The Challenge
“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theatre.” (Gail Godwin) This statement can be proven time and time again in the classroom. Students can only learn so much sitting in their seats. Making the lesson into an adventure, letting students discover things on their own, hands-on, lets students feel that they have a part in what they get to learn and can grasp concepts better. Having this perception is almost essential in today’s classroom. Students are made to be in school for almost eight hours a day. To make the classroom fun lets students get the extra boost of energy they need. Running a classroom like this way a great example of how a Progressivist would do so.
I want my classroom to be full of progressivism. Children should be given the chance to explore, develop opinions, and have extraordinarily unique personalities without one test determining the student’s knowledge. My philosophy is that education should be offered to students in the way that they learn best, whether it be through bookwork, group work, or presentations that not only will help them learn now, but also with everything they do. Education is a right and a gift that should be handled with care.
Being a teacher is one of my main goals because if you cannot have fun within the learning process, and create an appetite for further knowledge, then students will never retain what they learn, nor want to. I want to have brightly painted walls that will create open-mindedness with educational murals, relating to the content area of the grade level I teach, to decorate the room. I want to have students arranged in groups to help each other learn. Students will be able to take part in the rule making process and the technique of learning in my classroom. If a student cannot learn under certain conditions, they should not be made to do so. The role of the teacher isn’t to stand in front of the room and dictate material. I feel that I should influence the growth of my students by controlling the environment in which the growth takes place, rather than pounding bits of information into their heads (Sadker and Sadker pp96-97).
In our time of uncertainty one of the most stable institutions is the school system for children. Thus, being a teacher and providing the most stable atmosphere along with providing the children with an education must be handled delicately. I believe a mixture of essentialism, progressivism, perennialism, behaviorism, and social reconstrctonism is essential in achieving those goals.
Every student has a diverse learning style. I believe that students should learn in a safe, caring, and understanding environment. As professional educators, we should provide this safe and open-minded environment.The ways to ensure this environment is to make sure students are actively involved in their education, to make sure teachers are providing the best materials for students to learn, and to make sure parents and the community are involved in students education.
When it comes to learning the thing that pops up in many people’s mind is boredom especially if they are in a subject they truly despise. Learning can be fun by showing the students how to engage in class discussions that are fun for them as well as making sure the students want to attend class without making them suffer daily. In the short stories, “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose and “A Prostitute, A Servant, And A Customer-Service Representative” by Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo they state, how each teacher has their way of teaching and wanting to engage their students. It shows how some teachers will only care to do the basics and not go beyond that like Mike Rose states, in his short story. Carmen Lugo-Lugo states, in her story how the students
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.
The desire to learn new things means that both sides, students and teachers, must have an engaged pedagogy. According to hooks, an engaged pedagogy is both sides are willing to learn and grow. Not only the students are empowered and are encourage sharing things about themselves and learning new things but teachers are also meant to do these things (21). This is a barrier because if students and teachers are not willing to learn and grow democratic citizens cannot be created. This is so because people will not be educated of differences and others react and deal with different things in society. This goes along with the importance of self-actualization of teachers in the class...
I know that as I grow and learn as a teacher my theory on education will change and grow with me. I know that the best thing that I can bring to the table when it comes to being a teacher is the willingness to learn along with my students on what works best for us in our classroom, what is important to us when it comes to learning, and to change what needs to be change in order to have a positive learning environment for my student. The most important thing as a teacher I will bring with me into my classroom is the unwavering desire to help to guide, shape, and above all foster a love of learning in my
My philosophy at this point is progressivism. William James and John Dewey are accredited for developing the characteristically American philosophy that is progressivism. Progressivism relies on the theory that the student should be the focal point. By adjusting the curriculum and teaching techniques to reflect the student’s needs and interests, the teacher is encouraging the student’s desire to learn. Another theory of progressivism is that of a democratic system. Students will fare better in life if they are exposed to the ideas and cultures of different ethnicities and personalities early. By encouraging group work, instead of solo work that will lead to competitions, the students will be more open minded and will be better prepared for the diverse world.
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.
“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 teaching career has been spent learning how to provide appropriate support, guidance, patience, & understanding, as well as to enhance academic growth & success, for all students. My purpose as a teacher is to enrich and inspire the lives of young students with moderate/intensive needs by providing access to information instead of functioning as the primary source of information for students to flourish. My teaching methods will be to create an environment ripe with opportunities for discovery and exploration which will allow all students to learn at their own pace, generate questions and construct knowledge, while providing hands-on practice of skills in authentic situations as well as to make learning intriguing and meaningful to all students. Carefully planned and constructed learning environment will also allow the teacher more time to meet the individual needs of each student. Another important factor to a well-prepared learning environment is to facilitate learning, and providing students with balance and consistency (2004). Young students require a balance between various classroom dimensions, including activities guided by the teacher and independent work, quiet work and active work, gross motor and fine motor activities, and open and closed aspects to the curriculum and classroom materials (2004). Consistency is also a required condition for learner success. Schedules (daily and weekly), the enforcement of classroom rules, and student expectations should not be in flux but remain consistent. Without a sense of consistency in the classroom, school life would lack the necessary feeling of safety and reliability young children need to focus, to take risks, and to t...
Following secondary school some student head straight into the work force, while others attend college. Therefore, while in grade school, not only is content important, but preparation for the real world .Progressive teachers goals are to educate the student intellectually while working to make them good people in our society. Being a mentor rather than a boss and allowing student some control over how they learn is an important part of progressivism. Progressive learning is also about critical thinking, social skills, personal experience and lifelong learning. Relating your real life experiences to learning is a way of progressivism. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world.(Cohen & Gelbrich, 1999). As a student real life has always been a learning tool, and is something I will use as an educator. There is always something you like over something else; relating what you don’t like to what you like can make learning more interesting. As a second grader, I did not like grammar but I loved learning all the word to my favorite songs. We used a learning tool called Shirley Method, where grammar and sentenced parts were put into songs. This helped me engage more and retain the knowledge.
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.
Progressivism is a theory of education that encourages students to think on their own and create their own ideas to test out. In order, for the students to figure out the answer to their new idea or concept learned with hands on experiences used in the classroom. The progressivist named John Dewey believed that people learned most when their past experiences related to the concepts they are currently learning. This allows the students to connect with their experience that happened in life to the new stuff they would currently learn in the classrooms. In which, the students would engage more to learn about the new ideas or knowledge. Progressivists also believed that education should allow students to learn from each other to create a better society. The teacher’s role in the classroom is to keep in check that the students are on task but not under mind their new ideas while doing an experiment. The methods they use are student focused or orientated such as discussion, mental modeling. The students can engage with their peers and discuss their new ideas or own opinions with other without any judgement of being wrong. Progressivism and epistemology are closed connected because they let students help each other out learn new ideas with the information given by the teachers, and can connect it knowledge they have from previous
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.
My main goal as a teacher is primarily to provide students with the knowledge that will help them further excel in their everyday lives, but also to teach students to apply the knowledge they gained and take advantage of opportunities that will enrich their lives. Many times, students learn better when they feel a certain subject is relevant in their lives. I feel that it is important to have a curriculum that is based on the student’s interest, experience and capabilities. Having a textbook integrated in a curriculum is important, but a student will have a better understanding of the subject area when experience is involved. Although there are many different techniques to education, I feel that the philosophy of progressivism and essentialism best fits my style and belief of teaching. These teaching philosophies focus around student needs, democracy, and the basics of education.