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Running head: TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY

Terelogy Philosophy of Education Terry Gallivan Liberty University Foundations of History EDUC 604 July 5, 2012

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY Abstract A philosophy is not only the beliefs a teacher has but also what the teacher stands on.

There is a saying you must stand for something or you will fall for anything. The same is true in teaching. A teacher must discern the truth in the knowledge in order for the student to choose the path best suited for their learning. Terelogy philosophy is about learning through the successes and failures of lessons taught. There are no quick fixes or pre-packaged curriculum that will give the ultimate educational experience to the students. It is the knowledge and wisdom God gives the teacher in the gift bestowed. Terelogy philosophy is a true concept where the student is taught as an individual and not a number on paper. Keywords: philosophy, teacher, students, technology, beliefs, God, knowledge, history

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY Terelogy Philosophy of Education

In today's world, it is not enough for a teacher to embark knowledge onto students by rote or dictation from the barrier of the front of the classroom. It can be stated students in learning enough to pass a test may gain knowledge temporarily, but this will not create a path to lifelong learning nor to wisdom. Many current standards of curriculum design are a reflection of the quickly attained way of life of our society; as indicated by the entertainment industries, technology, communication, even commerce. Consider the opening sentence of this introduction; it has too many characters to form a Twitter message yet truncating it would remove much of its meaning. This watered down curriculum that teachers must contend with, and seek to defy in many ways to help students attain goals. Teachers must endeavor to bring the depth back into the instruction for students to be successful for the future of our nation. Teachers must consider the individual student who stands before them today not the image of the perfect student who fits into the Utopian slate of learning. The information herein exhibits a picture of the basic sketch of the Terelogy (pronounced tear E logy) Philosophy. A nation founded on God - will fall without God. The founding fathers of the United States were well aware of the consequences ahead of a nation without values based upon the word of God. It is important for a teacher to become as much a guide for the student as it is to be an educator. A teacher needs to have the ability to begin instilling in their students a sense of ethics, moral character, and an understanding of the virtues of humanity. As well, a teacher now needs to be flexible enough to adjust the conduct of their classroom to incorporate and engage all the children in their classroom. Teachers at every level of every grade must hold themselves in a place of honor where their goal is to provide for their students the best opportunity for learning rather than merely attaining the greatest percentage of passing grades.

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY This teacher, through some years of experience, learning and self-assessment, has developed an intricate teaching philosophy, which has come to be known as Terelogy. A philosophy that attempts to incorporate the general education requirements while imparting an

awareness of virtue, a transmission of messages from the Bible, and an engagement with students and their parents. Personality, perseverance, and flexibility are the keys to this teaching philosophy. Teachers have a responsibility beyond the curriculum to model and teach desirable virtues. We are distinguished by our learning personality and each student needs to be taught and assessed based on his or her current level of development and his or her learning style. The development of Terelogy philosophy springs from a combination of a personal sense of integrity, an insistence in helping others, and a belief in education as a personal chosen path, where the greatest good can be imparted. It is this teacher's view that all children are willing to learn, as all children incessantly ask questions of why, how, what from the earliest age. It should be the teacher's task to continue to encourage these questions in children, no matter what their age. The teacher, also, should encourage the students to explore in seeking these answers. In the goal of increasing the ability to accomplish these goals, increasing one's self-knowledge and capability is paramount. As communication and engagement of primary, secondary and tertiary stakeholders becomes essential to the success in ones education; so does the ability to incorporate the uses of technology and new discoveries into the world of biblical study, textbooks and mandated curricula and benchmarks. One cannot set aside personal virtue and integrity in the accomplishment of these goals, but must use them as tools for their implementation. Benjamin Franklin was quoted to say Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn (Thinkexist, 2012).

