15 New LearningsDaniel CoffinConcordia University, Nebraska

Submitted in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for EDUC 501June 27th, 2015

1. It is important for educators to develop a guiding philosophy of education in order to lend purpose and intellectual cohesiveness to the process of educational decision-making and planning. At the start of each school year, I will devote time individually and in concert with colleagues to articulating an overall philosophy of education and developing a mission statement for that year which will serve as the criterion by which all proposed changes, additions, deletions, and modifications to our curriculum, pedagogical techniques, and instructional materials will be measured. In this way, we will make change meaningfully and avoid making changes just because without careful thought about both the intended goal of said changes and any potential side effects. Too often educators operate out of their philosophic hip pocket; they act without having thought about why they act. As a result, they frequently do not achieve as much as they could, even though they may have had a successful day. It is difficult to arrive at our goal if we do not know the steps that need to be taken to get there. It is equally difficult to decide upon the necessary steps if we are unsure about our goal or destination. A well-thought-out philosophy should help even good teachers become better (Knight, 2008, p. 160). 2. Schooling is composed of three related, but distinct, learning-related concepts: learning, education, and training. I will endeavor to be mindful that not all of what students learn in my class will be concepts that I have purposefully planned for; that is to say, a curriculum excludes much more than it includes, and that while I have a responsibility as an educator to manipulate circumstances to produce a designed learning outcome, manipulating them so far that they are out of sync with students home lives risks alienating students from learning. Furthermore, instructional planning should take into consideration the distinction between training and education and strive to push students to develop understanding of how to apply knowledge to many situations and tasks, rather than being training to accomplish one particular task. For present purposes, learning may be defined as the process that produces the capability of exhibiting new or changed human behavior provided that the new behavior or behavior change cannot be explained on the basis of some other process or experience education is distinct from the broader concept of learning, since education embodies the idea of deliberate control by the learner or someone else toward a desired goaldevelopment of understanding is inherent in education, while unreflective responsive activity is generally associated with training (Knight, 2008, p. 10-11). 3. The critical pedagogy movement is a philosophy of education dedicated to the empowerment of the economically disadvantaged and politically disenfranchised through education. I never knew before that there was an educational movement or school of philosophers or body of writers whose goals and interests aligned so closely with mine. I am very excited to dig into the works of Paulo Freire, Peter McLaren, Henry A. Giroux, and bell hooks and apply what I learn to my classroom with the goal of fostering reflective, politically conscious, and empowered young learners. In the spirit of the reconstructionists, the critical pedagogy theorists propose a revolutionary new role for schools. The schools must lead out in creating a more just society As utilized by advocates of critical pedagogy, constructivism becomes a curricular/instructional tool to revision the social order and promote social justice (Knight, 2008, p. 129-130). 4. Educators develop personal philosophies of education through careful consideration of personal convictions and reflection upon personal experiences of teaching through the lens of a theoretical framework. I believe that the experience of thinking through my values and articulating a philosophy of education has been valuable, and I will share with my colleagues the process by which they might do so as well. Together, then, we can develop educational practices which will allow us to best support our respective philosophies. I think I will propose that time be made for this during professional development as part of our summer institute prior to the beginning of the school year. There are at least two ways in which you, as an individual, can come to grips with your philosophy of education. The first is for you to examine your most basic convictions concerning reality, truth, and value. Once you have consciously thought through these philosophic issues and developed a view, then you are in a position to make some statements in regard to what you believe the goals of education in general should be A second method is what Van Cleve Morris calls the inductive method First, examine what you do in your teaching behavior, especially noting those behaviors that are the most successful. Then, on the basis of your knowledge of the philosophies and educational theories, attempt to specify the theoretical framework which you relate to most closely and the metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological perspectives upon which you seem to be operating. Next, seek to refine your philosophy in relation to your practice, and vice versa, until you have developed a consistent approach to your profession (Knight, 2008,p. 163-164). 5. When educators engage their deeply held personal beliefs in their teaching, there is bound to be conflict, as there will be a plurality of beliefs in almost any organization. It is vital that educators learn how to disagree without being disagreeable and to compromise where possible to serve the greater good of the community. This is the first class I have taken where I became angry while working on discussion board posts. Thankfully, I remembered what I teach my students and since I didnt have anything nice to say in response to what I perceived to be ignorant, dismissive comments by other posters, I didnt say anything at all. I have to work on disengaging my emotions when I encounter someone who shares beliefs other than my own and seek to engage and understand that individuals point of view rather than leaping in to try to win an argument. In implementing your personal philosophy of education, you must come to grips with the possibility that your philosophy and the philosophy of the school district for which you teach may not be in complete harmony One helpful reality is that pluralistic societies provide a fairly wide spectrum of philosophic tolerance. This allow for differing individuals to set forth varying viewpoints without a rather loose consensus of accepted essentials (Knight, 2008, p. 165). 