As a pre-service teacher I studied several educational philosophies. There are three which have stuck with me throughout my teaching career: constructivism (John Piaget), progressivism (John Dewey), and humanism (Abraham Maslow & Carl Rodgers). That is not to say my views haven’t changed, or even been challenged over the years, but at the end of the day the methods of instructions and assessment I employ, the goals I set for my students, and the climate of my classroom remain true to these three theories. Following the ideals and best practices of constructivism, progressivism, and humanism helped me find my voice as a teacher. Over the years I have been introduced to newer schools of thought from Richard Lavoie, Dr. Ross Greene, and Responsive Classroom, which complimented these theories and enhanced the growth and development of my instructional practices, student interactions, and relationships with parents. Based on these theories, my educational philosophy holds that:
- Classrooms should be student-centered to promote divergent thinking, problem solving, and skill application
- Teachers are not only educators; they are motivators
- “Kids will do well if they can”
- Teachers and families must work together to create positive learning environments
Classrooms should be student-centered to promote
divergent thinking, problem solving, and skill application.
divergent thinking, problem solving, and skill application.
Constructivism is based on the idea of people constructing knowledge of their world through their own experiences. Related to this, progressive education emphasizes the idea of personal relevance to, and investment in, one’s education. I help my students do this by challenging them to make personal connections with the content and define their new knowledge through schema. I also value the importance of learning by doing, another key feature of a progressivist education, and incorporating student choice, a facet of humanistic education. An example of this comes from my Algebra I classroom. After completing a unit on ratios and proportions my students made scaled models of objects they brought in from home as their assessment. One student created an over-sized 3D stuffed elephant based on a stuffed animal of her own, another made a large scale paper sculpture of McDonald’s French fries, while another who was not as adept at 3D design made large-scale drawings of everyday objects such as scissors and a Wii remote. Although the outcomes were different, each student demonstrated an ability to take measurements, create a ratio, use the ratio to make a proportion, and scale the size of their objects. I feel this type of hands-on application is more relevant to everyday life, promotes problem-solving, and requires a deeper level of understand than simply “solving for x.”
Teachers are not only educators; they are motivators.
Richard Lavoie's work on motivation changed the way I interacted with my students. In his book, The Motivation Breakthrough: 6 Secrets to Turning On the Tuned-Out Child (2007), Lavoie presents “The 6 P’s of Motivation” which are praise, power, projects, prestige, prizes, and people. He proselytizes that everyone is motivated by at least one of these things and teachers must know each child’s motivation in order to reach them effectively. This view relates to the humanistic idea of intertwining the interests of the student with their intellect. During my tenure at an out-placement special education school I had to teach health class for half a year, every year. Since we had the same students in our schools from 9th – 12th grade they were tired of learning the same lessons on healthy diets and the dangers of drugs and alcohol. They were unmotivated learners and therefore "tuned-out" children. I challenged them to teach each other by creating public services announcements on health topics affecting modern teenagers. They chose the topic and the form of media they wanted. The results were dynamic. One group produced a video on sleep deprivation, another performed a skit on high fructose corn syrup, and another made a poster and gave a mini-lecture on signs of depression. They learned about relevant topics, research, and presentation, but more importantly they were motivated by the incorporation of their interests into the assignment. My favorite example of personalized motivation happened this past year. My father is a retired FDNY fire chief. My students used Skype to ask him questions during fire safety week. While all of my students enjoyed the conversation, one was completely taken with my dad. He talked about “Chief” all year long. When this student was struggling to learn to count to forty I promised a FaceTime call with Mr. and Mrs. Chief upon completion of the task. That was enough to get him focused and practicing every day, and in a few weeks he counted to forty. We called my parents again and he was in his glory!
“Kids will do well if they can.”
Collaborative & Proactive Solutions (CPS), formerly known as Collaborative Problem Solving, comes from the work of Dr. Ross Greene. Greene’s theory relates to the theory of humanism as his approach is person-centered and requires the teacher to be genuine, empathetic, and a facilitator of knowledge. His mantra, “Kids will do well if they can,” is short and to the point, but has impacted my teaching profoundly. Greene believes all children want to do well, and if a student could do well, they would. He challenges teachers to look at maladaptive student behaviors as a result of lagging skills in response to the demands of the environment. When I started looking at behavior this way it allowed me to provide meaningful skill-based interventions vs. unproductive consequences for my students.
Teachers and families must work together to create positive learning environments.
The Responsive Classroom approach to education brings together humanism, constructivism, and progressivism. The guiding principles of a responsive classroom are valuing the social, emotional, and academic curriculum equally, placing emphasis on how children learn as much as what they learn, using social interactions to promote cognitive growth, placing equal importance on knowing the students and their families as knowing content, and valuing the relationships amongst colleagues. In a responsive classroom, students take part in creating the rules, have academic choice, and participate in guided discovery. Teachers use positive teacher language and tone, facilitate interactive modeling, use collaborative problem solving techniques, and enforce logical consequences while maintaining students’ dignity. These student and teacher practices are reflective of the ideas of active learning and constructing one’s knowledge from constructivism, progressivism’s value on classroom democracy and student investment, and the importance of student choice and emotional well-being from humanism. I believe these ideas lead to the creation of a positive learning environment. I say learning environment because I am not limiting this to the classroom; I feel the home is an equally important learning environment. When teachers create Responsive Classrooms and make learning a family affair through collaboration and open and positive communication with parents, both home and school life improves.
Differing Schools of Thought:
While my educational philosophy approaches education from a student-centered method designed to promote divergent thinking and active learning, there are schools of thought which oppose my view. B.F. Skinner’s theory of behaviorism states behavior is shaped by consequences in the environment, and consequences are motivation for repeating the action. This theory was the basis for the Lovaas Method, which was the earliest form of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) conducted by O. Ivar Lovaas, Ph.D. In these methods, teachers or therapists use approaches such as direct instruction, discrete trial training, and pivotal response training to elicit a pre-determined response from a student. The major difference between my philosophy of education and the ideas of Lovass and Skinner is their lack of construction of knowledge through schema, active learning, and inquiry. While I feel the schools of thought behind my philosophy better enhance thinking, learning, and teaching for the general population due to the exploratory and responsive interactions between learners and teachers, I feel Lovaas and Skinner’s theories are crucial methods for students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and more severe emotional disabilities such as oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder. I have witnessed and even employed these methods in such extreme cases.
Looking Forward…
Education is ever-evolving. I feel it is progressing more quickly now than ever due to the expansion and inclusion of technology. It is hard to predict what education or educational philosophies will look like twenty-five, ten, or even five years from now. Who knows what devices and services will be developed in that time. Based on my beliefs in student choice, interest, motivation, and construction of knowledge through schema and active learning, I would like to see K-12 education take a more global view. I envision world-wide educational communities based on common topic of interest starting at the elementary level. Obviously elementary students couldn’t physically travel to another country to learn, but they could have an online video-based classroom. Imagine elementary students learning math in Japan, painting in France, or language arts in London all in one day! Language differences would be a clear problem; however, we already have translation technology which I only imagine will improve in the next twenty-five years. While expanding elementary global relationships has many benefits, it would also open up young children to potential negative influences and anti-American views from opposing countries. Children are impressionable and I fear the deep impact this could have on home-based terrorism. Nonetheless, another important component of my philosophy is the role of the teacher as a facilitator. I would expect a global-based learning environment to be carefully planned and facilitated by an adult with the social and emotional well-being of the children in mind at all times.