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY Students, at early levels, have little knowledge of how to learn and the ability to do so is difficult to quantify. Up through the middle school level, the teacher's main duty is to not only educate for the building blocks of further knowledge, but to impart a certain virtuous learning, a cooperative spirit in assisting the less fortunate, and an integrity toward fairness. These are all things that cannot be tested, but created in the student a foundation for greater learning and goodness that shall not be impeached. In the1787 Northwest Ordinance law it is written religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. (Thinkexist, 2012). Yet another part of Terelogy philosophy is the recognition that knowledge does not necessarily equate to ability. Passing a test, does not assure that a particular student grasps the concept of that knowledge. Reminding us of a spelling bee, a child can learn the most complex

words by rote but may not necessarily understand its meaning or nuance. The slowest learning student in a class may become the most knowledgeable as that child has gained the greatest concentration to hold a particular lesson. The teacher is creating an environment to nurture these abilities and create growth opportunities in their students, regardless of their nature upon entering the classroom. Terelogy philosophy requires self-assurance of persistence and patience for the students, and an overall loyalty to them. This is a knowledge that all students can learn though at perhaps different rates and learning techniques. The teacher must have the ability, the knowledge and the recognition of these attributes in their students to draw out their greatest efforts and abilities. Contrary to the Terelogy philosophy is the modern school system and the emphasis on grading success to attain financial funding from government entities. Increasingly, it appears that schools are concerned more with ratings of education rather than the actual ability to learn

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY and attain knowledge. To grant these efficiency ratings, schools are more likely to institute

generic curricula rather than rely on a teacher's ability to have a grasp of the student's ability and rank their gain in knowledge. Notice, this is a gain in knowledge, not an attainment two very separate things. The teacher must become intentional in the instruction delivery with one goal in mind the student has gained knowledge. Intentionality is the process by doing things for a purpose; teachers who use intentionality plan their actions based on the outcomes they want to achieve. (Slavin 2012, pg. 4). It appears that the modern education system is working toward removing the student from the equation, rather than having the student as the focus. The goal for the intentional teacher is to keep the students best interest in mind during the learning process. Regardless of these pressures from administration and parent expectations, there have always been those few educators who find and develop their own way at educating their classes. Being reminded of Alice Boljonis (Readence & Baldwin, 1988) in her reading theories; she espouses having children understand the concept of their reading, rather than a word-for-word rendering. Or the late educator Jonathan Arnold (Arnold, 1978), whose concept of teaching Algebra was to ensure his students knew the theories and having absolutely correct answers was a secondary task. Needless to say, this type of educator has never endeared himself or herself to school administrators, yet, much can be said for their success. This teacher's cherry-picking process goes through the elements of Piaget's Theory, Whole Brain Learning and the Social Cognitive Learning Model with sprinkles of Social Learning Model to create a theory to stand on its own. Saying that the elements are cherrypicked indicates that this educational philosophy concentrates principally on advocating the child's ability to learn, rather than actually attaining a particular grade. This concentration on ability and enhancement will actually encourage any particular child to continue their education.

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY Several studies (Unknown, 2008) have indicated that both advanced and below average students are inhibited by many current teaching standards set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act. Advanced students are frustrated by slowing a class for others to catch up and slower students are discouraged by an inability to grade higher. However, a curriculum based on progress rather than attainment, ability rather than score, encourages all levels of students to not only

engage, but also to cooperate with each other and to regularly participate during class. (Azerkiy, 2009). It is important to communicate and engage students using as many means as possible. Thus, the modern teacher needs to educate themselves in the best uses of new technologies. Technology has been used to educate students in higher education and the time has come to incorporate the same type of curriculum in the form of hybrid courses in the K 12 grades. The 21st century has brought to light the need to assimilate technology beyond the classroom walls. Classrooms are overcrowded causing students to be left behind without the teacher being able to assist individually or in small group. Some At-Risk students are simply putting in their time until the day comes when they can drop out of school. Parents are opting to home school for various reasons among which the school environment being at the top of the list. The Hybrid class can promote smaller class sizes allowing the teacher to individualize instruction. At-Risk students can learn from the innovation that technology has to offer and, thus, heightening the motivation to learn. Students that have not performed well in the traditional classroom setting would have the opportunity to explore learning from beyond the walls of the classroom. By these methods, the teacher can more thoroughly engage the student. The students' role then becomes clearer and the teacher becomes a facilitator. Rather than reaching a particular benchmark for a percentile grade, the goal becomes the student is engaged and has the ability to

