Educational Issue: Technology Integration

You guys did an awesome job bringing all of these new resources to our attention--and in such an efficient way! Anyone else might have just plowed through all of the links in front of the whole class, but I think that your decision to split us up and show us links in groups was a great strategy. Your presentation was comprehensive and fun and you did a great job getting everyone's attention the whole time. I don't think Grace would have let you guys use almost the whole class for your presentation if it wasn't going extremely well, so you should be proud of yourselves!

Teaching Hope: Empowerment

This chapter read differently than the others--it seems like the authors were able to summarize many of the lessons of the previous chapters with their concerns about their students graduating. I wonder if all 150 teachers had to write 6 testimonies, and then the best from those categories were chosen?

Since I will be teaching at-risk students next semester, I found this section pretty interesting. Though I can assume that most of theses students in the book are at-risk, I don't think I saw it mentioned quite as much as I did in this chapter. These teachers really seem to lay it all on the line. I wonder how much of their all-or-none attitude is present during the scope of an entire year, or if it only seems dramatic because of the tone of the testimonies. If teaching classes lik this is so ridiculously demanding, I think to myself, how can I ever have what it takes to do it myself?

I bet if you come at it with an impossibly optimistic attitude, everything seems to weigh in the balance a lot more (I'm looking at you, entry 149) I don't yet have it in me to believe that every single student I ever teach is going to turn their lives around. Sure, if I am a good teacher they might have the ability to make a change, but if I start worrying that I can't affect their lives 100%, I feel as though I'll be setting myself up for failure.

This whole book really taught me a lot about what the at-risk students in this country are going through, but I think that it was most effective as a helpful collection of examples and counter-examples for the kind of teacher I want to be. I kept this in mind when I read every entry, and I found that I was assessing the teachers and their actions more than the students. Because really, though there were some truly unique students in the testimonies, the majority of them are all the same--or they are at least all in the same boat motivationally and academically. It is the role that the teacher takes on that requires close examination, and I feel that this is where the book is most helpful.

Theories Abstract

Perennialism
This teaching school of thought involves little student attention. Instead, the teacher is the center of the classroom, and it is considered his or her responsibility to imbibe the students with essential information. This theory borrows much from idealism in that it assumes that there are tried and true answers that need to be understood in order for students to be successful.
Essentialism
Every person has a core knowledge that is essential to their survival. Schools are expected to effectively convey these core skills to students so that they may become most productive. Under essentialism, there is less emphasis on underlying truths to information, and more focus on a strong understanding of "basic" skills.
Behaviorism
B.F. Skinner began this movement. True to his belief that an individual's behavior is determined by their environment, Behaviorism focuses on controlling stimuli in the classroom in order to most directly influence student behavior. Because of these areas of focus, Behaviorism is most closely linked to Realism.
Positivism
This educational theory throws out any approach to knowledge that does not rely on observable, measurable fact. Beliefs about the mind, the spirit, and consciousness are not validated, and all existence can be explained by known laws of science.
Progressivism
Developed from pragmatism, Progressivism restates that if an idea works well, it can be considered true, but takes it a step further by proposing that it should be tested for its ability to work. Developed by Dewey, the movement makes use of structured testing procedures like the scientific method to validate ideas, and learns from them by continuing to question those ideas.
Reconstructionism
This is a student-centered movement that views the classroom as a vehicle for social change. The agenda of a Reconstructionist classroom would be to include an awareness of controversial or dire social issues as often as possible, placing emphasis on the students' ability to shape the social status of their community and their world.
Humanism
Humanism believes that there is an innate good in every person, and that education should be concerned with enhancing that good within the individual person. This movement has little to do with group-oriented learning, instead maintaining a steady concern with the growth of the student as an individual. Humanism is related to Existentialism.
Constructivism
Students are encouraged to find their own frame of interest and to learn accordingly. The development of critical thinking takes precedence over memorization of specific facts. Teaching techniques involve a variety of activities which allow students to make their own connections to the answers they derive from the activities.

I find that Constructivism most appealed to me and my teaching strategies. Not only do I agree with the approach to student learning in this movement more than any other, it seemed the most forward-thinking and evenly distributed educational approach. Too many other movements like Behaviorism or Essentialism seem to rely on an absolute instruction method or mode of thought to be practically applied to a classroom without alienating the progress of some students. By contrast, Constructivism seems like the best way to reach out to every student, since it emphasizes the individual growth of every learner. It is also the most accommodating theory for planning lessons based on the interests or learning styles of a group of students. Since there is a clear emphasis placed on varying instruction and classroom activities, there ought to be enough ways of teaching information that every student can satisfactorily develop their own understanding and make their own connections.

