"Students at Bat" Article

This article discussed the importance of giving responsibilities back on students. Today, it seems that adults do everything for children at home and in school compared to a couple of decades ago. Because of this "children today have few opportunities to learn about sharing, establishing rules, fairness, and responsibility". Some of the suggestions for teachers include letting students decide how to use their time, choose classroom rules, choose work locations, choose tasks, develop rubrics, implement student-led conferences, and report achievement and behaviors separately.

I thought the article had a lot of great points. Children barely have to think for themselves because adults do everything for them. Giving students the opportunity to be responsible for their work is important, and students will actually want to learn and take responsibility of their work.

No Child Left Behind

The No Child Left Behind law is one of the most controversial educational issues right now. It is something that every teacher is familiar with and I thought the group did a great job presenting the issue from both sides. I enjoyed all of the videos they played, especially the one that interviewed the teachers and principals. I was not aware of all of the specific goals of NCLB, I just new it involves a lot of testing and took money away from schools that did not meet the standards. I learned that to be highly qualified, teachers must have a bachelor's degree, full state certification or licensure, or prove that they know each subject they teach. I was a little disappointed by the fact that health and physical education teachers do not have to be highly qualified to teach because it isn't a core subject. I think it should be included with the other subjects. The group also discussed the goal that by 2013-2014, all students will reach high standards, at a minimum attaining proficiency or better in reading and mathematics. Some of these goals just don't seem attainable by that date. I think the basic idea of No Child Left Behind is good, but there needs to be something done with this law. It will be interesting to see what is done with the law now that there is a new president.

Philosophy Reflection

My philosophy of education is going to influence my classroom organization because I want students to be the main focus, so there will always be group work, cooperative learning, and presentations where students are teaching other students. I ultimately want students to be motivated to learn about health on their own, but I know that won't happen. I want to have a positive, safe, and comfortable environment for students to learn. Once that is in place, it will be important to relate the topics to students and motivate them to learn. My discipline strategy is very low key. I like the whole idea of body language and I believe it is very powerful. I do not believe in calling students out in front of the entire class, but rather handling the issue one on one. This way it becomes much more personal and students don't have their peers around to encourage them. My philosophy will influence the types of assessment I use because I want to keep the focus on the students, which will include a lot of self and peer evaluations, and also providing the guidelines of an assignment before hand, so students know why they got the grade they got. As I have said, I believe schools should be student-centered and I do not want to be the "sage on the stage" kind of teacher. Teachers do not have to be loud disciplinarians to have control over the classroom. I believe taking the time to really listen to students' opinions and showing them respect will help me be the leader I need to be in the classroom.

Voices Article

The following information comes from the article: The History and Philosophy of Education: Voices of Educational Pioneers by Madonna M. Murphy. Confucius’s Philosophy of Education was to provide all students with an education that would be both practical and moral, and teach them to solve the daily problems of governmental service and bring the best benefits to the people they served. Confucius expected his students to be motivated and active learners who would take the initiative in their learning.

Sappho believed in the education of the whole student and so she gave equal importance to all areas of education. Sappho saw the purpose of education as a finishing school to help these young aristocratic girls develop their social, physical, and emotional potential so as to prepare them for marriage and for taking their place as contributing members of high Greek society. Socrates believed that knowledge could not be transmitted from a teacher to the students, but that students had to discover the knowledge that was within them. Thus, the teacher’s role was to ask the right question so that the students would think about the issue and solve the problem themselves.

Quintilian’s philosophy presented the teachers role as that of an expert who had to take into consideration the developmental level and needs of the students and teach with methods which motivated and stimulated students to learn. In Augustine’s Philosophy, the teacher should take into consideration what his students already know and build on that. The teacher should teach like a father teaches a son, not striving to impart knowledge, but helping the student understand words, signs, and the concepts they represent.

Erasmus recognized the importance of parents teaching children virtues and learning began in early childhood, and preferred a curriculum with a broad general education in all areas worthy of being known. Comenius believed in universal education for all, no matter what their social background, religion, sex, or intellectual ability. He also believed the ultimate aim of education was the religious and moral formation of the child, and that parents are the primary educators.

Rousseau believed that education should be centered on who is taught, rather than what is taught. This was a radical shift where subject matter is no longer the basic element in the educational process, and the teacher is no longer the basic authority figure. I agreed with this philosophy because there is an emphasis on the students, rather than the teacher.