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY

gain knowledge. In this fashion, as well, the educator becomes not only an educator of facts, but also a guiding light to further knowledge and understanding. The onus of attaining a mandated goal is now removed for the more important goal of philosophical comfort and understanding. The teacher becomes more involved with the students moralistic success the virtues of diligence, patience, humility, kindness. As this teaching method requires less of a score, the students remain on a level field, and helping to maintain that level between themselves helps students to help each other again encouraging yet more virtues those of charity, justice and eventually wisdom. It seems that each generation of teacher finds yet another learning theory to espouse, at least in this country. In research for other subjects, it was remarkable to find that some nations in Europe and Asia has had a remarkably unchanging curriculum and regular teaching theory for decades with the only changes being in developments of technology. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). Germany, for example, has had a prevalent early and middle school curriculum since about 1872. The nation that would become Albania abolished standardized testing in 1906. It should be noted that Albania ranks 34th in world for Science education, whereas the United States ranks 57th. (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012). In 1346, the Kingdom of the Golden Horde instituted religious education as part of the primary curriculum. Although, these curricula and requirements have existed for a long time, they continue to exist because they offer their teachers both great respect as educators (Julius, 2005) and great flexibility in the implementation of these requirements. The major changes in many European education systems were the result of meeting the needs of the many levels of students from simply an economic nature. By the mid-19th century, it was found that many talented individuals, though of a lower economic class, were being ignored by the upper class education

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY systems. Education systems in India and Thailand were limited by the caste system through the early 18th century. After that, both kingdoms began to expand their systems to incorporate a wide economic and social stratum. In the United States, we are required to teach students from all levels of ability and disabilities, but the tools to do so have been slow in coming. There still seems to be an onus on the most talented student to overcome their difficulty, rather than the recognition by the teacher for their talent. Thus, it is incumbent on the teacher to provide the means to further the connectivity of the child with the classroom, which only enhances the learning levels of the educators students. In concluding this short treatise of the Terelogy educational philosophy, it bears reinforcement of those few tenets that are the guidelines for it: communication, engagement and providing tools for the students to gain knowledge. As a teacher: with integrity and high moral

standard to provide a complete learning environment is paramount. As a Christian: to encourage the development of an understanding of Biblical messages and lessons to be learned by the student. As a philosopher of education: the hope to constantly learn from my students and adapt to their abilities, rather than theirs to mine. The best method of teaching the students is for them to learn and gain knowledge. In the words of Albert Einstein Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.

TERELOGY PHILOSOPHY References Arnold, J. (1978). Personal letter to the author. Educator Review, 7. Azerkiy, E. (2009). Class peer reviews. Educator Monthly, Barton, D. (2004). Four centuries of American education. Aledo, TX: Wallbuilders. Central Intelligence Agency (2012). CIA - factbook. Retrieved July 1, 2012, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ Gutek, G. L. (1995). A history of western educational experience (2nd ed.) Long Grove, Il: Waveland Press. ISBN: 0881338184 Julius, N. (2005). New translation of travels of Marco Polo and others (13th - 20th centuries). New York, NY: Penguin Press. Moreland, J.P. (1997). Love your god with all your mind: The role of reason in the life of the soul. LOCATION: NavPress Publishing. Readence, J. E., & Baldwin, R. S. (1988). Dialogues in literacy research. Thirty-seventh yearbook of the National Reading Conference. National Reading Conference. Slavin, R. E. (2012). Educational Psychology, Theory and Practice (10th ed.). Thinkexist (2012). Benjamin Franklin quotes. Retrieved May 29, 2012, from http://thinkexist.com/quotation/.html

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Unknown (2008). Effect of test scores: Elementary education yearbook. Psychology Today, 2731.

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