A close section was Reconstructivism. I, too, think that the first step to social reform is the education of that society's population--so school would be the most direct way to influence the future. Since I'm not a social studies teacher, I think that I won't have as many opportunities to implement this kind of teaching theory in my class, but I do want to make my students as much a part of their community as possible. Discussion of current events and social issues are the best way of bringing the outside world to them, and since there would be no point in talking about it if I weren't going to try and get them to think of ways of affecting their society, this school of thought seems like it fits my intentions.

Educational Issue: Classroom Management

You guys did a great job with your presentation, and I liked how you gave us a couple of different teaching styles to think about--it sort of fits nicely with our latest work defining the different philosophies. In particular, I thought your explanation of the Laissez-faire style was interesting because you gave so many examples of the kind of teacher who might employ that style. Not only did you help us make comparisons, but you gave a few pros and cons to keep our ideas on the teaching styles fair and balanced. It's nice to talk about teaching styles every now and then, if only to help remind us that there are more styles and methods involved with teaching than learning styles.

I thought that the classroom activity was also fun. Another thing that I've gotten used to is thinking about my teaching career in hypothetical terms, since few of us have had the kind of experiences that will really test our decision making skills. Your activity helped put things in perspective for me, anyway, and any opportunity to get us teachers thinking about what kinds of decisions we will have to make in the future is good exercise.

Chapter 4 Philosophies

Idealism
This philosophy seems like it is in the throes of its use in education, but it might just be that I don't get out that often. This is a very teacher-centered philosophy, one that is most concerned with filling students up with all of the known essential facts that the teacher has. There are underlying absolute truths in the realm of knowledge, and in order for students to be the most productive and model citizens, they must know them front and back. The trick is to see through the imperfect material world and see the wholeness of the true spiritual truths that exist. It seems that this is an older school of thought, and the fact that it is used by so many religiously founded schools might attest to that.

Realism
Ideas are not the ultimate reality, in contrast to idealism. The study of reality and knowledge is implemented by sensory perception and abstraction of the world. In this sense, a scientific approach to information is the main way realists come to their conclusions. Realism applies the Aristotelian idea of forms to grasp the concept of the material world, understanding the characteristics and principles that make it up in order to then classify and group the information.

Pragmatism
This philosophy encourages change, never content to allow there to be unquestionably true information to know. Pragmatists understand their environment through personal experience and observation, then use the information that they have gained as a way to solve problems with their conclusions. Because ideas about our world and our universe are always changing, Pragmatists argue that the Idealist and Realist philosophies are unable to be proven.


Existentialism
This philosophy believes that nothing is absolute, not even change. For this reason, students must be allowed to create their own meaning, since there is no ultimate meaning that one must gain. Since scientific knowledge is limited, the most important kind of knowledge is that which is personal.

Out of these educational philosophies, I found that I identified with the Pragmatists the most. It seemed like most of the other philosophies were extreme in their conservative or liberal leanings, and as someone who likes to stay in the middle, I was looking for a philosophy that didn't put all of its eggs in one basket. What intrigues me about Pragmatism is its attention to the importance of change. By contrast, a philosophy like Idealism puts too much faith in absolutes for me.

Educational Issue: MultiCulturalism

Sorry I wasn't in class to see your presentation! From what I gather it was well done and engaging. I've read your paper, though, and I found it very enlightening and comprehensive. You do a good job of tying together not only racial diversity, but also gender discrimination and sexual orientation.

I think that it is always important to have an extensive knowledge of the history of these cultural issues, and not only the time-relevant information. Your paper bolsters the issues with historical context and then explains how far we've come in integrating the changes with the field of education. Good job!

PBS Documentary: Part 4

This part of the documentary made me think a lot about my early education like an educator. I have spent the majority of my time as an Education major thinking about how I will apply what I've learned in high school to my teaching after certification. There is, however, a lot to be learned from the policies of all our school placements, and if we are able to think about the motives behind them, then we might get a better grasp on whether we should try them in our own classes.

This video had a lot of talk about educational trends, and I think that these seemed to spring up left and right once we entered the technology age. Education was becoming a commodity, and with such a diverse and growing number of students, these trends were quickly becoming the basis for educational reform. A few trends that seemed the most influential in the time period of the episode (and also for present day, and in the future) were Charter Schools, Teacher Empowerment, Merit-based pay, and certification. These trends all seem to come from a student-centered, teacher-friendly area of thought that is built for progress.

Of course, not all of the hundreds of trends that have sprung up since the 80s were zingers, and a few of them have doubtless hindered economic enlightenment in many corners of the country. For instance, Privatization, tenure, Consolidation and Tracking are some trends that I had marked for detrimental issues. These trends all seem very much based on the state of the economy at the time, more geared towards the allotment of pay and funding and less on the benefit of students' gaining knowledge.

The documentary ended on a high note of satisfactory progress in such little time, but there remains--and there always will remain--much work to be done.

