Running head: PERSONAL philosophy 1

Final Emerging Personal Philosophy Paper

Cassandra Flores

December 4, 2016

University of Texas at San Antonio

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Final Emerging Personal Philosophy Paper

Educational Philosophy

Progressivism consists of basically two overall ideas: Child Centered and Social

Reconstructionist. Child center meaning that the focus should be on each individual childs

abilities and interests. Social Reconstructionist means that child should be taught to understand

and appreciate community and work towards the common good. John Dewey is the one most

associated with progressivism. Between 1890 1920, he saw that community was being

overlooked in schools. He and others made experimental school around the ideas of

progressivism. In the 1950s, the idea of progressive education began to disappear. It came up

again in the late twentieth century with the use of such things as cooperative learning, whole

language and social curriculum. (Web)

The educational philosophy of progressivists focuses on the whole child. The child is

given opportunities to be an active problem solver. Learning by doing and by experiences is the

premise of progressive education. (Cohen 1999) Teachers center lessons around the needs of the

child using such strategies as cooperative learning and hands on activities.

The chart below from Independent Schools Magazine illustrates differences between

traditional and progressive education.

Traditional Progressive

Learners are passive absorbers of information. Learners are problem solvers and planners.

Teachers are sources of information and Teachers are facilitators.

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authority.

Community is separate from school. Community is an extension of the classroom.

Decision-making is centrally based. Decision-making is shared by all.

Knowledge is absorbed through lectures, Knowledge is constructed through play, direct

worksheets, and texts. experience, and social interaction.

Instruction is linear and largely based on correct Instruction is related to central questions and

answers. inquiry.

Disciplines, particularly language and math, are Disciplines are integrated as children make

separated. connections.

Success is competitively based, derived from Success is determined through application over

recall and memory, and specific to a time/place. time, through collaboration.

Products are the end point. Products are subsumed by process

considerations.

(Wingra School. 2012)

Not every educator can lead students in a progressive classroom. An article by

Marcia Powell summarizes teacher qualities that are associated with a student centered

classroom. Teachers and students are a team. The teacher must be able to give up control of

telling students what they need to know. Rather the teacher guides and leads the students
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through projects and conversations. The progressive teacher assesses though student

engagement rather than convenient computer graded tests. Flexibility, resourcefulness, putting

student needs first, and understanding the content is required. The lessons that worked well last

year may not be right for the group of students this year. Additionally, the teacher must realize

that he/she is not there to present knowledge but to facilitate learning which is focused on

creating and thinking critically and not on compliance. The last quality of a progressive teacher

is to develop a positive rapport with the students. (Powell 2013)

Understanding the basics of progressivism and how it differs from a traditional philosophy is

important when deciding how to set up a classroom.

Apprenticeship of Observation

The apprenticeship of observation describes the phenomenon whereby student teachers

arrive for their training courses having spent thousands of hours as school children observing and

evaluating professionals in action. (Borg, 2004, 274) To put it in simpler terms this is when a

student who is working for their teachers certification goes to a school to observe the day to day

lives of the students and teachers. This can include noting the teachers teaching styles or figure

out the different learning styles the students have. You also have the opportunity to see how the

school works with different programs.

At Whittier Middle School, I got the opportunity to do my apprenticeship of observation

in Ms. Cheuvronts 6th grade Social Studies class. Ms. Cheuvront tried to keep things in the

classroom structured and routine. She had the desks all in rows and had what they needed to get

out and do before class projected onto the smartboard. The students were supposed to come in,

sit down, and stay quiet while waiting for the class to start. According to Ms. Cheuvront this kept
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the kids busy and stopped them from getting too crazy before class. In my opinion, this did not

work. Once the students came in the majority of the kids usually ignored the bored and continued

to talk to one another. Ms. Cheuvront would then have to come in a yell at the students.

The way the school seemed to do things was very test centered. In the Social Studies

class, there would be days where they would take a chunk of time out of the beginning of the

class to work on a packet for Math or ELA. The school also used the AVID Method. This

includes a dedicated class period called ACE were students learn to take Cornell notes, and focus

on learning to organize their binder. The binder they have must stay organized. One thing I did

notice was that with the AVID method students are supposed to collaborate, but I didnt see

much of that during my observations.

In my opinion, the class I observed followed the more traditional, essentialist philosophy.

The students were giving worksheet and had to work out of the textbook a lot of the times. The

teacher would also be up at the front of the class most of the time. Rarely did she get up to walk

around and help the kids. She had the notes up on the board and the students were told to copy

what she wrote as she wrote them. Ms. Cheuvront was always teach to the test and made it a

point that the students needed to know what would be on the STARR.

Now dont get me wrong, even though I am more towards the progressive side doesnt

mean I dont like worksheets or practice tests. I just believe that there are ways to work around it

and not make it so traditional. In, The New Teacher Book Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope

During Your First Years in the Classroom, they have an essay written by Linda Christensen

called, Reading Between the Bubbles, that tells about her ways of getting the studetns to

understand the test and make it less scary them. She goes on to talk about how she printed out an

old test and groups of students examine the test and simplify it. The groups would then descuss it
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with other groups to get a better understanding of it. This lead to the students asking questions

and wanting to know all about the test. (Burant, Christensen, Salas, et al. 2010, 227)

Implications for Future Teaching Career

Once I am able to a classroom my own I would love to be as progressive as possible. I

want the students to be engaged in the lessons and having so much fun that they forget they are

in school. The students should think beyond the walls of the school and look for answers from

other outside resources. A comfortable and welcoming classroom would be where my students

can come in, get ready to do a lot of activities and have interesting discussions.

