Philosophy of Education Podratz 1

My Philosophy of Education: Progressivism

Caitlin A. Podratz

EDFN-338-S01

October 17, 2018

South Dakota State University

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I had heard of an educational philosophy prior to taking this course, but never really

knew what it was. As a result, this task of writing an educational philosophy paper became quite

daunting. When I first began the process, I was quite confused and overwhelmed; there were so

many different approaches and ideas. After taking the inventory to discover my educational

philosophy, I learned that I have a progressive approach. Again, this was quite confusing; as the

different philosophies were not something I was familiar with. Upon doing some quick research

to get some base knowledge on a progressive education approach, I found out that this was

actually very close to my core values and beliefs on education. Knowing that I want to become a

kindergarten teacher, and what a progressive approach looks like, I think the InTASC standards

that can best be used in my future classroom include: standards one, three, and five.

Before I took the educational philosophy inventory, I was not aware of what

progressivism was. After I looked into the subject, I learned more about the ideas of progressive

schools. As Katherine Ellison and Tom Little describe “[progressive schools] include placing

more emphasis on eliciting and engaging students' interests, combined with project-based

learning, integrated curriculum, strong school communities, and real-world relevance” (Little &

Ellison, 2016). After getting a base definition, I realized that this was very accurate as to how I

learn best as well as how I want my future classroom to be.

From a young age, I have been a hands-on learner. I have always enjoyed getting to do

things with my hands and being able to put into practice what I have learned. During early

elementary school years, we had plenty of free play time. I enjoyed this time because I got to

spend time interacting with my friends as well as use my imagination and creativity. While we

were not sitting and memorizing facts; we were gaining communication skills, learning conflict

resolution, and discovering what interested us. As I got older, we had less free time, but we still
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had many choices about how we wanted to learn. For example, during reading time, we got to

choose what we wanted to read. In other subjects we often had a broad topic and could choose a

project based on that. During middle school, I was enrolled in a charter school. This greatly

impacted my views on education, as well as my love of learning and will be discussed later in the

paper. While I was in high school, courses became more rigorous. Although this was the case, we

still were very involved in our learning and often got to choose how we wanted to learn a

subject.

During high school, our school as a whole actually became a charter school. There was now a

stronger emphasis on hands-on learning as well as student led projects. This time of discovery

led to me finding out what my strengths and weaknesses were as well as where my interests and

passion was. During my senior year, we had to do a senior exit project, which lasted most of the

year and consisted of a physical project as well as a research paper and a presentation. I chose to

do my project on the foster care system. Throughout the project, I gained real-world experience

as I worked with social workers as well as foster parents. I learned about their struggles and

successes. During this time, I found an area within the system where I could help and make a

difference. Had I only been sitting in the classroom, I would not have learned nearly as much

about the foster care system or gotten the real-world experience that I did.

I was enrolled in charter school during middle school. My charter school had an overarching

focus of the outdoors. Charter school was very hands-on. We often got a broad topic then got to

pick our projects based on the topic and our interests. Before each project we would pick out

standards that we would accomplish throughout the project. With each project there was a

research component as well as a physical product and some sort of presentation. One example of

this is when I did a project on Eleanor Roosevelt. I had to research her life and time in politics.
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Then I had to dress up as her and host a radio show. We were often out in the community,

conducting research for our projects or working with community members. My charter school

experience was very student centered, as well as interest driven. This is something I hope to

continue with in my own classroom.

To me, progressivism really just means focusing on the student. Progressivism

emphasizes student centered education as well as focusing on the students interests.

Progressivism can be used in all aged classrooms. Through hands-on and student led activities,

students’ interests can be incorporated, while still ensuring that students are meeting the

standards and goals that they need. After I graduate, I hope to teach in a kindergarten classroom.

There are many ways that I can use my progressive views in the kindergarten classroom. One

thing that I thought about was sending out a questionnaire at the beginning of the year to parents

to find out what their child’s interests are. Once I get parents' responses, as well as finding out

from my students’ what their interests are, I can start to adapt my curriculum to their preferences.

While there are many different ways progressivism can be carried out in a classroom, I

have thought of a few that I included here. Some of the main points of progressivism include

focusing on students interests and having hands-on activities. One thing I thought of for this was

using manipulatives to count and do math. Based on students' interests, I could incorporate

different manipulatives such as toy cars, crayons, or toy food. I also thought of some different

activities that could be used when learning the alphabet. When I was in first grade, we all were

assigned a letter of the alphabet. We each got a cardboard letter to take home, then were

supposed to attach objects that started with that letter to the large letter. We all brought our letters

back to school and shared them, then hung them up in the classroom. This was a great way to

learn our alphabet as well as words that go with each letter. This project left an impact on me as I
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still remember it today. Another idea that I thought would be very fun at this age, as well as

provide students with real world experience, was to find out what they want to be when they

grow up. After finding out what careers students are fascinated by, I could find people that have

those careers in the community. If they had a job that we could go to, we could take a field trip to

their work, if not I could have different people come in and tell the students about their job. This

way students could learn more about different jobs as well as ask questions to people in that

field.

There are many standards that can fit with the progressive view of education. I chose three of

my favorites that I plan on implementing in my future classroom. The first standard that I chose

that I thought represented progressivism was InTASC standard number one. Standard one

discusses learner development and states the following, “The teacher understands how learners

grow and develop, recognizing that patterns of learning and development vary individually

within and across the cognitive, linguistic, social, emotional, and physical areas, and designs and

implements developmentally appropriate and challenging learning experiences” (Council, 2013,

pg.16). It is important to value each child as an individual and not just another student. As

teachers, we should be listening to their input and ideas to make our classroom and curriculum as

effective as possible. As Jane Moulding discusses in her article about progressive education we

should be “Plac[ing] students — not curriculum — at the heart of schools” (Moulding, 2013).