Teaching Hope: Rejuvenation

In this section, I found that I had more appreciation for the practical testimonies--those which had what seemed like a more realistic outcome. Of course, I am assuming that all of these teachers are telling their stories in truth and with little embellishment, but I can't help but feel as if there is an underlying tone of exposition in most of the stories. Sometimes after I've read a chapter I feel as if I've read a selection of very short stories from a bunch of teachers who want to be recognized for their story-telling prowess.

The testimonies that sparked all of this metacognition were some of the first entries in the chapter. The teacher who finally got a chance to read her problematic student's journal entry and the teacher who received a negative note from her sub both mentioned issues in their classrooms that I am most likely to face. I feel as though every other teacher has avoided or neglected these problem areas up until this point. For instance, I ended up asking myself: what do I do when I get a bad note from a sub? How can I most effectively punish the kids who were out of line without unjustly judging innocent students? What if I have students who refuse to go to the office when I tell them? What will I do? The teacher who wrote this doesn't offer any suggestions or remedies, but now at least I know that when any of these things happen (and they inevitably will) I will be comforted with the knowledge that it has happened to someone before.

Somewhat outside of my experience and level of expertise is the crippling reality of the sheer amount of work that goes in to cultivating student/teacher relationships. After her problem student shared some extremely personal information with her (which the author tactfully omits) the teacher is not all that surprised to find that the change was not immediate.

I think that a main issue I have with this book is its format. With so many short glimpses of extremely specific examples of teaching experiences, I am having a hard time differentiating between what can be considered absolutely situation-based testimony and that brand of testimony that will teach me something worth carrying into the field. The fact that I have had to read 3/4 of this book before finding some objective teaching advice (however inadvertent) speaks volumes for the effectiveness this text has on my teaching career and educational philosophy as a whole.

"A Nation at Risk" Abstract/Reflection

Nation at Risk expresses concern with America's position in the world of education. Too many schools are far below testing standards, according to nation-wide surveys. The general attitude of the teaching community is one of frustration, paired with a crippling "dimming of personal expectations." The address provides examples for success such as "commitment" "dedication" and "public awareness." The idea that education is the path to greatness for a nation is prevalent throughout the address. The document serves to raise awareness of the issue of America's mediocrity, and it calls the educators, community, and students to make a change in the direction public education is heading. The response article from 25 years later, while criticizing the Nation at Risk address for being too harsh in their condemnation and lenient in their statistical presentation, mostly agrees that the nation is still falling behind, and that, were it not for this address, we might be much farther behind in educational reform than we are now.

Nation at Risk seems to be at once a noble call to arms for America's education system, as well as a gross generalization of and focus on every American school's shortcomings. The address is dripping with that nauseous brand of patriotism, that proverbial stick-in-the-mud national attitude that won't have America being anything other than a perpetual forerunner in every aspect of civilization. While the country has made leaps and bounds in education reform, it seems as though at some point it dropped the ball, and other countries mastered many of our methods and began testing higher. Nation at Risk deserves much more criticism, but it is a close call whether or not its benefits outweigh its frustrating origins. The country would not have been aware that it had fallen by the wayside had it not been for the research that was conducted for the article, and even if its numbers were skewed, the point is moot. The 25 years later article picked up on this issue, and quickly realized that more good than harm was done in this case. America got a wake up call, and the programs and institutions that were founded in order to answer to this address were well worth whatever sort of blind supersession brought it forth.

PBS Documentary Part 1

I wondered why we were watching the episodes of this series out of order, but in the end I don't think it matters much in which order you watch them. Episodes 2 and 3 were a little more chronologically linked, and it seems like we have more to say about those eras because we have more historical knowledge. It seemed like Episode 1 was interesting because it clarified some gray areas that we might have known about in early American education, and dispelled a couple of myths that we might have picked up at some point in our American History classes.

While there was a lot in this episode that was completely new to me, the issue of inequity was something that interested me for its novelty. I had known that schools were used by many towns at once, and that they were typically funded by the community, but it didn't occur to me that certain towns were richer than others, and could therefore afford to offer their students more resources. Jefferson's fight for elementary schools was also news to me, though I'm not sure that the video was very clear about all of his motives. Someone in the video remarked that he wished to "Rake the geniuses from the rubbish," and I can't help but wonder if someone with such a plan should receive much praise.

Horace Mann, on the other hand, seemed to earn his historian-appointed title of "Patron Saint of Education, " considering the leg work (both political and physical) that he invested into schoolhouse equality.

I am a little disappointed that the Anglicization of the Native American population got only about a minute of screen time. There were many issues with inequity and discrimination within the educational system in the early days, but the American-led cultural genocide of Native Americans is the most poignant century-and-a-half-long atrocity in our history, and the primary weapon was white-washing in the newly-instituted education system. I think more people should be made aware of the scale and implications of this event, and if you are going to air a documentary on the history of education, you should take care to lend an equal amount of mention to one societal shortcoming as the other.