"Ornstein,
Pajak, and Ornstein (2011) detail four educational philosophies: Perennialism,
Essentialism, Progressivism, and Reconstructionism, which they refer to as the
major educational philosophies that have influenced curriculum in America (p.
5). When I reflect on my ideals of teaching, my goals as a teacher, and my
teaching methods I see that I clearly fall into the contemporary category and
identify with aspects of both Progressivism and Reconstructionism.
Under
the umbrella of Progressivism I employ ideas of promoting democratic ideals,
that knowledge leads to growth and should be part of a life long process, that
the teacher should act as a guide, or even a co-learner, and that the best
learning is project based, inter-disciplinary, and relates to students’ lives
(p. 6). From Reconstructionism I
strongly believe in the need to reconstruct society and that education should
be part of that process (as opposed to a way to keep the status quo). Again,
this is best done through projects that are relevant to the students and that
support the ideas of equality of education (p. 6).
I like
the idea of Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development between independent and
guided problem solving (Gredler, 1997, pp. 256-7). In order to find out what
students can do on their own and what they can do with guidance requires
formative assessment to discover the range of skills that each class of
students and each individual student’s range of skills. This involves the use
of much more than simply tests to get to know students’ abilities, it requires
questioning of prior knowledge, both within and outside of my content area, and
getting to know the students as individuals.
To
accomplish the educational ideals or goals listed above, and getting to know
students and their backgrounds, is much like calls made by González, Moll and Amanti
(2005) and by Bergmann and Sams (2012). The idea of getting to know the student
strengths and weaknesses to help differentiate instruction and to become a
better guide for my students is one reason that I am implementing the flipped
classroom model championed by Bermann and Sams in my classes this year. For
years I had already employed my Universal Reading Questions to find out what my
students find interesting, what they did not understand or wanted to know more
about and to challenge them to make connections. My goal is to maximize class
time for projects, discussions, and assistance to provide more authentic
learning for my students and to help them understand the contexts and
connections the content in my classes (history) has to their lives, the outside
world, and the future."
Bergmann, J., & Sams, A. (2012). Flip your classroom: Reach every student in every class Every day. Eugene, OR:ISTE
González , N., Moll, L. C.,
& Amanti, C. (2005). Funds of
knowledge: Theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms.
New York: Routledge.
Gredler, M. E. (1997). Learning and instruction: Theory into
practice. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Nieto, S., & McDonough, K.
(2011). “Placing equity front and center” revisited. In A. F. Ball & C. A.
Tyson (Eds.), Studying diversity in
teacher education (pp. 329-337). New York: American Educational Research
Association by Rowman & Littlefield.
Ornstein, A. C.,
Pajak, E. F., & Ornstein, S. B. (2010). Contemporary issues in
curriculum
(5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Pulley, P. (2012). Universal
reading questions. Available from: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_Q0D3lQsMzcNFlnaXgtWkx4cHM
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