6. Experiential learning experiences should be well-integrated, both amongst themselves and with students home experiences, to best serve students learning needs. Manipulating circumstances to bring about a desired learning result isnt just about what is presented, but also how and when it is presented.I will be revisiting my curriculum map and unit plans over the summer to reexamine how I present key concepts and the activities which accompany them to determine if they are truly cumulatively connected in such a way that students are supported and not thwarted in their exploration of said concepts. The belief that all genuine education comes about through experience does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative experiences may be so disconnected from one another that, while each is agreeable or even exciting in itself, they are not linked cumulatively to one another. Energy is then dissipated and a person become scatter-brained How many students, for example, were rendered callous to ideas, and how many lost the impetus to learn because of the way in which learning was experienced by them (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 17). 7. Our society holds freedom to be a paramount good. Educators, like parents, must necessarily curtail freedoms of young people at times for their own good and the good of others around them. We must, however, take an equal interest in preparing students to assume those freedoms in an informed and responsible way upon their majority. I believe strongly that the best way to combat the alienation and indifference of some students towards their schooling is to gradually introduce structured choice and freedom to students as a means of fostering responsibility and a sense of control over their education, and thus their greater destiny in life. Total freedom in education may not be workable or even desirable from day to day from a philosophical or logistical perspective, but it must be the goal of education to prepare students to assume the mantle of freedom and responsibility as thoughtful, worldly, well-educated adults. I will review and revise my instructional plans wherever appropriate to incorporate gradually increasing opportunities for structured meaningful choice and both model and directly instruct students on how to make these kinds of decisions about education. A persons freedom of learning is part of his freedom of thought, even more basic than his freedom of speech. If we take from someone his right to decide what he will be curious about, we destroy his freedom of thought. we say, in effect, you must think not about what interests and concerns you, but about what interests and concerns us (as cited in Koonce, 2008, p. 29). 8. Standardized testing is problematic both in its basis in science and in the degree to which it has become the primary end of education in impoverished schools. To date, I have been ambivalent about standardized tests. I didnt particularly care for them, per se, but I wasnt prepared to rail against them because hey, its a test, and thats what students do they take tests. Having learned that there is serious and credible debate about the validity of standardized test instruments and a valid question about what the relentless focus on standardized test preparation and assessment is teaching students about the nature of teaching and learning, I am inclined to push back as much as I can. I have come to think of standardized test prep as the recourse of the educator who is unaware or unable to do better. If I design my instruction to prepare students for meaningful, authentic work, they will be prepared for tests and all the more important things that come later in life. Dodge (2009) does not seem to share the same belief: Generally, the question of whether standardized tests measure what matters is troublesome (p. 12). Furthermore, the instruments used for standardized testing, on many occasion, have been plagued by serious validity and reliability issues. Thus, the measurements convey flawed information Another troubling aspect of standardized testing is the strong correlation between socio-economic status and standardized test results; students from low socio-economic score consistently lower on standardized tests. The measuring instrument does nothing to address or even highlight the rooted inequities that so greatly affect students performances, including scarcity of financial and human resources (Dodge, 2009, pp 10-11). On the contrary, students may be penalized in their education because of their backgrounds while they also suffer from societal inequalities (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 41). 9. If we wish students to emerge from formal schooling with the ability and the desire to fully participate in democratic society, we must train them to be able to do so, and that means making classrooms as reflective as possible of that democratic ideal. I used to believe that my role as a teacher was to control my classroom. Nothing was to happen that was not done at my express command. I have since come to realize that classroom management isnt about control, but about ensuring that students have a place that is safe and inviting within which they can grapple with the skills and knowledge that will help to make them successful and happy. When my 6th grade students are grown up, they will have probably forgotten most (if not everything) about the novels we read, the educational buzzwords du jour will probably have changed, and PARCC will likely have been replaced, but their willingness and ability to value themselves and work profitably with others will still be relevant. This is what I should be focusing on in my instruction. Critical education theorists argue that certain moral, political, and intellectual ideals should take precedence over others in schools. They argue that our schools should emphasize commitment to a democratic system in which each citizens autonomy and dignity are honored in an open, just, respectful, and pluralistic community, a community that values and encourages a critical approach in the intellectual search for truth and meaning in each individuals life (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 79).10. While freedom and choice are laudable goals in education, students cannot simply be told to be free. They must be taught how to exercise their freedoms within the context of the classroom. I have been frustrated before by efforts to get students to speak their minds freely, only to be met with blank stares or nervous glances. What I didnt realize then was that just as you cannot expect a person who has been bedridden for months to suddenly get up and run a race, students who have been taught (either expressly or unintentionally) to be silent and passive receptors have to be shown how to speak up in such as way that they and their peers have a chance to be heard. I will be making time for classroom techniques like Socratic Seminars which will give students an opportunity to express their themselves and (equally important) listen actively to others. Because soliciting student voice and choice in the classroom lies so far outside the educational norm in our society, democratic education practices may be met, initially, by considerable student resistance. Most students are accustomed to being told what to do and to acting passively in the classroom It should come as no surprise that students who have experienced this training, especially those students who have succeeded at the game of schooling, might resist changed rules that ask them to go against all they have been taught (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 81). 