Reflections on TeachingEducation Today

Heather Barton

Jasmine Colona

Gerald Welch

MTE/501

2015, April 6

Christine Hernandez

Education in America

We interviewed five educators about

where they thought education was

headed in the future as well as how their

personal experiences influenced their

philosophy on education. Here is a

summary of their teaching philosophies

and opinion on the current state of

education in America. Are we on the

bus to nowhere, or are we headed in the

right direction?

Educator ProfilesMs. Gibby

First Grade Teacher, Mokapu Elementary

Ms. JohanssonLower School Principal, Le Jardin Academy

Ms. Rabb-PattersonFifth Grade Teacher, Bridgeway Island K-8

Ms. ShigeharaLower School Vice Principal, Le Jardin Academy

Ms. SmithFourth Grade Teacher, Le Jardin Academy

Educational Philosophies

Essentialism

Pragmatism

Socratic Method

Progressivism

Multiple Intelligences

Essentialism

Click on the video icon to listen to

E.D. Hersch argue for Essentialism:

According to the Common Core Standards Initiative, the standards are “learning

goals [that] outline what a student should know and be able to do at the end of each

grade” (Common Core Standards Initiative). Just as its name suggests, this

knowledge is considered core, basic or essential knowledge that every citizen should

possess. Ms. Gibby, Ms. Rabb-Patterson and Ms. Shigehara support Common Core

Standards. However, Ms. Smith prefers to teach conceptually and somewhat rejects

the idea that students must acquire a fixed set of knowledge (D. Smith, personal

communication, April 2, 2015).

Pragmatism

Ms. Rabb-Patterson, Ms. Gibby, Ms. Smith, and Ms. Shigehara all feel that

students need to have the necessary tools and skills in order to be successful

in society and when making important decisions.

Socratic Method“Socrates is famous for creating the Socratic method of teaching still used by

many teachers today who ask a series of questions that lead the student to a

certain conclusion” (Hall et all 198). Ms. Johansson, Ms. Shigehara and Ms.

Smith all adhere to the teacher-led inquiry method, which has its roots in the

Socratic method.

Progressivism & Constructivisim

Progressivism and Constructivism are

two tightly interconnected theories on

how students best learn and most

teachers who ascribe to one will ascribe

to the other. Ms. Smith, Ms. Shigehara

and Ms. Gibby feel that learning should

be student driven and inquiry based.

Teachers who value student-driven

inquiry usually use a lot of collaborative

work in the classroom so that she can

circulate and facilitate each group.

Multiple Intelligences

Click on the video

icon to see what

Howard Gardner

has to say about

his theory of

multiple

intelligences:

Visual-Spatial, Bodily-kinesthetic,

Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal,

Linguistic, Logical -Mathematical

Ms. Rabb-Patterson (personal communication,

April 2, 2015) feels with so many types of

learners, we need to give students arts, music, and

hands on learning.

Trending Ideas and Issues

Home-School Communication

Technology

Standards

Collaboration

Globalization

Assessments

TechnologyThe use of technology in the classroom has become a fast growing trend. Although there are many

advantages to using technology there are also an equal amount of disadvantages. Both Ms. Rabb-

Patterson and Ms. Johansson feel that the use of personal devices will be the norm in the

classroom versus having textbooks. In a TED Talk, Sal Khan spoke about the value of flipped

teaching and how it can transform math class from a passive lecture to a stimulating and

collaborative experience (Khan).

Disadvantages:

● Students lose interest in non-technological activities.

● It’s a distraction for students.

● Teachers spend valuable time teaching students how to use

the technology, instead of focusing on the content to be

learned.

● Students write academic papers with “text talk” language.

Standards

Ms. Gibby (personal communication, April 2, 2015), Ms.

Rabb-Patterson (personal communication April 2, 2015)

and Ms. Shigehara (April 2, 2015) support standards

based curriculum.

Click on the

video icon to see

what the

common core

state standards

are all about:

Collaboration“Research shows that educational experiences that are active, social, contextual,engaging, and student-owned lead to deeper learning” (Cornell University).

“Make[s] learning fun” (Hall et all 395).

See how the College

Preparatory School in

Oakland, California uses

collaboration:

Ms. Smith stated that students need to learn how to effectively collaborate

in order to succeed in the workforce (D. Smith, personal communication,

April 2, 2015). Ms. Johansson stated that in the future, student desks

would be on wheels so that they could form different groups throughout

the day, depending on the activity at hand (M. Johansson, personal

communication, April 2, 2015). Both teachers believe that collaboration

leads to deeper and more meaningful learning. Collaboration is one of the

hallmarks of Progressivism (Cohen) and a widely accepted approach

among educators.

Globalization

The Common Core Standards Initiativeacknowledged that American students must beable to compete in a globalized economy(CCSI). Similar to the Common CoreValidation Committee, Ms. Smith feels that it isimportant for American students to be able tocompete internationally for jobs. She alsobelieves that children need to be able tocollaborate with people from different cultures“in order to solve the world’s problems” (D.Smith, personal communication, April 2, 2015).

Home-School Communication

Growing up Ms. Gibby stated that there was no communication

between her teacher and her parents unless it was to express bad

behavior (personal communication, April 4, 2015). Both Ms. Gibby

and Ms. Rabb-Patterson feel that parents should be involved in their

children’s education. Ms. Rabb-Patterson feels that education is not

just the responsibility of the teacher. It is a true partnership that

involves student, parent, and teacher (Personal Communication, April

3, 2015).

This video

explains the

importance of

communication

between the teacher

and the parents,

and the impact that

communication has

on the student.

Assessments

Ms. Gibby (personal communication, April 2, 2015) feels there istoo many assessments, while Ms. Rabb-Patterson (personalcommunication, April 2, 2015) feels there is teaching to the test.

Click on the video icon to

see what Smarter Balance

Assessments are all about:

Education in America

Educators today have a wealth of knowledge thanks to the discoveries ofour predecessors, and as Ms. Shigehara pointed out, education has beenlike a pendulum that swings back and forth for the past hundred years orso (L. Shigehara, personal communication April 2, 2015). Just like alleducators, our interview subjects each had her own personal philosophyof teaching. In fact, each teacher seemed to draw from multiple teachingand psychological theories in order to develop one comprehensive andcomplex personal teaching philosophy.

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References - Contd.Igoa, C. (2011, July). he importance of home-school connection. Available from YouTube website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=410&v=Eelv2jdpLOA

Khan, S. (2011). Salman Khan: Let's use video to reinvent education. TED Talks, Inc. Retrieved from

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