EDU: 3440 Teaching Toward Democracy Course Reflection

EDU: 3440 Teaching Toward Democracy

What are the aims of teaching for a democratic society?

 

 In our society we strive for democracy. It is important that democracy is instilled in our school system so that are children can grow up and be democratic members of their community. But first, in order for children to understand democracy they must first look at the two key aspects of it; colleagueship and advocacy. The definition of colleagueship in the Webster’s dictionary is defined as “an associate in a profession.” The definition of advocacy in the Webster’s dictionary is defined as “the act or process of advocating or supporting a cause or proposal.” However, both terms are so much more than there literal meaning.  Colleagueship means to work together as a team to reach a common goal. Advocacy means to be a voice to someone who doesn’t have the power to speak up. Through colleagueship and advocacy you can teach toward a democratic society.

As a future educator it is important for me to understand the meaning of colleagueship so that I can successfully advocate for my students. My experience in the classroom with my blog colleagues and my service learning project helped me to gain a better understanding of what it means to be colleagues. In working with my teammates on our blog, I was able to understand the importance of communication and team work as we communicated who was going to do what on the blog so that the duties were equally distributed between all team members. We all communicated well and did our share of the work. We used each other as a resource and information center, as we all had great ideas an information to bring to the team. As a teacher this type of colleagueship will need to be exercised with the other teachers and staff of the school. To check out our blog go to http://weareonejsc.blogspot.com/. In order to reach a common goal, you must work together to reach it. I found this to be true in doing my service learning project. I teamed with the supervisor of the Newport Head Start to implement a literacy program. We communicated and divvied up work so that we could both reach the same goal. Team work and communication are the key aspects to colleagueship and they must be exercised as a teacher.

Teachers have the power to advocate for their students. As George S. Counts states in the article Dare the School Build a New Social Order, “teachers become a social force of magnitude; through powerful organizations they might at least reach the public conscience and come to exercise a larger measure of control over the schools.” (Counts) This statement brings about the essence of the important of advocacy among educators. It is our duties as a teacher to advocate for our students. We have the power to do so, so why not?  By being a voice for those who do not have the power to speak and making parents and their children aware of the resources outside of school you can advocate for your students. It isn’t enough to just do it in school, but outside as well. A majority of a child’s education is done outside of school, and to ensure that they are exercising what they are learning in school, it is good to practice it at home and in the community as well. Why not further their success by giving them the tools to do it at home. By being aware of the resources in your community and communicating them to your colleagues, you can help advocate for parents and their families.

(Principle 14) “The Candidate grows professionally, through a variety of approaches, to improve professional practice and student learning.”

Principle 14 states that future educators learn from their experiences and practice. I feel that I am working on principle 14, because my experience in my learning service project really helped me to understand the importance of teaching toward a democracy. By applying my knowledge of advocacy and colleagueship that I learned in the classroom to my project I was able to actively advocate for children and their families by providing them with a resource to further their literacy education. I learned more by actively participating in it, rather than just learning about it in a classroom.

Although, advocacy and communication are important aspects of teaching toward a democracy, I feel that student choice and participation are key to instilling democracy in our youth. By allowing students to have a voice, you are allowing them to be democratic member of their community, and they themselves will learn how to teach toward a democratic society. The article Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide by Alfie Kohn states, “students should be able to participate, individually, and collectively, in making decisions.” (Kohn) It is important to allow students to be involved in their education. By allowing them to make decision they will be more apt to want to learn and engage in their education. Kohn stated that “elementary students had higher self-esteem and a greater feeling of academic competence when their teachers bolstered their sense of self-determination in the classroom.” (Kohn) Isn’t that what democracy is all about? Giving the people the right to speak up and make choices? Then why not instill that in our children so that they can learn what it means firsthand to be a democratic society.

The children of today will be the adults of tomorrow. They are our future. In order to ensure that we continue to strive for a democratic society, we must give them the tools and resources they need to bring about change, to work towards a democracy. We must be positive role models and advocate for our children, so that they can take what we taught them and apply it to their own lives one day. The quote "the principal goal of education is to create (people) who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done" by Jean Piaget, instills the idea that society makes mistakes, teach those to our youth so that when they are the ones to make decisions they will not make the same mistake. It is because they are our future it is so important to educate them and let them have a voice in society. Only then will you be successfully teaching toward a democracy.

 

References

1.      Beane, James A. "A Common Core of a Different Sort: Putting Democracy at the Center of the Curriculum." Middle School Journal (January 2013): 6. Web.

2.      Counts. S George. Dare the School Build A New Social Order? University Press. 1978. Print.

3.      Kohn, Alfie. “Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide.” PHI DELTAN KAPPAN. September 1993.

 

           

 

 

Self Reflection on Ecology of Human Development

The class Ecology of Human Development is one of the best classes to take as a future educator. It helps you to become aware of discrimination and gives you a look at how a child develops socially, psychologically, and physically in their culture. By understanding how children develop and how to not be discriminatory it will help you attain a classroom where your students will feel respected, accepted, and willing to learn.  The class taught me that by understanding the different aspects of your students’ lives such as their socio-economic status and disabilities that they may have, you can cater to their needs in a way that will be non-discriminatory and help them to get the most out of their education.