Of course when planning a class, you have to think about teach lessons about diversity.

When you have any class of students it will always be uniquely diverse, and as a teacher, you

should incorporate that into a lesson during class. Just like Linda Christensen in another essay

she wrote called, Building Community in Chaos, I would also like to have my classroom come

together as a community as share our differences in the classroom. In her essay she tells a story

how she lets the students open up and relate each other through writing. (Burant, Christensen,

Salas, et al. 2010, 227) I would implicate this in my classroom as a way to help kids learn that

we are different and come in different colors. When doing this, I believe the classroom will come

together and have less problems with diversity.

When it comes to classroom management while using the progressive philosophy, I

would have the students help me come up with some, but not a lot, of set rules for the classroom

at the beginning of the year. When students are involved in some of the decision making in the

class they will feel more involved in the class and less likely to be afraid to speak up. I would

explain to the kids that if we want to the classroom to work smoothly we need to work together,

and working together means discussing respectfully to one another while we try to figure out a
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problem together. Also, I would keep punishment to a minimum. I would not want to belittle

them by yelling at them and punishing them. Instead, I would talk to them privately and

respectfully. Together we would figure out how the problem started in the first place and then try

to find a solution for that problem. A fun thing I would do to help the students feel more

involved in the classroom, is have the desk in a circle instead of rows. I would also be included

within the circle and not in front of the classroom giving a lecture.

For examples on classroom instruction I will refer to an article written by Mark Barnes.

Barnes is well known speaker who has been teaching for about 20 years and came up with the

Results Only Learning Environment (ROLE). These are 5 steps for student-centered classroom

which include, having ongoing projects, integrate technology, replace homework with engaging

activities, eliminate consequences, and involve students in evaluation. (Barnes, 2013) This is a

great way to use progressive instruction.

I would create ongoing projects by leaving it up to the students to create a project with

the topic I provide. Of course I would give them as much freedom as possible and not have them

duplicate something I did. For example, if I told them to create a poster board about a cultural

dish they share with loved ones, they would have the freedom choose any dish they want. The

students could decorate the poster how they want. This helps them think independently and the

opportunity to come up with their own original ideas.

To integrate technology, I think a Smartboard would be the best way to do that. Ive seen

other Smartboards used in some of the classrooms I observed at and they can be used in many

different ways. The students are able to touch the screen with their hand and manipulate content

on the board. When using this I would give each student a chance to use this board. When

hooked up to a computer, I could even use the board to show them places theyve never been
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before, like the Amazon Rain Forest. Children today are very tech savvy and will most likely

choose an IPad over a textbook. This is why technology should be used in the classroom.

When doing step 3, replacing homework, I would do this with a variety of engaging

activities. Whether it be having the students experience math with life sized shapes they could

manipulate or bring in to a guest speaker from the zoo to talk about the different animals. The

students would be involved in these hands on activities so they retain the information better and

can also go home and talk about all the fun they had in class. Barnes says, with engaging,

ongoing projects that are driven by interactive web tools, students produce ore in class, making

homework obsolete. (Barnes 2013) The only thing I would ask them do once they left school is

talk about what they did and teach someone else what they learned.

Since I have previously discussed eliminating consequences earlier, I will keep the

explanation to a minimum. I would use positive reinforcement and motivation to encourage the

kids to do what they need to do. I dont want to scare them by telling them they have to go to

time out or giving them detention. I want the kids to feel respected just like they should respect

me. Also, by implementing step 3, involving in-class activities, you are decreasing the chances of

behavioral issues because the kids are too busy having fun.

Finally, I would implement step 5, involve students in evaluation, by giving and asking

for as much feedback as possible. Barnes believed in not giving grades, instead, if the student

didnt do so good the first time they should be given a second chance to understand and fix their

mistake. As a teacher, I would have the students get with me to discuss the assignment together.

They would have to tell me what they did wrong and then tell me how to fix it. If I believe they

have shown improvement, I would let them know they have successfully completed the

assignment.
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References

A Brief Overview of Progressive Education. (2002). Retrieved December 06, 2016, from

http://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/articles/proged.html

Barnes, M. (2013, May 13). Five Steps to Create a Progressive, Student-Centered Classroom.

Retrieved December 4, 2016, from

Borg, M. (2004). The apprenticeship of observation. ELT Journal, 58(3), 274-276.

doi:10.1093/elt/58.3.274

Burant, T., Christensen, L., Salas, K. D., & Walters, S. (2010). The New Teaching Book: Finding

Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom (2nd ed.).

Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Cohen, L. M. (1999). Section III - Philosophical Perspectives in Education. Retrieved 2016, from

http://oregonstate.edu/instruction/ed416/PP3.html

Differences Between Traditional and Progressive Education. (2012). Retrieved December 06,

2016, from http://www.wingraschool.org/who/progressive.htm

Powell, M. (2016). 5 Ways to Make Your Classroom Student-Centered. Retrieved December 06,

2016, from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/12/24/ctq_powell_strengths.html

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