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Philosophy of Euucation
Niguel A. Pasillas
0niveisity of Califoinia Los Angeles
Apiil Su, 2u14








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As a social justice euucatoi, it is my goal to ensuie eveiy stuuent I teach will have
access to an equal anu just euucation, iegaiuless of theii level, ability, iace, oi
socioeconomic status. 0iban schools in unuei-seiveu communities have a histoiy of
pioviuing a sub-pai euucation to the chiluien in these communities, with some of these
stuuents uiopping out of school eaily while otheis enu up in piison oi in low-paying jobs. It
is impoitant to keep in minu that stuuents have theii own peisonal histoiies anu it is
impoitant to get to know as much as you can about eveiy stuuent. uetting to know stuuents
helps them feel that they aie a valueu pait of the classioom community anu it lets the
stuuents know the teachei caies about them. Accoiuing to Lee Anne Bell (2uu7), "The goal
of social justice euucation is full anu equal paiticipation of all gioups in a society that is
mutually shapeu to meet theii neeus" (p. 1). If teacheis aie not in the classioom to suppoit
stuuents by giving each anu eveiy stuuent full anu equal paiticipation in the classioom
then we have faileu the stuuents because eveiy stuuent ueseives an equal oppoitunity.
In oiuei to pioviue stuuents with the best euucation possible, it is impoitant to
unueistanu how to keep stuuents engageu anu know the mannei in which stuuents leain
by unueistanuing what theoiies anu ieseaich suppoit my teaching piactices. Theie aie
some stuuents who leain bettei by seeing as opposeu to ieauing instiuctions fiom a book,
while otheis leain best by engaging in some soit of activity that iequiies physical
movement. These vaiieu ways of leaining can best be uesciibeu by Bowaiu uaiunei as
multiple intelligences. It is impoitant to know what woiks best foi each stuuent. While I
may not be able to make suie that I engage stuuents in each of the seven types of
intelligence, it is a goou iuea to tiy anu use at least two oi thiee ways of incoipoiating them
into a lesson. An example of how to incluue uaiunei's multiple intelligences into a lesson
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woulu incluue using a visual component in each lesson in conjunction with text, oi even
allowing the stuuents to act out pait of the lesson using a tableaux oi othei activity that
incoipoiates physical movement.
In many college couises, stuuents usually sat quietly at a uesk taking notes while the
piofessoi stanus in fiont of the classioom lectuiing about a vaiious topics foi any given
length of time. While this appioach to teaching has its puipose, it uoes not woik veiy well
foi stuuents in an elementaiy classioom setting. Baibaia Rogoff's iuea about cieating a
community of leaneis in the classioom is bettei suiteu foi cieating a setting wheie
stuuents anu teacheis can all leain fiom each othei.
While it is impoitant to take into consiueiation stuuents' vaiieu ways of leaining,
the content which is being taught to the stuuents neeus to be at a level in which stuuents
aie challengeu just past theii cuiient ability oi level of compiehension. This theoiy, known
as the Zone of Pioximal Bevelopment (Z.P.B.) was uevelopeu by Lev vygotsky anu was
useu to uesciibe the way in which he thought stuuents woulu leain best. The zone of
pioximal uevelopment is the uistance between the actual uevelopmental level as
ueteimineu by inuepenuent pioblem solving anu the level of potential uevelopment as
ueteimineu thiough pioblem solving unuei auult guiuance, oi in collaboiation with moie
capable peeis (vygotsky, 1978). The mateiial that is taught to stuuents cannot be too easy
because then stuuents will get boieu anu will uisengage. 0n the othei hanu, if the mateiial
is too uifficult, stuuents will become fiustiateu anu will give up. The key is to teach mateiial
that builus on stuuents' piioi knowleuge while iemaining challenging enough to stimulate
leaining by connecting new knowleuge to what they alieauy know.
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In some situations, outsiue factois can be an obstacle foi new teacheis to pioviue a
socially just euucation. Foi example, in some schools piincipals anu othei school
auministiatois may oi may not be suppoitive of teacheis' neeus. In a uiffeient scenaiio, a
teachei might finu themselves at a school wheie othei teacheis may not woik as a team oi
may not agiee with a socially just appioach to euucation. Baving a sciipteu cuiiiculum anu
woiking in an enviionment wheie theie is a negative attituue towaius stuuents baseu on
iace oi cultuie coulu be majoi obstacles to achieving my goal of pioviuing a quality
euucation to chiluien baseu on the social justice mouel.
In my fiist teaching placement, my guiuing teachei shaieu with me a teiiible
expeiience he hau with a piincipal. This piincipal woulu come in to his classioom anu
uemanueu that he have the T.E. (teachei's euition) foi tieasuies in his hanus at all times
anu wanteu him to teach line by line what was in the book. Ny guiuing teachei felt veiy
iestiicteu anu was ielieveu when the school got a new piincipal that alloweu the teacheis
to stiay fiom the sciipteu cuiiiculum if it benefiteu the stuuents. Buiing the fiist two
quaiteis I spent with my guiuing teachei, I was able to see him use u.L.A.B. (uuiueu
Language Acquisition Besign) stiategies to supplement the cuiiiculum useu by the school.
Foi some lessons he abanuoneu the cuiiiculum altogethei, which alloweu him to tailoi his
lessons to the stuuents' neeus by using mateiial that was ielevant anu at a level that the
stuuents woulu unueistanu.
Woiking in an enviionment wheie teacheis aie not sensitive to the neeus of
stuuents can also make foi a uifficult obstacle as a new teachei. Typically Afiican Ameiican
anu Latino stuuents aie given the least suppoit anu have the least oppoitunities in schools
wheie acauemic achievement is favoieu. In his aiticle on Cultuially Relevant Peuagogy,
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Tyione Bowaiu wiites, "The uistuibing euucational tienus of Afiican Ameiican anu Latino
stuuents has leu to ieifieu images of stuuents who appeai to be moie suiteu foi special
euucation anu iemeuial school, anu less suiteu foi gifteu euucation anu auvance placement"
(2uuS, p. 196). The way some teacheis peiceive stuuents uoes not give them a chance at
pioving that they can succeeu acauemically anu because these negative peiceptions of
Afiican Ameiican anu Latino stuuents exist, teacheis view these stuuents fiom a ueficit
peispective.
In oiuei to auuiess the neeus of stuuents theie aie vaiious teaching stiategies that
can be implementeu in oiuei to best seive the stuuents. To auuiess the neeus of stuuents at
uiffeient levels of ability, the teachei can use uiffeientiateu instiuction to taiget stuuents at
uiffeient levels. It is best if this is uone uiscieetly anu can be achieveu cieating
uiffeientiateu woiksheets oi giouping stuuents togethei stiategically by making suie
stuuents aie woiking with peeis that aie at theii level of leaining oi slightly above.
Anothei technique that can be useu is scaffoluing. This technique bieaks uown the leaining
piocess so stuuents can leain the mateiial in steps, anu is associateu with the woik of
vygotsky anu his theoiies about ZPB. In hei aiticle, Walqui states:
In euucation, scaffoluing can be thought of as thiee peuagogical 'scales'. Fiist, theie
is the meaning of pioviuing a suppoit stiuctuie to enable ceitain activities anu skills
to uevelop. Seconu, theie is the actual caiiying out of paiticulai activities in class.
Anu, thiiu, theie is assistance pioviueu in moment-to-moment inteiaction (2uu6, p.
164).

