1

An Experience Changed by a Teacher’s Philosophy

Rachel Shively

Wittenberg University

EDUC 104: Final Paper

Professor Hillary Libnoch

December 2, 2020
 2

An Experience Changed by a Teacher’s Philosophy

A teacher’s impact on their students starts when students enter their classroom. They

influence their actions and lifelong beliefs. The “philosophy of education” bases itself on the

analysis and clarification of concepts and questions that are centered around education

(Noddings, 2016, p. 1). Within this, there are five main philosophies: perennialism, Essentialism,

progressivism, reconstructionism, and critical theory. The most common philosophy used in the

past was perennialism, where teachers base topics on “ideas that are perennial” and the teachers’

role in the classrooms are to “train a group of intellectual elites.” The next philosophy,

Essentialism, bases itself on the teacher being the dictator and maintaining the social order

within the classroom. Teachers with the philosophy of progressivism enable students to use

problem solving skills and encourages “active participation in a liberal democratic system”.

Teachers that draw from reconstructionism believe that “students [should] be empowered to

solve personal and social problems”, as well as believing that schools should reconstruct a new

social order. The final philosophy is critical theory, where teachers believe that their job includes

the reforms of equality, fairness, and justice (Tan, 2006, pp. 30-37). In my first-grade educational

experience, I believe that the teacher drew from Essentialism. They would have better handled

the situation if they drew from reconstructionism.

Like most first graders in 2008, I had no interest in George W. Bush (the president at the

time), the upcoming election, and the stock markets plunging. Moreover, I harbored no thought

to what happened outside my own little world. Life was simple when you did not have to worry

about the world’s problems and could focus all your attention to what was happening in the

moment. My mind was full of imagination and many different stories I wanted to share. I had

little focus on the outside world and was content living in my small first grader bubble.
 3

It was the start of any typical school day, spring of 2008, when my dad came bursting in

my room telling me to get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast. I jumped out of bed and I

could instantly smell the bacon and eggs from the kitchen. I looked at the closet for my pink,

flowy dress Mom had set out, I grabbed it, pulled it over my messy hair, and ran downstairs.

While I ate, Mom asked what to put in my Strawberry Shortcake lunchbox I wanted PB&J and

four strawberries cut into fours (same every day). Upon finishing my morning sustenance, I went

upstairs to brush my teeth and get my hair fixed. My mom curled the ends of my blonde hair and

tied up two high ponytails with pink ribbons. Jumping down the stairs, with the pigtails bouncing

all over, I grabbed my lunchbox and bookbag, called for Dad. He walked me down to the bus

stop – just me and him. I stopped at the driveway before the stop and he kept walking. The boy

across the street was eagerly waiting for the race to begin. Without hesitation, my dad said,

“GO!” The neighbor and I took off to race to the bus stop. He always won, but the fun was in the

race itself. As the bus’s brakes squealed around the corner, I gave my dad a big hug and hopped

on the bus. I rode to school excitedly waiting in anticipation for what I was going to do that day.

Fast forwarding to lunch time, I went through the line with my best friend Grace. She had

lots of sass packed in her. We were tied at the hip since we first met. Grace had older siblings

and was obsessed with boys – though Ryan was her primary focus. After Grace got her lunch, we

would stop at the condiments table to wait for two boys, Ryan and Michael. We sat next to them

most days – this was due to Grace’s impeccable timing on how long to take to put various

condiments on her plate. We went to sit down where we traded lunch items. Michael asked if

Grace and I would chase him around the playground during recess, like Grace did with Ryan. I

looked at Grace and she had started on her sassy retort, “First, no and second, we don’t follow

Ryan around.” Michael blankly stared back, while Grace rolled her eyes. I just went back to
 4

eating my sandwich. Soon after the teachers released us for recess, where Grace and I decided to

kick around a soccer ball. We were minding our own business when Michael started running

towards us. Instantly I flashback to what he had said at lunch. He started chanting the phrase

“Kiss me. Kiss me.”, while he put his face all up in ours. Grace quickly retorted back with a

negation. She then looked at me and started the conversation right where it had left off, as if

Michael were not even there. Michael ran off, not even bothered. Recess continued, we resumed

kicking the ball and then Michael ran back up. The same process repeated itself two more times,

by the third time I was over it and asked, “Michael, if I just kiss you will you please leave us

alone?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” he responded full of excitement. I leaned over, pecked his cheek, then

he screamed and ran away. Grace and I were glad he was finally going to stop bothering us.

