f01. web view29.02.2012 · i often think of ms. sanchez and wish i could implement ......
TRANSCRIPT
Damariz Lewis
EDU215 Education Foundations and Framework
February 4, 2012
Education Philosophy and Rationale
With the invention of standardized testing there is only philosophy allowed to
teachers and that is Realism. This is because by definition it's "teaching methods focuses
on mastery of facts and basic skills through demonstration and recitation. Students must
also demonstrate the ability to think critically and scientifically, using observation and
experimentation. Curriculum should be scientifically approached, standardized, and
distinct-discipline based. Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct
(Cohen 1999). Now doesn't that sound a lot like teaching the test?
On the other extreme you have existentialism a philosophy based on the
individuals personal choice stating that the student should lead where the curriculum goes
instead of the curriculum being predefined. Existentialists are opposed to thinking about
students as objects to be measured, tracked, or standardized. That would really put a huge
hole in our current standardized testing frenzy so I strongly believe teachers will not be
able to use this philosophy in the public school system any time soon. However all that
being said I believe there is great merit to this philosophy I actually experienced this style
hands on when I was in head start.
Mrs. Sanchez was not your typical teacher for one thing she never had lesson
plans per say she would just start the morning off reading a book or walking outside and
see where the day took us. Sometimes I would get all caught up in the sky and she would
take the time to explain the clouds and sun to me or I would be curious about the
butterflies and she would show me a caterpillar and explain that someday it would be a
butterfly. Another thing that I loved is she would always let me chose the which book I
wanted her to read to me at story time. This made me quickly love to read. I can
remember running home and nagging my mother to by me the Disney read along story
books. I can now understand that Mrs. Sanchez was using existentialism a philosophy
based on the individuals personal choice stating that the student should leading where the
curriculum goes instead of the curriculum being predefined. What seemed like the coolest
teacher in the world at 4 was actually just a different philosophy on teaching.
I often think of Ms. Sanchez and wish I could implement her teaching style but as
I said earlier with standardize testing it just would not work. This is because it's teaching
methods focuses on mastery of facts and basic skills through demonstration and
recitation. Basically we teach the test. That is why I have decided to stick with the realist
philosophy for my teaching philosophy. My goal will be to have at least 75% of my class
understand the material before I can move on. If 75% do not understand then I have to go
back and reteach. However if 75% get it it is time to move on. My hope is that even if
25% do not fully understand the subject matter I have made them think. Hence I have
chosen to adopt this quote as my mission statement “I cannot teach anybody anything. I
can only make them think” ― Socrates
Realism can be broken up into metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology.
Metaphysics is also known as the nature of reality. This means physical things or nature
and our experience or perception of those things. Epistemology also known nature of
knowledge is the discovery of logical, orderly truth of the external world via sensing and
the scientific method. For example metaphysics will ask the question the “Do dogs exist?
Epistemology will say can I see, touch, and smell the dogs. If the answer is yes then the
dog must exist.
Axiology also known as the nature of values is the natural law or moral law
governing what is good. As a realist I feel that it is in nature that we will find these
answers. I good example of this in education is corporal punishment in the class room. I
can look back and prove that it has been emotionally detrimental to children and hence
say it is morally wrong to beat children in the classroom.
As a realist my curriculum will be taught using lectures, discussion, and scientific
method. There will be no room unfortunately for the student to make any choices on
what they would like to learn. This may sound correct in theory since the teacher is in
charge of the class not the student but here is some food for thought. Do you think a child
will learn to read more quickly using your books or the ones that interest them? If you are
being honest with yourself you know that the child will learn quicker if they chose their
own book. However like I said before the invention of standardize testing does not allow
us the time to explore these options. Let us look at some other philosophy’s that have
been stripped from us.
Idealism the oldest of all philosophies dating back to ancient Greece it focused on
the world of the mind, ideas, and reason is primary. This actually sounded like a great
philosophy till you looked into the metaphysics that believe everything exist in the mind
or better yet in the mind of God and believe everything can be explained as a creative
spiritual reality. Well that is where it all literally gets blown out of the water for someone
teaching in the public school system. We can barely get away with using the word God in
the pledge let alone actually teach an entire curriculum with it being the focal point. We
would probably be fired before we finished our first lesson plan. However let us for
argument sake say we could get pass the metaphysics and go to the epistemology. Well
then you would have to scramble to explain things like ultimate truths and that the search
for truth is actually more important than the truth itself. I see one huge problem in all that
from a public school stand point. How will we test for that? Once again we are left with
an otherwise good philosophy that cannot be used because of our obsession with testing.
Honestly is it a wonder that students hate to go to school when all we do is test them all
day long. I remember being a kid and loving my head start teacher. It is a shame that kids
now days will not share that same experience. Perhaps we can hope that things will
change around for our students sometime in the near future but till then I guess we are all
left teaching with realism as our philosophy not of choice but of mandate.
References
L. DEAN WEBB (2010) FOUNDATIONS
Of American
EDUCATION (ARLENE METHA& K. FORBIS JORDAN) Merrill
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Columbus, Ohio
Leonora M. Cohen (1999) .Philosophical Perspectives in Education. Retrieved
February 4, 2011.
http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP1.html