The Foundational
Educational Philosophy
Of a Growing
Teacher
By
Kevin Eagleton
Janis Brandenburg
EDSS 531
February 22, 2012
The bell rings and class begins.
Well, technically class has begun, yet students are still filling into the room
talking loudly as they do so. Some of them acknowledge the teacher with a happy
"hello", while others ignore the fact that a teacher is even in the
room. The teacher shuffles papers on his cluttered desk looking for his lesson
plan and the flash drive that contains his Prezi and the quick write the
students are supposed to do first thing everyday. One student says, "Can't
find your stuff again Mr. X? Does that mean we don't have to do that writing
thing, what is the point of that thing anyways?" Mr. X replies, "I
know I am so unorganized, anyway how was your weekend in the mountains?"
At the same time down the hall, students are walking into a science class where
a lab has been set up with each table set up in a very orderly fashion with all
of the needed materials in set location. Students walk in without talking and
immediately sit down and get out their journals. They read the board that has
the agenda for the day and begin to complete the first part of the day's
lesson. One of the students begins to talk about something unrelated to the
class and is quickly told by another student at the table not to talk. The
student quickly quiets and get back to work. While this is happening, the
teacher is talking to individual students about yesterday's lesson checking for
learning by asking them to tell her one thing they learned from the
lesson. Both of these scenes are things
that I have seen in my observations. From these brief scenes we can deduce a
few things about not only the classes but about the classroom management styles
of these teachers. To take this one step further, we can also make some
assumptions about the educational philosophies of these teachers to some
degree. Why is this? Simple, the way a teacher manages, organizes, instructs, and
even relates to their students can all be tied into their educational philosophy.
Physical, Social, and Emotional
factors
I think it is safe to say that there is no
other time in a person's life when they will have to deal with so many
changes related to physical, social and emotional change and conflict. It is
this confluence of so many changes, issues and conflicts that can make this
time in anyone's life very challenging. They are developing in physical ways
that they may not yet be ready to handle or are ashamed of, they may have not
found a social setting that is comfortable and accepting of who they really
are, and let's face it, this age can make anyone an emotional wreck. Can you
say hormones? Yet, as teachers we often
expect our students to put aside all of these factors. Why, so that I can teach
them that Pizarro conquered the Incas in 1532 and that it is important enough
for them to remember! What is important for us to remember is that they are
going through all of these things, some of them simultaneously and this can
make high school a very tough time for many students.
What
does it all mean for me as a teacher? It means that I have a lot more to worry
about than just teaching them about Pizarro. It means I need to be in tune with
my students' needs in these areas. I need to be able to spot students that are
struggling to handle the changes that they are going though and I need make
sure that I take what I know about them and use it to direct my actions and my
lessons. For example, last semester I had a student named "Joey", and
he came into class about six weeks before the semester ended. He had not attended
school for two years. He was sent to our school by court order, if he did not
attend he was going to go to juvenile hall. When he came to class he flat
refused to do anything. Even when I had the students doing some really fun
things and they were having a good time he refused to interact with me or
anyone else. He was emotionally a mess, removed from his home, forced into a
group home with ten people he had never seen before. He had family issues no
kid should have to deal with; learning about the stock market crash was not on
his list of priorities. The only thing I could offer that was relevant to his
life was to be a voice of caring. So everyday, during his intervention class, I
sat with him and talked about whatever lame thing I could come up with.
Sometimes the conversations moved, other times they died slow silent deaths. However,
after about three weeks of this, he cracked. By that I mean he actually
participated in class as part of a think-pair-share. From there he made very
small steps toward participation. Did he ever fully participate, no, might he
if had he more time? Maybe. Was it because of me or the students around him? I
think both, as Baldwin, Keating and Bachman used the phrase, "No person is
an Island ". I sat "Joey" next
to those students I thought he could most relate to based on his history and
personality. Again, as Baldwin, Keating and Bachman state, that at this point
in the adolescents life contact with peers is very important to them. So I made
sure he had contact with students that I felt would help him to feel the most
comfortable. The point is that one thing I have learned is that at this age in
this time, our students need us to meet them where they are and lead them from
there. We cannot expect them to meet us where we are and move forward. They
have not reached that level of maturity and cannot be expected to act in a
manner that is beyond them.
Learning environment
The learning environment is a key factor in
the success of any student. Which is why it is important for a teacher to
ensure that while the students are in the class or simply on campus they have a
safe learning environment that is conducive to education? What is the learning environment?
It is no longer confined to the classroom, halls and library of the school With today's media and connectivity at the
fingertips of most of our students the learning environment can be almost
anywhere they are. For us as educator, we can have the most impact on the
learning environment within the campus and further impact in our classrooms.
One of the most
important and effective things that we can do to create a positive learning
environment is to make our students feel safe and accepted. This needs to be a
practice that is preached and enforced in class and in the halls or wherever
our students are on campus. Our failure in this area will certainly have a
negative impact on our success as educators. Some of the most obvious ways to
make students feel safe is to protect those that are traditionally marginalized
including minorities, girls and LGBT. If we are vigilant in the protection of
these groups, and we must be, the effect will spread to others and help to
create an overall feeling of protection and acceptance.