We should be using students' interests and ideas as the generator for our lessons; after all,

students who are interested in what they are learning are more likely to be excited to learn and

retain more information.

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The second InTASC standard that I plan on implementing in my classroom is number three

which discusses learning environments. Standard three states that “The teacher works with others

to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage

positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation” (Council, 2013,

pg.21). Self-motivation, relationships, and engagements with others are such a crucial piece of

progressive learning. As it is discussed in an article from High Meadows School in Georgia,

“strengthening relationships is central to the philosophy of progressive education, and great

educators know that strong relationships — between teacher and child, school and family,

knowledge and understanding — are fundamental to learning” (Building, 2017). I want to have

a classroom where students have the ability to choose what sort of activities and lessons they

want to do. Sue Stover wrote an article about free play and how it fits with progressive

education.

Children were conceptualized as better educated when they were happy; where learning can

be recognized within activity that is self-chosen and sustained by a child; where physical

activity was not separated from intellectual learning; where children could have preferences

without parents or teachers losing status or control (Stover, 2016).

As a teacher, I need to maintain overall control of my classroom, but I also want my students to

have the ability to choose activities that interest them. On the same topic, I discovered more

about ‘non-formal’ learning environments. As Kate Shively states “a non-formal learning

environment may be more open to foster exploration and discovery because of its flexible

structure” (Shively, 2014). While a non-formal learning environment is not always the best

solution to a classroom, I think that there are times in my future kindergarten classroom that this
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would be beneficial. “Free choice” time is an excellent place for students to have the ability to do

what interests them, while I as a teacher can still have overall control of the classroom.

The final standard that I plan to implement in my classroom is number five which has to

do with the application of content. This standard is especially important to the progressivism

view, since it strongly emphasizes connecting what is being learned to real life experiences.

Standard five says that “The teacher understands how to connect concepts and use differing

perspectives to engage learners in critical thinking, creativity, and collaborative problem solving

related to authentic local and global issues” (Council, 2013, pg.27). In his works and

development of the progressive views, John Dewey emphasized the importance of activity and

application “Activity is the fundamental characteristic of the child’s nature, which is expressed

through his instincts, experience, interests and individuality. They represent a huge educational

potential and starting point of the process of learning, but are not an end in itself: they need to be

controlled and guided toward realization of predetermined goals” (Leshkovska, 2016).

Dewey believes that the key method in the process of learning is problem solving. Problem

situations should be connected to actual child experience and within the child’s abilities for

their resolution. Since earliest ages, children work on projects… that enable them to develop

their intelligence and manipulative skills. The aim of such an activity is not to give students

analytical knowledge about the subject, but to stimulate their curiosity and research spirit

(process oriented instead of content-oriented) (Leshkova, 2016).

The progressive view fits so well with this standard; there is a huge emphasis on hands-on

learning and applying knowledge to real world problems. One hands-on project that I would like

to implement in my future classroom is having students bring in a story that is special to them. If
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possible, I would have parents come read the story to the class. This would give students the

opportunity to share a little about their background as well as why the story has meaning to them.

From this activity, students would learn more about their classmates, as well as be exposed to

other adult readers and different literature. By implementing hands-on projects in my classroom,

students can gain better knowledge of the subject as they discover things happening in their own

community.

While there is no right or wrong educational philosophy, it is important to find the one

that works best for each individual. For me, that philosophy happens to be progressivism. My

school experience has shaped my views on education as well as how I learn best. I plan to

implement much of the progressive philosophy into my kindergarten room. I am excited to see

students grow and discover as they work through different projects in my future classroom.
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References

Building relationships to promote progressive education. (2017).Independent School, 76(3), 8.

Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,

Ip,uid, cpid,custuid&custid=s6257719&db=aph&AN=121560980&site=ehost-

live&scope=site

Council of Chief State School Officers. (2013, April). Interstate Teacher Assessment and

Support Consortium InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards and Learning

Progressions for Teachers 1.0: A Resource for Ongoing Teacher Development.

Washington, DC: Author.

Leshkovska, E. A., & Spaseva, S.M. (2016). John Dewey’s Educational Theory and Educational

Implications of Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. International Journal

of Cognitive Research in Science, Engineering & Education (IJCRSEE), 4(2), 57-66.

https://doi.org/10.5937/IJCRSEE1602057A

LITTLE, T., & ELLISON, K. (2016). BACK TO THE FUTURE on Progressive

Education. Independent School, 75(3), 86-91. Retrieved from http://search

.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,ip,uid,cpid,custiu&custid=s62

57719&db=aph&AN=113260744&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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Moulding, J. (2013). Growing progressive educators. Independent School, 72(3), 10-11.

Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=cookie,

ip,uid,cpid,custid&custid=s6257719&db=aph&AN=857418155&site=ehost-

live&scope=site

Shively, K. (2014). Digital Progressive Learning Environments for Elementary Children.

Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue, 16(1/2), 141-156. Retrieved from

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cpid,custid&custid=s6257719&db=aph&AN=99391993&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Stover, S. (2016). The educationalizing of early childhood in Aotearoa New Zealand: tracking

“free play” 1940s-2010. Paedagogica Historica, 52(5), 525-541. https://doi.org/10

.1080/00309230.2016.1170709