Discipline

Discipline has always been around in schools, but in the past there was an emphasis on physical pain. This type of discipline, also known as corporate punishment, is present in 21 U.S states. Students are given a choice between a paddle or detention, and many schools require a parent's consent before they can use a paddle on the student. The school in the video also required training for teachers to use the paddle. I don't think I could or would want to be responsible for punishing a student using physical pain. That is a parent's responsibility, not the teachers. Some other types of discipline are positive, assertive, and classical. Today the most typical type of discipline in using a “time-out” with detention, suspension, or expulsion. One way to use discipline in the classroom is body language, where teachers position themselves or use eye contact to gain students' attention. I feel this is one of the most effective ways to maintain attention and discipline in the classroom.

Promising Futures

Abstract

The Maine Commission on Secondary Education created the Promising Futures: A Call to Improve Learning for Maine Secondary Students in 1998 to change the direction of Maine high schools. Its core principles promote a safe, respectful, and caring environment; high universal expectations with a variety of learning opportunities; understanding and actions based on assessment data; teacher practice which values and builds upon the contributions and needs of each learner; equitable and democratic practices; and coherence among mission, goals, actions, and outcomes. There are fifteen core practices for learning and teaching, some of which include: every student is respected and valued by adults and by fellow students (1); every teacher tailors learning experiences to the learner’s needs, interests, and future goals (2); and every teacher has sufficient time and resources to learn, to plan, and to confer with individual students, colleagues, and families (11). The document also includes some current practices that high schools should start to phase out, especially those that oppose the core practices. To make these changes a success it will take the participation of educators, parents, students, policy makers and many others.

Reflection

The idea of Promising Futures schools has been needed in Maine high schools because it places an emphasis on learning rather than the scores on a test. One quote I really liked states: “A good teacher is one who makes it O.K. to make mistakes and makes us go back over things you don’t understand, correct it, and learn it…” (25). I agree with many of the core principles and practices mentioned in the document, but I think a lot of them should be expected. I would love to teach at a Promising futures school because it is nothing like a typical high school. Since being published in 1998, I’m surprised that more high schools have not adopted this philosophy.

The 8 Educational Theories

Abstract
The eight educational theories are Essentialism, Behaviorism, Perennialism, Positivism, Progressivism, Humanism, Constructivism, and Reconstructionism. Essentialism is a teacher-centered locus of control which reflects the belief that there is a basic core of knowledge and skills that an educated person must have. The curriculum focuses on subject matter that includes literature, history, foreign language, and religion. Essentialists generally agree about teaching the laws of nature, and the accompanying universal truths of the world. Behaviorism is a psychological and educational theory that holds that one’s behavior is determined by environment rather than heredity, and states that human behavior can be explained as responses to external stimuli. Behaviorists believe that the school environment should be organized and the curriculum based on behavioral objectives. Perennialism is an educational theory that focuses on enduring principles of knowledge; nature, human nature, and the underlying principles of existence are considered constant, undergoing little change. Positivism is a social theory that limits truth and knowledge to what is observable and measurable. It requires schools to develop content standards that represent the best understandings of experts, and students are encouraged to master these understandings and to develop their own skills of observation, classification, and logical analysis. Progressivism is a student-centered locus of control and emphasizes that ideas should be tested by experimentation and that learning is rooted in questions developed by the learner. This theory views the individual as an experiencing, thinking, exploring individual. Humanism is a theory that contends that humans are innately good, that they are born free, but become enslaved by institutions. It seeks ways to enhance the individual development of the students, unlike a group-oriented educational system. Teachers who follow humanistic theory emphasize instruction based on student interests, abilities, and needs. Constructivism is an educational theory that highlights hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning during which students develop their own frames of thought. Constructivist curriculum focuses on the personalized way a learner internalizes, shapes, or transforms information. Reconstructionism is an educational theory that calls on schools to teach people to control institutions and to be organized according to basic democratic ideals.

Reflection

The two educational theories that I feel reflect my views as a teachers would be progressivism and constructivism. Progressivism favors the scientific method of teaching and learning, allows for the beliefs of individuals, and stresses programs of student involvement that help them learn how to think. Constructivism emphasizes the hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning. I think students should be given the opportunity to explore and discover ideas for themselves, and at the same time keep the functions of school in place.