One important part of the class was child development. We had to look at child development from different viewpoints of theorists and what they thought effected the development of children. One of the ideas that I found important was Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development. “The scientific study of the progressive, mutual accommodation throughout the life course, between an active, growing human being and the changing properties of the immediate settings in which the developing person lives, as this process is affected by relations between these settings, and by the larger contexts in which the settings are embedded.” (Gardiner p.24) I felt that Bronfenbrenner’s model of human development really pinpointed the importance of a child’s social and cultural setting to one’s development. All these things will help to shape the way that the child behaves as well as his or hers attitudes and views to the world when they get older. By understanding a child’s ecological model you can see the different barriers that he/she might face and you can work with that so that you can improve the quality of their education by being able to teach them better. Another way you understand a student’s background is to look at their developmental niche created by Harkness and Super. “At the center of the developmental niche, is a particular child, of a certain age and sex, with certain temperamental and psychological dispositions, by virtue of these characteristics, this child will inhabit a different cultural world than by other members of the family, and child’s world will change as child grows and changes.” (Gardiner p.30) It is another way for a teacher to understand “the world” that a child is coming from. By understanding your students you can teach them better.

I found that in this class I was able to compare a lot of what we read to different parts of my own life. In the book Theories of Childhood by Carol Garhart Mooney, I was able to relate my daycare center that I work at to the theories of Montessori. Montessori believe in “beautiful, orderly, child-sized environments and sensory play” were important components a child’s development. (Mooney p.24) Montessori believes that the “environments for children need to be beautiful and orderly so that children can learn order from them, as well as sensory experiences.” (Mooney p.24) I was able to compare this to my daycare center because as I stated in my reading accountability 2, “we have rainbow colored walls and clean, child size furniture. We have shelves that children can reach and photographs of where each toy or item goes. We provide plenty of long periods of time for free work and play. We structure in flexible teaching times where we have many crafts and engaging activities for the children, such as painting,” all of which creates a child friendly environment that will help children develop their sensory skills and education. I also realized that my kindergarten teacher did most of the same things and probably agreed with Montessori.

Another important aspect in the class was looking at cross-cultural development and the issues of discrimination. Prior to this class I always thought of myself as a non-discriminatory person. However, I got an eye-opening realization that although I may say that I have discriminated against someone at one point or another without realizing it. I feel that it is innate in a person due to their development in their particular culture. In the United States there are many prejudices and stereotypes and I was raised with those ideas. Therefore, I am innately discriminatory whether I want to be or not. That is why I found this class a very important class for future educators because it makes you aware of discrimination and helps you to see it and make changes so that you do not offend your students or someone else. The books Middle Schools for a Diverse Society by Kathleen Chamberlain and Adolescents at School by Michael Sadowksi were both great resources to providing insight on the issues of discrimination based on socio-economic status, gender, race, etc. One of the most insightful things that I read in Adolescents at School was the chapter “Understanding “Acting White”: What Educators Need to Know” found on page 35. I found this chapter very interesting because I have never heard of such a thing but had a similar idea in my head. In this chapter it states “students of color reject academic achievement because they perceive it as “acting white.” (Sadowki p.36) It absolutely appalled me because I find it absolutely ridiculous that due to our societies discriminatory view on African Americans that they feel that they are less intelligent then Caucasians. As I stated in my reading accountability 11, “I believe that it doesn’t matter what ethnicity you are you can do great things.” Overall I felt that this class really brought forth a lot of different views on discrimination and opened my eyes to things that I didn’t even think of as being discriminatory, such as the other day in class when we had a discussion about the distractions of Scholastic book orders and the problems they arise, I stated that to solve the problem I would allow a 15 minute circle, share time to get let some of the excitement out. However, my teacher asked “what would I do with the kids that didn’t receive books?” It really made me think because although I was trying to solve the distraction problem there would still be an issue with the ones that didn’t have a book.

Not only did I find the material and homework assignment very useful and helpful in my learning, but I found the class discussions to be a great way to gain insight and viewpoints on the various issues brought forth in the class. Although, I did not participate much in the discussions I learned a lot from my peers and gained a lot of interesting information that I either didn’t think of or was biased against. For example, when we were discussing earlier in the course of the theorists a lot of people compared their schools and whether or not their teachers adhered to the theories of Montessori, Piaget, Erickson, or Vygotsky. It was interesting to see what different people’s schools were like and how their teachers acted. I found the reading accountabilities to be a wonderful way to connect my life and things to the readings. It helped me to better understand what I read and I got a lot more out it than if I was told to just read the book. Therefore, I found the assignments a great asset to the class.

My favorite assignment in the class was the developmental memoire. I created a scrapbook that related my life to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, the developmental niche, and Montessori. I loved the fact that we were able to be creative and make something, such as a scrapbook rather than writing a ten page paper. I found this class to be fun and interesting and made me want to get involved in learning. It is quite ironic that it is a class to better me as a teacher, while giving me a class that the teacher does just that. She did a beautiful job at it and the class was fun and educational.

Therefore, I will leave this class with the knowledge of cross-cultural development and child development so that I can apply it to my teaching technique and better teach my students. I found the course very educational and I learned a lot about different aspects of development and how a child’s background effects their development. The class leaves me with many questions, such as, what do I do when everyone in the class get a Scholastic book order except for two? How than do I handle that? I will take my knowledge and apply it to my classroom in hopes that I can be a teacher that makes a difference in my student’s lives.

 

References

1.      Chamberlain, Kathleen. Middle Schools for a Diverse Society. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2003. Print

2.      Gardiner, Harry W, and Corinne Kosmitzki. Lives across Cultures: Cross-Cultural Human Development. Massachusetts: Pearson Education Inc, 2011, 2008, 2005. Print

3.      Mooney, Carol. Theories of Childhood. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc, 2006. Print

4.      Sadowski, Michael. Adolescents at School. Massachusetts: President and Fellows of Harvard College, 2008. Print