Immediately, the whistle blew, louder than I ever recalled hearing it! The woman with the

whistle was yelling my name, “Rachel Shively!” It echoed across the playground and all of the

students stared in my direction. I looked at Grace confused. I began to walk over to the angry

woman. She did not stop blowing and screaming, so my walk soon turned to a run. As I

approached her, I realized it was Ms. White. This particular teacher was the one who would

come in and take the bad kids out during math class. Her prominent wrinkle between her eyes

was deeper than usual and her pursed lips looked like she was about to poop. I looked up at her

as I approached. I did not know what to say. My mind was blank, and my eyes were watery. I

was so embarrassed.

She began to yell again, “You kissed Michael. Why?” It was as if she wanted the entire

world to hear her. Before even letting me answer, the yelling resumed. “You should know this is

not allowed at school! Explain immediately why you did this!” I look to see where Michael was,
 5

but he was nowhere in sight. I looked back up at her and started to say why, but she had gone

back to yelling. “Do you not have an answer? You better not lie to me about what happened!”

I did not understand why she would not let me tell her what happened, but I looked the

angry woman in the eyes and said, “because he asked me to.”

“No! He did not ask you to!”

I squeaked back, “Yes, he really did.” At this point, tears were streaming down my face. I

had never got in trouble at school. I loved school, but not today. She proceeded to make up a

situation where Michael asked me to jump off a bridge and asked would I jump off. When I

nodded my head, this infuriated the woman.

“No!” Ms. White screamed. We then headed to enter the doors farthest from the office, as

if to take the longest route possible, and started to walk down the hallway. Tears were streaming

down my face. I did not utter make a peep in fear. The walk to the office felt like a million years.

We approached the doors and Ms. White pointed at the chair outside the office and sternly said

“Sit.” I sat in the chair and looked down at my pink, flowy dress, reminiscing on how innocent

the day had begun. My legs dangled, unable to touch the ground, while the tears fell like a

constant stream down my cheeks. The principal came and asked me to come into the office. She

had a lot less anger but gave me a look – a look of hatred, but also, a look of satisfaction in

herself. I entered the principal’s office and she calmed me down. She reassured me that I would

only be written up for “Sexual Harassment.”

I believe that Ms. White has a gruff tone often towards students. She always seemed to be

angry with them. Throughout Nel Noddings’ book of Philosophy of Education and the Tan

article “Philosophical Perspectives in Education”, the Essentialism philosophy and goals for
 6

education are described. I believe Ms. White chose to draw from the philosophy of Essentialism,

by using disciplinary action and by trying to enforce preparation for society and experiences.

Essentialist educators often have discipline as one of their top priorities for students.

They believe that it is important, always, for teachers to maintain discipline (Tan, 2006, p. 31).

Through the authoritarian actions Ms. White took to tell me how the situation happened, shows

me that she had no intention to ever consider my side of the story. Ms. White chose to be the

dictator where she assigns the role of who is right and who is wrong. Noddings’ references the

benefits in allowing children to speak in the classroom in her textbook, Philosophy of Education.

While referring to Dewey’s beliefs, she states the importance he believed in “the role students

play in their own education” and that “not only teachers must [hold] aims” for their students

(Noddings, 2016, p.28). Ms. White failing to see my side of the story shows how she failed to let

me play a role in a dynamic of the conversation – it was one sided, only led by one person.

Additionally, Essentialism philosophy reinforces the focus of being a teacher that is “able to

maintain discipline, order and control.” I believe Ms. White feels as though she always has to

maintain this “role as a mental disciplinarian,” where she is the boss, and no one can disagree

with her (Tan, 2006, p. 32). One reason I believe Ms. White is an Essentialist teacher is due to

the level of importance she places on discipline.

Not only does Ms. White hold a disciplinary role, she also could be trying to prepare

students for society and experiences in the world – which is also an Essentialist motivation (Tan,

2006, p. 33). Ms. White might act angry towards students to teach them how she believes the

world works. If she only finds anger and hate in the world, it is what she feels she should reflect

upon her students. In Tan’s article, she states how Essentialists believe that “students are

expected to learn discipline, civility and respect for legitimate authority so that they can function
 7

effectively as members of civilized society” (Tan, 2006, p. 33). Therefore, Ms. White may

believe that the way she is disciplining students prepares them for the “real world”.

