative education; this is because creativity will give the necessary skills needed for our future. Children must become creative problem solvers if they are in leadership positions as this will help them within society, even though all children may not be in a leadership position it is beneficial for them to have a creative mind-set. Because the world we live in is constantly developing new ideas, concepts and technology, creativity is definitely the most important quality a child can have. Sir Ken Robinson’s, (an international advisor on education) views on creativity in education will be discussed along with New Labour views which includes the National Advisory Committee on Creative and Cultural Education (NACCCE). The 1977 white paper, the open plan for schools, and the 2003 excellence and enjoyment strategy concepts will also be drawn on.
Over the course of observations, I learned that there is no one way to do anything in teaching. After a few weeks of observing, I was relieved because I thought that I could stop worrying so much about doing the “right” thing with the students. I saw a successful teacher doing, or neglecting to do things that went against what I had been taught. I incorrectly assumed that the choices the teacher made about how to organize the day, approach a lesson, or manage the classroom were mostly a matter of personal preference and that several approaches would produce equally desirable results.
Students in today’s day and age genuinely want to learn the material they are being taught. They understand that if they learn the concepts that it will not only help them live a successful
“Education is a social process; education is growth; education is not preparation for life but is life itself.” John Dewey describes and supports progressivism, an education philosophy that I professionally identify with. Progressivism is a student centered philosophy that focuses on experiences, opportunities, and values that enhance a student 's learning and life. The role of the teacher is to act primarily as a facilitator of learning, they encourage and guide students to explore and promote individual development. As a future educator I believe it is important to involve students and allow them to take responsibility for their own learning and achieving their goals. The role of the student is to discover, engage, and express themselves.
My philosophy of education is a combination of essentialism and progressivism . I feel that knowledge can be learned from a textbook, but I also want my students to use other means of knowledge. I fell in certain times, I should be the center of the classroom and other times, the students should be the center. Education is about the students and I am there to guide them through their journey. I think it's important to let children learn by exploring. By doing this, they choose what information is important and should be retained. When it comes to learning, students should always be in the center. The teachers are only there to mentor and improve upon a child's skills. In my mind progressivism with a mix of essentialism is the best philosophy for me to follow.
In many cases, it has become very complex to keep students interested in their education. So the teacher must be creative and find ways to keep pushing the student onward as well as upward. In order to devise the ultimate plan for educating students, a teacher must acknowledge that the “students” are what teaching is all about. The most important factor in the equation is unequivocally the STUDENT! All humans are different in some sort or fashion. But the fact still exists that we all have only this place to function in. So help by putting forth an effort to make it a better place for us all.