Educational Philosohies

The book talks about two different types of philosophies in education. There is teacher centered and student centered. Essentialism is the first teaching centered philosophy. The teacher must have a common core of information and skills (subject matter) and focuses on teacher-centered instruction. Behaviorism is the second teacher centered philosophy. This says that one’s behavior is determined by environment, not heredity. The third is positivism. This means that thinkers did not attempt to go beyond observable, measurable fact. It limits knowledge to statements of observable fact based on sense perceptions and investigation of objective reality. Perennialism is the belief that schools should teach ideas that are everlasting. “All’s fair in love and war” has been around for a very long time, whether you believe it or not. This is where teaching avoids fads or new ideas and sticks with what has worked in the past. Lastly, reconstructionism focuses on addressing social questions and a quest to create a better society and worldwide democracy. The curriculum highlights social reform as the aim of education.

Next are the student-centered philosophies. Humanism works to enhance the innate goodness of the individual. It does away with group-oriented education and focuses solely on the individual. “Humanists claim that as educators attempt to predict the behavior of students, they turn individuals into objects to be measured. Next, constructivism works with hands-on, activity based teaching and learning that develops personal meaning in the instruction process.

The last philosophy I mentioned is probably the one I best identify with. When teaching health, there are so many different activities that can get students involved in the classroom or in an outside environment. I truly believe that students learn best when they can move around and work with their hands. Obviously this isn’t the case with every student but it is by far my favorite way to teach. 

Poverty

Many Americans struggle with poverty at some point in their life. Most people in America do not make an outstanding amount of money. The poverty presentation we saw on Wednesday opened the classes eyes on just how little the average person with poverty makes. It also shows all the things they cannot afford because small amount of money they make. One way or another, they must give up at least a few important things that each American needs. Often, it is a choice between food and health insurance or car insurance. There are millions on Americans that cannot afford health care because it can be so expensive. If a family must choose between health care and food, they will choose food everything and hope that everything works out. I am not all that surprised about the number of people in the country that live-in poverty. This year especially we hear more and more about it because of the recent presidential election. Every issue imaginable involving money you can hear about on the news every day. Unfortunately, those numbers are never in anyone’s favor. 

Class of Philosophy

After class on Monday I was very surprised that I was placed with Idealism. Now that I know more about each philosophy from class, I especially do not agree with my placement. When I look at the descriptions of each other philosophy, I find that I identify with all the others more than idealism. Idealists seem to only look for the “ultimate truth” rather than information that is already presented to them. They already have an idea of this ultimate truth should be. It’s this idea that makes them stagnant and unmoving in different areas. There are plenty of good traits that I do think I fall in line with such as, values. Idealists believe that values are rooted in existence and are part of reality. It is this that I believe to be relevant to my own life. Strong values make a person who they are whether that person is good or bad. Overall, I cannot say that I agree with my placement but I do understand how I may have aligned with it. 

4 Philosophy's

Idealism deals with mind over matter. Everything about idealism involves the mind. “For idealist, nothing exists or is real except ideas in the minds of people or the mind of God, the Universal Mind.

Realism is the opposite of idealism, in that, it states that knowledge exists outside of the mind and must be uncovered through the senses and scientific investigation. Reality is composed of both matter (body) and form (mind). God doesn’t play a role but rather scientific method.

Pragmatism views reality as an event or a process, whereas others view it as a given. This states that knowledge is evolving and changing constantly. This includes things that are taught. According to pragmatism, truth is not absolute but is determined by function or consequences. They don’t even us the truth but at best use “tentative truth” until something changes.

Existentialism believe that existence precedes essence. For them, there is neither meaning nor purpose to the physical universe. We are born into this world by chance and we owe nothing to nature but our own existence. For this, you create your own meaning and have free choice.

I believe that I fit mostly with realism. I have never been the most religious person so the fact that realism leaves out God and focuses on what we know and what we uncover speaks to me. My own content area focuses on everything we know about the human body and I make recommendations and lessons based on those truths. I do not teach about sex being a sin but rather safe sex or abstinence, for example. At the same time, I also agree with pragmatism. The idea that knowledge and our understanding is forever changing based on discoveries, just makes sense to me. I believe these two-philosophy’s work well together. In my opinion, it appears realism unlocks pragmatism. Through scientific discoveries and investigations, we unlock new truths and new ways of doing things that are better before. 

Teaching Hope (Rejuvenation)

Entry 115 was the first to catch my eye. It hit me on a very personal level because I know from first-hand how great a pen pal can be. Having the chance to talk to someone that you have never met or never seen is really something special. It’s exciting to know that whatever you say, someone, from somewhere else is going to read it and there is a good chance that they will reply back to you. I had a little different experience but it still involved a pen pal. I was in elementary school when we were given this opportunity. I wasn’t writing to someone that was across the country but rather to someone who was a couple of towns over. When you’re in elementary school, that feels like a place far, far away. I didn’t know it at the time but I would later find out that my pen pal would become my best friend for many years. Pen pals are a great opportunity for every student to experience because they get to see things from two different perspectives, from someone they have never met before.

It's stories that are full of hope and progress like in entry 125 that people need to hear more about. In order to help her students and get them to new experiences that would hopefully change their outlook on life, this teacher found a way to get them to Arkansas on a budget. It’s not easy to take kids out on a field trip that also has them camping out in the woods. There are a lot of hoops to jump through that many teachers may not be willing to do. It is things like that, that can make an amazing impact on a student’s life and change the way they look at the world and see their place in it, as well as where they could go. If there were more teachers who thought like this and were willing to get things done to give their students an experience they would never forget, our education system would sky rocket in a positive way. 

PBS Episode 4

In episode 4 of the PBS education documentary, we get a look into a more “modern” education system. After viewing the episode it’s actually hard to believe that it is modern in the slightest. Everything seems off about it. I remember when I went through the same education system and never thinking much of it at the time. However, looking back I can see all the flaws that I was introduce to at an early age. It was a time testing was the big fad in the school system and only some schools had begun a standards based education, if any did at all. This is not to say that things did not improve with the system since its beginning but little can be left to doubt that there was still a long way to go before we find a correct formula. Even today, there are so many schools that are still stuck in the past. This final episode really made me think about how education is today. I mostly think about our government and how a lot is left up to individual states and how those decisions are decided by people who never look to the future because they believe it to be too costly. If only they could see the benefits of investing in our education system today so that tomorrow, we could reap what we sowed. Unfortunately, a lot of people in power have a hard time seeing past what is right in front of them. They choose to spend money on less important things instead of funding the students that will one day run this country.