“[E]ssentialists see it coming from tested human experience” (Tan, 2006, p. 33), so they believe

you can develop and grow as a person through human experience. Ms. White definitely gave me

a memorable experience where I learned that she took the disciplinary role, and now I can reflect

and see maybe why she chose what she did. She chose an Essentialist perspective, where she was

the authority and she set the way I should respond to her as the authority.

Ms. White chose to use an Essentialism Philosophy through her disciplinary actions and

her way of trying to enforce the preparation for experiences. The experience Ms. White chose to

give me, helped me develop and gain sympathy for students that I see get punished just because

they are “the bad kids”. The experience I learned from Ms. White is that I never want to treat a

student with so much belittling that they feel they have such little value.

Ms. White should have drawn from the philosophy of progressivism. Instead of belittling,

I think she should have listened and let me explain my side. I reflect upon the event and believe

that it would be best to create a school where the teachers were not dictators and the social order

was more equal – where students feel valued. School should not just be a place to learn the core

subjects, but also a place where personalities and values are developed. A child spends the

majority of their childhood at school; interacting and forming bonds with students in their district

– understanding how to approach social problems, and the social order among adults and

students should be an underlying factor in what is being taught in schools. Being able to teach

students how to be a “good person” and how to value those around them starts with how teachers

teach their students. Students learn from observation, so how their teachers respond demonstrates

ways to respond to environments. Instead of drawing from the Essentialism philosophy, I believe
 8

that Ms. White should have drawn from progressivism in order to help students use problem

solving skills and understand a changing reality. The progressivism philosophy creates a better

atmosphere for this situation because it helps teach students how to conquer their social

problems.

The progressivism philosophy promotes students to develop problem-solving skills. As

stated in the article by Tan, “[p]roblem-solving skills are especially crucial for the individuals to

confront their […] social problems” (Tan, 2006, p. 34). Ms. White prevented me from solving

problems with peers by taking control of the situation. The progressivism philosophy believes

that students should use skills to solve their personal problems. (Tan, 2006, p. 34). By Ms. White

controlling the conversation and not letting me talk, she prohibited me from dealing with my

problem on my own. There was little learning that occurred in this situation. The way she

approached the situation caused her to try to solve the problem, telling me how I need to

approach situations; this denied me the opportunity to solve my own problem.

I believe that Ms. White could have improved the situation if she drew from

progressivism by creating an understanding for a shift in reality – where students had a say. The

progressivists have the “belief that reality is always changing” (Tan, 2006, p. 34). By allowing

me to give my input in my educational experience with Ms. White, it would have empowered me

as a person, not just a student, to stand up for myself. The response of Ms. White could have

been improved by her reaction. If she was able to control her anger and listen to the opposing

side of the situation, then she could improve her approach to talking to children.

In conclusion, I believe if Ms. White drew from the progressivism philosophy, she could

have created a lesson in which I learned how to solve social misunderstandings and find

confidence to stand up for myself. If I would have been taught how to deal with social problems,
 9

it might have enabled me to address problems that arise in social situations today. Not being able

to have a say in the argument with Ms. White created a sense of resentment towards her – it

created a fear towards addressing issues with superiors. If Ms. White would have drew from

progressivism rather than Essentialism, I might have been able to develop better skills for

problem solving, along with understanding at an early age how to address teachers with

questions.

All in all, I believe that the situation in first grade could have become a learning

experience by Ms. White choosing progressivism over Essentialism. Ms. White’s selection of the

Essentialism philosophy caused the situation to spiral into a negative experience. The skills that

could have been developed were halted and fears were created. Although understanding which

philosophy she drew from helped me better understand why she chose to react the way she did.

All in all, the philosophy the educator draws from can help explain why they respond to

experiences the way they do in the classroom.

 10

References

Noddings, N. (2016). Philosophy of education (4th ed.). New York, NY: Taylor and Francis

Tan, C. (2006). Philosophical perspectives on education. In C. Tan, B. Wong, J. Chua, & T.

Kang (Eds.), Critical perspectives on education (pp. 21-40). Pearson.