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Grace Schillinger

Educational Philosophy II

My goals as a teacher have remained the same. I want all my students to love to learn. I

want them to be excited to come to school every day and enjoy being in class with me and their

peers. My students will respect me as an authority figure, and they will respect their classmates

as equals. My classroom will be a safe learning environment where students feel that all of their

needs are met. I will still have a specific, structured lesson plan for every day, and the whole day

will be planned with specific details. I have now learned how to go about these goals, and turn

them into a reality. With the help of Tocqueville, Barber, Banks, Steele, and many more I have

learned how to create the perfect classroom for my students. I know how to accommodate for

children of all different types of backgrounds and home lives. I know how to create an

appropriate multicultural curriculum. And I know what steps I need to take in order to help the

education system as a whole. My goals are still essentially the same, but I now know how to

achieve these goals.

A huge focus in my classroom will be placed on having a strong multicultural

curriculum. Two very influential men, James A. Banks and Claude M. Steele had very strong

ideas about the reformation of curriculum and schooling. They both argued for the reformation

of schools, but they argued for different things within the school system. Banks wanted the

multicultural curriculum to be reformed. Steele wanted the way that teachers deal with black

Americans to be reformed. Banks created four assumptions that he believed schools were

following incorrectly in their lessons on ethnicity. He then, created ways for teachers to reform

and create new lessons and curriculums that incorporated all ethnicities throughout the whole

year. His new approach also had children looking at world events with different perspectives.
Steele argued that educators and society were devaluing the black American race, thus causing

students to disidentify with school and achievement. The solution to this problem is having

teachers show each student that they are valued. Both issues that these authors raise are issues

that I am going to face in my own future classroom. I hope to be as prepared as possible to deal

with these issues in the correct way so that all my students are able to learn and achieve in my

classroom.

I have realized that I never had a multicultural curriculum growing up, but I believe that

it is a very important part of education. My schools made all the mistakes that James Banks

argues against. His four assumptions are the four biggest mistakes that schools make when

teaching ethnic studies. These assumptions are: ethnic content as ethnic minority studies, ethnic

studies as an addition to the curriculum, ethnic studies as the study of strange customs, and

ethnic studies as the celebration of ethnic holidays. He argues that teachers across the country

make these mistakes too frequently. But he also offers solutions for educators to use when

creating a multicultural curriculum. Banks says that first, the definition of ethnic studies needs to

be expanded. The biggest thing he argues is that teachers must teach a wide variety of

multicultural perspectives. Students must be able to view past and present events through

different cultural lenses. I will work very hard in my lesson planning to make sure that I do not

make the assumptions that Banks argues against. The hardest thing will be to make sure that

ethnic studies are not an add on to the curriculum. I will have to make sure that I fully integrate

ethnic studies into my curriculum and lessons. Having a strong multicultural curriculum will be

very important to me, and I will work very hard to make sure that all ethnicities are included and

my students can view events from different lenses. They will be tolerant and respectful when we
have these lessons, and I will be an example for them to follow. Multiculturalism is difficult to

incorporate into classrooms, but it will be essential in my classroom, no matter the age I teach.

Another key player in the issues of multiculturalism in the classroom is Claude Steele. He

advocated for African American students in the classroom. He argued that society has devalued

the African American race and created an image in which black Americans do not fare well.

These students then react poorly to this insult of devaluation. Steele calls it disidentification.

Once students realize that they are devalued because of their race, they stop comparing

themselves to everyone else, and they lose the will and drive for success. The solution to this

problem, Steele says, is wise schooling. Wise schooling occurs when schools see the value in

minority students and their achievements. It occurs when teachers can say to their students, You

are valued in this program because of your academic potential-regardless of your current skill

level. This will be very important to me as a teacher because I could not imagine one of my

students feeling like they are not valued in my classroom. Every single student in my class will

be appreciated and valued. I will make sure that I show it or say it every day. I can show it by

praising everyones work, not just specific groups of students. I can make sure that there are no

favorites in the class, or teachers pets. All my students will walk into my classroom and know

that they have great potential and that I believe that all of them can do great things.