11. Learning experiences should be immediately and inherently meaningful. I think of the instruction I plan as meaningful, but then again, Im a language arts teacher and a lover of literature. Why wouldnt I find it meaningful to be able to discuss literature with specificity and accuracy by knowing the names for the constituent elements of narrative? Is the distinction between protagonist and antagonist immediately and inherently meaningful to eleven and twelve-year-olds? I would venture no, absent a specific context for that information which makes it meaningful. Gary K. Clabaughs comment was, Im sure, intended as a dig at those who favor choice and voice in education, but I read it as a challenge to make sure that if a student is being forced to do something, it had better be important, and that importance had better be immediately apparent to the student.Similarly, a kid might prefer not to spend hour after hour in the broiling sun picking potato bugs, but he or she has to do it for the family to eat potatoes. Perhaps freedom-based education is a luxury reserved for well-fixed modern kids whom harsh reality doesnt require to do tasks of immediate and urgent importance (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 86). 12. The Common Core State Standards are a worthwhile development in education-related current events, even if the politicization of the standards is annoying. Rather like standardized testing, I once took the (then new) Common Core State Standards as a given. I was neither especially for or against them, and didnt think of them much until I was planning or writing a curriculum map. The standards seemed like just a reshuffled version of the Pennsylvania State standards (I was teaching in Philadelphia at the time). What I didnt realize them was that the introduction of standards regarding critical analysis of text represented a real evolution in the teaching of language arts. These new standards could help students because they demand critical insight and analysis from every student, not just honors or advanced students. I am glad to have this realization to share with parents who are concerned about what they are hearing on the news about Common Core. The new math standards discourage tracking. By insisting on common content for all students at each grade level and in every community, the Common Core mathematics standards are also in direct conflict with the concept of tracking (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 129). 13. Teachers, individually and collectively, can make a difference in how well students learn.Okay, maybe I cant quite call this a new learning. If I didnt, at one point, believe that teachers could make a difference, I would never have become one. Still, its easy to succumb to the belief that nothing we do as teachers matters and that socioeconomic status or family attitudes toward learning or whatever else is the key determinant. When we as teachers come to believe this, we neutralize ourselves. We give ourselves an out. We give ourselves permission to do less than our best. I have reaffirmed my belief that I can help my students achieve, thanks to a clear guiding philosophy and the willingness and ability to assess, differentiate, and deliver tailored instruction. Never again will I sit silently at a department meeting while others lament that sixth-grade students (for instance) have not mastered third-grade standards. Instead, I will come up with a plan to meet students where they are and bring them up.Its not rocket science. You figure out what you need to teach, and then you teach it (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 139). 14. Democratic oversight and control is vital to effective public education.Camden is one of a handful of cities in New Jersey which has no local control over its own school district; rather, decisions about Camden schools are made by the states Department of Education. Despite state control, there has been no increase in student graduation rates or decrease in budget shortfalls. Neighborhood schools are closed without any hearings before the neighborhoods affected. If one believes, as I do, that education is a force for social good, then one must, of necessity, believe that education should be open to and interact with that society. As an educator, I will urge parents of my students to get involved in the school board process and give their feedback to the school so that it can be truly reflective of the culture of the neighborhood within which it is situated. Because New York City no longer has an independent board of education, it no longer has democratic control of its public education system. There is no forum n which parents and other members of the public can ask questions and get timely answers. Major decisions about the school system are made in private, behind closed doors, with no public review and no public discussion (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 156). 15. Inclusivity isnt just an ideal; its a practice.My upbringing wasnt terribly diverse. My family was in the military. When we eventually moved out of base housing, we lived in neighborhoods that were middle-to-upper class, mostly professional, and predominantly white. I never considered myself to be racist, per se, but experience later has showed me that even absent angry or hateful rhetoric, its hard not to absorb some sort of bias if one isnt personally interacting and sharing ideas and experiences with people who are fundamentally unlike them. Its all well and good to talk about inclusivity in the abstract, but for it to really stick, we need to talk about what makes us different and why. I dont necessarily mean celebrating differences (as that has slightly condescending connotations to me), but differences certainly need to be addressed and discussed and incorporated into the curriculum, which I will certainly make every effort to do in this next school year. In our increasingly diverse world, all people need to be comfortable with diversity. Inclusion benefits all students by helping them understand and appreciate that the world is big, that people are different, and that we can work together to find solutions that work for everyone (as cited in Koonce, 2014, p. 189).

ReferencesKoonce, G.L. (2014). Taking sides: Clashing views on educational issues, eighteenth edition expanded. McGraw-Hill Education.Knight, G.R. (2008). Issues and alternatives in educational philosophy, fourth edition. Berrien Springs, MI: Andrews University Press.