Motivation Presentation

This presentation was incredibly helpful. Motivation is one of the most important topics that we can focus on as future educators. Contrary to opinions we may have seen at one point, there is no such thing as a too-motivated student. There are some great resources pointed out in this class at the resource station, from the character cards to the BBC History games (!)

The scenario stations were also really helpful. The "nightmare students" seemed like for the most part, they were either bored or were having trouble following the content. Fortunately, these nightmares can be brought to a swift end by the resources and creativity we have available!
Another thing that was really interesting in the presentation and the paper this group made is the focus on our newly-learned philosophies. I really enjoyed learning about how existentialist theories applied to student motivation.

I also really liked the "true/false" intro. That is a great way to fully gauge class opinions on different topics, and gets us moving. It's really interesting to see different opinions. It was also interesting to see the class's response when I took an opposite opinion to them.
The textbook resource section was a good opportunity for me to remember that my own interest in Shakespeare is almost necessarily different from the average interest in Shakespeare. In addition to hearing some interesting perspectives on how to teach math with more interesting sources, I learned how to teach Shakespeare with more interesting sources.

Educational Theories

Perennialism is an educational theory similar to the philosophy of idealism, in that it focuses on wide truths that are universal to everybody and unchanging. Some of the traits of perennial theory is that is has less focus on facts than other theories, as facts can change while the underlying truths do not.

Essentialism is an educational theory that seems to be one of the more widely utilized in the public eye. Essentialism focuses on the idea that there are many truths and subjects that should be learned by everybody. This seems like a fairly straightforward, if more complex, rendition of the “reading, writing, and arithmetic” system. One important note about essentialism is that it is also backed by cultural literacy, the idea that functioning members of society have certain universally shared cultural knowledge.

Behaviorism is an educational theory, based in large part on the writings of B.F. Skinner. Rather than perennialism, which argues that smaller facts are misleading and larger ideas are key, behaviorism posits that what really matters is not the overarching ideas, but rather the behavior, or acted manifestations of those ideas. Without each individual action or behavior, there are no larger principles.

Positivism is an educational theory focused on scientific knowledge, discovered and verified by empiricism. While perennialism may teach scientific method and veer from facts, positivism focuses on both, not discrediting facts until they are scientifically disproven. This constructs a sort of “knowledge pool.” There is an emphasis in this theory on sense verification.

Progressivism is an educational theory, again based in science, which argues that students learn best from experiential situations, specifically in solving problems. Progressivism has a focus on the “social animal” aspect of learning, using schools as a system of socializing students to function in society.

Reconstructionism is a socially based educational theory that focuses on social issues and how they can be solved. This educational theory was based in opposition to ugly realities about the world we live in over the past several decades, and has been gaining momentum.

Humanism is another educational theory based on the goal of social development. Rather than creating a science-based world, however, humanism is grounded in the humanities, seeking to develop a society of eloquent thinkers and writers. This sort of grounding, according to humanism, is the basis for a society geared towards civil service.

Constructivism is a theory of learning similar to the educational philosophy of pragmatism in that it focuses on the students’ abilities to construct their own knowledge. The instructor’s role in constructivism is to facilitate learning, while the student’s progress and learning process are the really important parts.

The two theories that I feel I relate the most with are humanism and constructivism. I feel strongly about the value of language and developing a complex understanding of literature. Lots of art is intended to reflect life, and learning to interact with a variety of literary characters can definitely build social understanding. Reading and responding to texts that are portrayed from different perspectives can also help learners step outside their own minds, putting them in a position to feel more sympathy and relate with other individuals more. As for constructivism, I think the things that we learn the most are the things we learn ourselves. One of the best things we can due for a student’s learning is to give him or her the satisfaction of successful learning. Too often is learning and teaching portrayed as an act that an instructor does to a student, while in reality the learning occurs in the student’s mind, completely independently of the instructor. Therefore, it should be the instructor’s job to help stimulate students, not to “fill them” with learning. 

