What are your philosophical beliefs about the purpose of school, about what subjects should be taught, and about how students learn? How does your work demonstrate your belief?
“Do not then train youth to learn by force and harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” ~Plato
I am going to answer this question with my 3 ½ year old in mind because what I want my daughter to gain from her education is what I believe to be the purpose of school. I want Elsa to gain the skills that she will need to pursue her dreams and desires and to become a productive responsible member of a global society. I want to to gain basic skills such as reading, writing, and arthimetic but I want her to learn how to read with a critical eye, to question ideas and to have a desire to seek out more information about things she is pondering. I want her to learn that her words and thoughts are powerful and that when she learns to communite through words effectively she can have a positive effect on the world. I want to her to be taught to understand mathematical concepts and have a deeper appreciation for the role math plays in explaining our world. I want her to learn how to collaborate with others, how t to productively debate, how to have the courage to stand up for what she believes to be just and fair, to learn empathy, humility and gain a respect for difference. I want her as an adult to look back on her education and say thank you to her teachers for encouraging her, for challenging her, and for demanding from her that she give nothing less then her best and when she did give less for telling her the truth. I want for her to appreciate and pass onto others the love of learning and growing as a person. I want to gain the strength to deal with the both the postive and negative experiences she will face in her life and to embrace change. Yes, I want the world for my child and I want to find the right place for her to gain her education.
I believe that the best schools are those that are a combination of Postman’s narratives of The Spaceship Earth, The Law of Diversity, and The Word Weaver’s. Each of these narratives address the need to see ourselves as part of the human experience and stress the need to be responsible to others. They are positive in their outlooks and stress the need for each of us to strive to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to not only fulfill our dreams but to make the world a better place for everyone. In my current position I work with 16 teachers to model lessons, provide feedback for growth, and develop curriculum. As I perform my job I feel conciously model these narratives whether through the design of the curriculum or modeling how to motivate students through dynamic instruction. I also feel that Elkind’s Developmentally Appropriate Practice supports these ideals as well. It is so important to begin to move towards more inquiry based curriculum that allows for students to collaborate on an enduring understand but from very different approaches, different levels, and using different materials and technology while still being involved with their peer group and receiving authentic feedback for continued growth. I believe we have a great deal to learn in this country from other cultures such as Australia, Tasmania, and Finland, through their approaches to curriculum, child devleopment and pedagogy. I use models from the Tasmanian math curriculum to design my lesson plans and I use language from thier core beliefs of education to guide our peer coaching program and in my interaction. We, Americans, are still so ingrained in competition, pusing rote learning and forcing children farther and farther ahead too quickly and I feel that the NCLB has been a travestiy. To this end I left public education for independent schools. Here I feel that I can truly follow what I am learning about best practice and educating the whole child.