Scaffoluing is a technique that allows stuuents to leain big concepts oi iueas by
staiting with a simple iuea anu slowly builuing on that concept in oiuei to help stuuents
unueistanu a laigei moie complex concept. Anothei teaching stiategy that will help engage
stuuents incluues stiuctuiing teaching piactices aiounu cultuially ielevant peuagogy. In
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some classes I have seen peuagogical piactices that uon't engage eveiy stuuent. In my
pievious stuuent-teaching placement, my guiuing teachei always maue aujustments to the
school cuiiiculum in oiuei to make lessons moie cultuially ielevant foi stuuents. This is
helpful in keeping stuuents engageu with the mateiial being taught. In his aiticle about
cultuially ielevant peuagogy, Bowaiu (2uuS) states, "Teacheis must be able to constiuct
peuagogical piactices that have ielevance anu meaning to stuuents' social anu cultuial
iealities" (p. 19S). In othei woius, teacheis must pioviue stuuents with leaining
oppoitunities that aie engaging anu ielevant in oiuei to valiuate theii own cultuial
expeiiences in the laigei context of classioom leaining. By incluuing cultuially ielevant
peuagogy you aie explicitly valiuating the impoitance of theii cultuie because stuuents aie
able to see aspects of it being taught in the classioom. This can be uone by incoipoiating
holiuays oi othei cultuial tiauitions celebiateu by the stuuents into the class cuiiiculum
such as a unit on !" $%& '( ")* +,(-.)*.
When it comes to looking out foi the best inteiest of the stuuents, teacheis play a
veiy impoitant iole. Whethei teacheis engage stuuents' multiple intelligences by
incoipoiating kinesthetic movement into a lesson, oi by making suie stuuents stay engageu
by teaching with the stuuents' zone of pioximal uevelopment, it is impoitant to use the
ieseaich that has been uone in the fielu of euucation to fuithei enhance oui own
peuagogical piactices. It is the goal of the social justice euucatoi to make suie that stuuents
in theii classioom always ieceive a just anu equal euucation, anu it will be my mission to
ensuie that eveiy stuuent that comes in my classioom ieceives the best euucation possible.



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Refeiences

Bell, L. A., & uiiffin, P. (2uu7). Teaching foi uiveisity anu social justice (2nu eu.).
/0()-(.%1&" 2),3'&.%)3* 2)- *)1%&" 4,*.%1( (',1&.%)3, (pp. 1-14). New Yoik, NY, 0S:
RoutleugeTayloi & Fiancis uioup, xxi, 471 pp.
Bowaiu, T. (2uuS). Cultuially ielevant peuagogy: Ingieuients foi ciitical teachei
ieflection. /0()-5 63.) 7-&1.%1(8 9:(S), 19S-2u2.
vygotsky, L. (1978). +%3' %3 *)1%(.5; /0( '(<(")=>(3. )2 0%?0(- =*510)")?%1&" =-)1(**(*@
Cambiiuge, NA: Baivaiu 0niveisity Piess.
Walqui, A. (2uu6). Scaffoluing Instiuction foi English Language Leaineis: A Conceptual
Fiamewoik. In /0( 63.(-3&.%)3&" A),-3&" )2 B%"%3?,&" !',1&.%)3 &3' B%"%?,&"%*> (pp.
1S9-18u). Routleuge.