Education
Backgrounds
Educational
Philosophies
Six Basic Questions
What should be taught?
Who should decide what should be taught?
Why should this material be taught?
How should this material be taught?
What should the teacher’s role be?
What should the student’s role be?
Educational Philosophies
(what people think; general beliefs concepts, attitudes)
Perennialism/Idealism
Universal truths conveyed through classics (didactic, Socratic, coaching methods). Teacher’s role to impart knowledge in disciplined environment
Essentialism/Realism
Certain basic skills, knowledge, understanding students should master. Skills needed to function effectively in workplace. Back to Basics. No Child Left Behind. Learn content, demonstrate mastery on standardized tests. Teacher is authority. Encourage students to make responsible choices.
Progressivism/Pragmatism
Focus on student rather than content, to be life-long learners in changing society. Learn how to learn. Teacher is facilitator, resource, co-inquirer
Existentialism
Students determine what they need to study guided by teacher. No one set of learning outcomes. Teachers lay out topics; students make own meaningful choices.
Social reconstruction
Education to facilitate development of new social order; reform society rather than transmit knowledge. Service learning.
Eclectic Approach
Select and use what is most appropriate from each philosophy
(from Building Teachers 43-54)
Models
of Teaching
Teaching as Telling
Teachers’ functions are largely to funnel specific pieces of knowledge to students.
Students’ functions are to largely absorb that knowledge, much as they would read a book or view a film.
The reception of such knowledge is active and efficient and also incorporates critical assessment of that knowledge
The giving of such knowledge is tailored to students’ experience, prior knowledge, and difficulties with the subject.
(Frontloading: sometimes students need background to approach a subject.]
Teaching as Inspiration
Getting students excited is more important than leading them to some kind of intellectual conclusion.
Things always have a tendency to “work out” in a classroom. [“Winging it!]
The freshness of inspiration is always superior to certainty (read dullness) of planning
Teaching as Maintaining a Creation
Teaching has more to do with systems and patterns and rules than with the shifting demands of learning.
Once a classroom organizational pattern is established, it can successfully guide an entire semester or a year.
A Teacher can successfully anticipate student needs to the point that any organizational pattern established will be durable for a fixed time.
Teaching as Discovery
The teacher doesn’t necessarily avoid questions to which there is not answer or mind saying, “I don’t know.”
The teacher lets students talk.
The teacher allows pauses in the talk—just like in real conversation—leaving periods of silence in the room.
The teacher asks, asks, asks and falls out of love with telling.
The teacher starts teaching with where the students are, not where the book is or the teacher is.
Teacher as Reflective Practitioner
Teachers should ask themselves what do I do? (observational description of practice), what does this mean? (principles of theories-in-use which underlie practice), how did I come to be this way? (awareness beyond the classroom, the political ramifications), and how might I do things differently? (call to action).
***Teaching is not right or wrong; many variables make it more complicated than that (subject matter, purpose, methodology, situation or setting, time of day, the teacher, the diversity or background of students, and the institution).
(from Making the Journey 43-57)
Educational Psychologies
(How people learn and what motivates them to behave the way they do)
Humanism
See from the student’s point of view. Rather than material being taught, focus on learners. Students work for intrinsic feelings of accomplishment.
Behaviorism (Pavlov, Skinner)
Favor drill, repetition, reward-based teaching methodologies. People’s behavior shaped by environment and its extrinsic forces.
Information Processing (cognitive psychology) (Bloom’s taxonomy?)
Organize information carefully, link to existing knowledge, recognize limits of attention and short-term memory, encoding strategies to make information meaningful
Constructivism (Piaget, Vygotsky)
Construct own conceptualizations by combining information presented with own prior experiences. Look at own ideas and the ideas of others to come to new and informed conclusions. Interact with material rather than memorize content. (1) (from Building Teachers 59-63)
Educational Psychologists & Fundamental Student Needs
Basic human needs
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
William James: Material, Social, Spiritual needs
Glasser: Love, Power, Freedom, Fun, Survival
Cognitive needs
Piaget: People progress through the same stages but at different rates
Sensorimotor; Preoperational; Concrete Operational; Formal Operational
Conservation (Different sizes of glasses of water)
Psychosocial development needs
Erik Erickson: At different ages, individual must address certain psychosocial life crises; other people play large role in how they deal with these predicaments
(from Building Teachers 71-82)
Learning As Behavior:
Several theories but all emphasize observable, measurable behavior and importance of reinforcement to strengthen desired behaviors.
Classical conditioning (Pavlov)-Reflexive behavior, stimulus/response
Operant Conditioning (Skinner)-manipulate environment to obtain specific learning. Positive/negative reinforcement.
Learning as Cognition:
Focus on activities of the mind rather than observable behaviors. Students do not merely receive information but construct knowledge by incorporating new information into existing knowledge.
Importance of seeing relationships, organizing information—inductive/deductive
Cognitive Information processing—computer as model
Learning as Constructivism:
(Vygotsky) Role of peers and adults in process. A great deal of learning occurs in social contexts. As learner actively transacts, interprets, and interacts with the environment and with other people, understandings and knowledge from the learner’s background begin to guide the learning process. Apprenticeships best instruction models.
***All three combine depending on needs of students and learning outcomes desired. Behavioral used to manage classroom, teach basic intellectual and motor skills, especially younger and low ability students. Cognitive for complex tasks with multiple solutions. Constructivists take advantage of social nature of classroom and transferal to outside world.
(from Becoming a Teacher 190-94)
Effective Teachers
Components of
Effective Teaching
Personality Characteristics + Instructional Skills = Excellence in Teaching
Gurney Chambers (Dean of College of Ed, Western Carolina U) identified:
1. Empathetic & see from students’ perspectives
2. Energetic
3. Have high expectations
4. Concerned with the whole child
5. Perceive hidden curriculum (learning that goes on but not part of course) (from Building Teachers 19-25)
Characteristics of
good teachers:
Commitment to students and their learning
Knowledge of subject and how to convey content to students
Ability to manage and monitor learning
Ability to think about teaching and learn from experiences
Participation in learning communities/collaborating
(from Becoming a Teacher)
Teacher Attitudes and
Behavior
Consistency Interest & involvement Sense of humor
Fairness Willingness to listen Liking students
Willingness to be the adult Showing students what kind of behavior is appropriate
(from Exploring and Teaching)
Characteristics of Good Teachers
1. Like young people
2. Are flexible
3.Draw appropriate conclusions from classroom observations
4. Listen attentively to students
5. Have a sense of humor
6. Have a sense of intellectual curiosity
(from Making the Journey 6-40)
Three Truths about Teaching
1. Teaching is more than sharing what we loved as students in our own English classes.
2. Students and who they are shape what and how we instruct.
3. School as an institution limits and influences what we can and cannot do in our classrooms.
English 424 List of
the Characteristics of Good Teachers
Enthusiastic Listener
Flexible Coach
Patient Learner
Knowledgeable
Respectful Facilitator
Reflective Have a sense of humor
Dedicated Love students/subject/teaching
Organized
References
Christenbury, Leila. Making the Journey: Being and
Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts. 2nd ed.
Martin, David Jerner, and Kimberly S. Loomis. Building Teachers: A Constructivist Approach to Introducing Education.
Tchudi, Stephen
and Diana Mitchell. Exploring and Teaching the Language Arts. 1989. 4ed.
Wiseman, Donna L.
, Stephanie L. Knight, and Donna D. Cooner. Becoming a Teacher in a
Field-Based Setting: An Introduction to Education and Classrooms.