The physical learning
environment of the classroom can also have a large impact on the students. I
envision my classrooms as being decorated with relevant and interesting themes
and information regarding the topics I am teaching. Furthermore, I think the
rooms need to have a certain level of up keep. Last semester I observed in a
room that had plenty of interesting and relevant posters, images and quotes
related to U.S. government, however, the items on the walls were in disrepair
and looked to have been there for a great deal of years. So instead of adding
positively to the environment it was a negative in that it made the room look
dreary and uninviting. Another seemingly benign aspect of a classroom is the seating
arrangement. According to Baldwin, Keating and Bachman in Teaching in Secondary Schools, this can have as much impact as the
established rules and routines. In most of the classes I have observed, the
seating has been very teacher oriented, whereby all of the students face into
the middle of the class in neat rows of 3-5. In many of these classes this is
done out of necessity due to a lack of space, however, I feel that there is a
better arrangement even with limited space. Because I want to create an
environment of shared learning I would create student pairs and move the desks
so that each row has a partner row that is right next to them so that they can
easily collaborate on the content. This seating arrangement will also play a
role in the routines of my class which I will discuss later under theme of
classroom management.
Expectations
Academic expectations can make or break a
classroom and a student. As a teacher I want I want my students to know two
things regarding this subject. First, my classroom is an academic setting.
Second, I expect them to succeed in my class. I feel that it is important for
students to recognize earlier on, as in the moment they enter my class for the
first time, that they are in class to learn and that they have the capacity to
learn. Obviously, not all students have the same capacity to learn. That is why
I expect them to succeed; this approach leaves the outcome open ended. For
student "X" success may be earning an "A" while student
"Z" may have been successful in attaining a "C+". I feel
that this approach is in line with L.C Clark's (2007) in her article
"Expectations and At-Risk Children" where she asserts that students
labeled or perceived to be at risk are held to a lower standard than their
counterparts. This should not be the case; all students should be held to the
same level of expectation based on their abilities.
As a teacher there are
many ways to go about ensuring that these two beliefs are transmitted to the
students. The first step is to be explicit with them and layout the
expectations. For some this maybe the first time that they are told in no
uncertain terms that a teacher expects them to be successful without question.
Furthermore, in establishing the academic culture I will start immediately. The
first thing my students do everyday while I take role is a quick write. I will
have them do this on day one and establish the idea that when they enter the
class they should be thinking about content material and be ready to move
forward. In general, setting clear expectations for students contributes
"in some degree to the relative success of that student's
performance" as stated by Baldwin, Keating and Bachman in Teaching in Secondary Schools.
Classroom Management
In
many ways, classroom management is much like setting academic expectations. The
expectations must be explicit and enforced on a consistent basis. As far as my
classroom management style I myself have few rules. The most important being
that of respect. I feel that respect can be applied to pretty much everything
in the class. If you respect yourself you will act in an appropriate manner, if
you respect your peers you will act in an appropriate manner, and if you
respect me you will act in an appropriate manner. Those are pretty much my rules
and explanations for them. I feel that the specific rules of the class can be
determined by the students. I would also use parts of the Cooperative
Discipline method developed by Linda Albert. I feel that she has a number of
techniques that are effective and fit my personality. For example, I love the
idea of catching them being good. So often some of our challenging students are
simply never praised and for them to be recognized when they are doing the
right thing can be a valuable moment in their day. I am also a big fan of
giving the "eye". This is a great non-verbal message to the student
that you are aware of what they are doing and that they need to get on task. Another
great strategy in this model is the target-stop-do. It is explicit, which students
need and want, in that it targets the student, identified the action to be
stopped and redirects them to the appropriate action.
Bearing all of these in mind I have come to the conclusion that classroom management is an area where equity can be lost. Many teachers have a set of rules and a system for application. For example, one of the teachers on campus last semester had a steadfast rule for tardiness, 3 tardies and you were written up. While this seems fair, in some situations it can do more harm than good. I had a student in my first period class that had some very extenuating circumstances that often caused him to be late. The last thing this student needed was to be punished for taking care of his family and making sure his brothers and sisters were on their way to school. So as with everything in education we need to apply the equity over equality rule of judgment. The final piece of my management plan is to create relevant and fun lessons. As any teacher will tell you, students that are engaged are not misbehaving because they are too busy learning.
Bearing all of these in mind I have come to the conclusion that classroom management is an area where equity can be lost. Many teachers have a set of rules and a system for application. For example, one of the teachers on campus last semester had a steadfast rule for tardiness, 3 tardies and you were written up. While this seems fair, in some situations it can do more harm than good. I had a student in my first period class that had some very extenuating circumstances that often caused him to be late. The last thing this student needed was to be punished for taking care of his family and making sure his brothers and sisters were on their way to school. So as with everything in education we need to apply the equity over equality rule of judgment. The final piece of my management plan is to create relevant and fun lessons. As any teacher will tell you, students that are engaged are not misbehaving because they are too busy learning.
Meeting the needs of all students
One
word: differentiation. I feel the best way to meet the needs of all students is
to differentiate. It is a mainstay of our program. When we do our lesson plans
we have a specific section devoted to differentiation. Essentially the areas of
differentiation are content, process and product. Within each of those you can
address readiness, learning profile and or interest. Without planning for
differentiation it is simply not possible to be sure that you are meeting the
needs of everyone. For my lessons I tend to use a lot of scaffolding,
specifically modeling, bridging and building background knowledge. In the social sciences, the technique of
bridging seems to be particularly effective as stated in Teaching in Secondary Schools because "it provides
opportunities for students to use comparative and contrastive situations from
their personal experiences to connect with new information". As described
by Marzano, Pickering and Pollock in Classroom
Instruction that Works using comparative methods in the social science
fields in one of the most effective ways to improve student achievement.
Conclusion
There are many things that go
into an educational philosophy and what I have covered is really only the tip
of the iceberg. This is really quite fitting, because at this point in my
career my educational philosophy is still really underdevelopment. I have ideas
and beliefs about what I want to do and what I think is equitable, but they are
the beliefs of someone with little to no real experience. It is my hope that in
a few years I can look back at this paper and say "wow", how I have
grown. It is an even greater hope that in 15-20 years I can look back and say "wow"
how I have continued to grow.