Discipline Presentation

I really enjoyed this presentation. It was interesting to learn about the different disciplinary styles that can be found in my classroom. There was certainly a good activity when each group was given a disciplinary situation to deal with. I was in the group that was generally less authoritarian, and it was interesting to me when the class disagreed with the preferred method of dealing with the situation (gambling in school).
The resources that we were provided with were also fascinating artifacts. I definitely learned a lot about the ways that disciplinary issues have been treated in the past. I feel that discipline in the classroom is a very personal issue, to a certain degree. In one regard, the school has its own policies that come down from the top, but with a lot of small classroom issues, I feel it's best to let the disciplinary technique match the general tone of the classroom. This should be very deliberately thought out.

Philosophy Abstracts and Reflections

Idealism

Idealism is a philosophy based on the idea that ideas are the main reality in the world, and that the physical world can be misleading if it is overly focused on, rather than the underlying spiritual world. One epistemological function of idealism is that the human reasoning must be the source of knowledge, as physical exterior would-be-sources do not actually contain truth. It is based or rooted in the writings of the Greek thinker Plato, and frequently utilizes Socratic method to discern knowledge.

Realism

Realism is a philosophy that stands almost precisely counter to idealism. Realism puts its focus on the idea that truth does not exist within the human mind, and that all knowledge and reality exists solely on the exterior. The epistemological function of realism is based on scientific method and observation of the natural world. The works of Aristotle, and much later, John Locke, served heavily to form modern realism.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophy that dismisses idealism and realism as inconsistent with a natural world and internal world that are changing and evolving. This has an epistemological nature that requires an interaction between the self and the universe, but not necessarily from a scientific observation standpoint. While both idealism and realism state that there are universal truths that must be discerned in some way, pragmatism focuses more on the process of obtaining knowledge than the knowledge itself. It is centered on becoming rather than being.

Existentialism

Existentialism is a philosophy that is contrary to the other three philosophies we’ve studied. Rather than finding meaning in the mind, in the natural world, or in the process of change and evolution, existentialism claims that there is no absolute meaning or principle to live by. The chief principle of existentialism is that because there are no absolute values, humans are free to make their own choices. Existentialism is based heavily in the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre.

The two educational philosophies I’ve chosen to focus on are idealism and existentialism, mostly because these are the two ideas that I tend to alternate between in my own views. I have been deceived enough by and seen enough negative works come from the hands of the scientific process and observation of the natural world and natural laws to believe that there is any kind of absolute meaning found in the observable universe. I have also always felt deeply that if there is some kind of absolute meaning, it must be found internally. The Socratic method and use of questions to learn are things that I have always felt strongly about.

As for existentialism, I also have long periods in which I dismiss the idea of internal meaning as well. I agree with the somewhat pragmatic idea that the search for meaning may be the largest source of actual meaning in life, but I still feel that even this is not enough, as it can be by no means described as a universal truth. 

Response to "Rejuvenation"

Rejuvenation

This reading had a lot more great moments for me than any of the Teaching Hope segments so far. A lot of them were solely about the teachers’ experiences, and many of those had some great introspection. However, the chapters that most reached me were the ones where individual students had really great breakthroughs.  After the last segment, I needed a collection of refreshing and heartwarming stories. Number 120 with Tara, the girl who was afraid to be in the Public Speaking class, was really nice to read. Another one that I really enjoyed the themes of was 112, which dealt with Max, the boy who assaulted his teacher. The forgiveness and understanding that the teacher shows is really admirable to me – I firmly believe in as many second chances as it takes to make a breakthrough, and the teacher really captured that well. 127 also really got to me, about Manie, the boy whose family was upset that he was visiting the Holocaust Museum. Watching a single breakthrough must be the most awe-inspiring thing, and although I haven’t seen anything like this at my summer camp quite yet, I certainly hope to experience this sometime soon in a classroom.