In addition to having a multicultural classroom, I have learned the importance of my job

in shaping my students to be informed citizens in this democratic society. Benjamin Barber

discusses the importance of democracy and how schooling and democracy are intertwined. He

references Tocqueville when he says. The fundamental task of education in a democracy is

what Tocqueville once called the apprenticeship of liberty: learning to be free. He argues that

freedom is not natural. It has to be earned and learned. We acquire our freedom over time. We
learn to be free from our environment surrounding us. This includes our culture, our community,

our families, and nations. True citizens of a democracy must be made. They must be shaped and

influenced by the people and ideas that surround them on a daily basis. Parents and teachers play

a key role in shaping the future of democracy from generation to generation. Barber goes back in

history and says that even Thomas Jefferson and John Adams knew that without informed

citizens, our Bill of Rights offers little protection. Jefferson was convinced that education was

the only way to build a strong country. Once citizens were educated, they understood the

importance of maintaining a democracy. They also understood how to maintain a democracy

which is through education again.

Barbers argument with democracy always ties back to education. He says, The logic of

democracy begins with public education, proceeds to informed citizenship, and comes to fruition

in the securing of rights and liberties. Public education does not only mean paid for by the

public. It also means creating informed citizens for the public. Public schools forge the next

generation of leaders. They help to turn ignorant children into empowered and informed citizens.

Barber believes that what schools are lacking the most in is teaching civic literacy. It

encompasses the competence to participate in democratic communities, the ability to think

critically and act with deliberation in a pluralistic world, and the empathy to identify sufficiently

with others to live with them despite conflicts of interest and differences in character. He argues

that civility is the fundamental root that our children are missing out on in school. Civility is an

act of the imagination. Only through our imagination can we see everyone else as the same. And

once we see them as the same, they become subjects of our respect and even affection. When the

uneducated are given the power that comes with a democracy, chaos ensues. Only informed

citizens have the ability to make collective decisions that affect multitudes of people. Jefferson
and Adams understood that when founding this country, and Barber still believes in the power of

education in a democracy.

Barber offers solutions to these educational crises but also warns that it will not be easy

and it will be expensive. He understands that money cannot solve all of our problems but it is a

crucial element on the road to solving our problems. Barber says that we must start by raising

teachers salaries so that they attract the best individuals to help shape our democracy. He says

that there also must be an increase in general educational expenditures. Again, he realizes that

money will not solve this problem but it will help us along the way. He asks, If money is not a

critical factor, why are our most successful suburban school districts funded at nearly twice the

level of our inner-city schools? In our world, today, money plays a huge role in education.

Barber wants to close the gap between higher funded schools and poorer schools. He argues that

we can do that not by penalizing the wealthier schools, but by bringing the poorer communities

up to standard. We can do that by finding other sources of funding for these schools. Taxes do

not have to be the only source of funding. Aside from the money part of the solution, Barber says

that we should extend the school year so that learning can take place throughout the entire year.

He says, There are two ways to breed success: to lower standards so that everybody passes in

a way that loses all meaning in the real world; and to raise standards and then meet them, so that

school success translates into success beyond the classroom. The key component of this is that

the success that children have in the classroom must translate into success in the real world. The

other part to reaching success is making parents, teachers, and students key players while placing

administrators, politicians, and experts back-ups. This way, educational opportunity can extend

to everyone. The biggest thing for Barber is that we are serious about making a change. He says

again and again that just talking will not do anything. We must take action so that steps can be
taken to improve our educational systems. He says, In a world where doing nothing has such

dire consequences, complacency has become a greater sin than malevolence. Everyone must

become serious about the educational crises that we face over and over again. School and

education is the basis of democracy and democracy is the basis of our country. If we do not do

something soon, our country could fall apart around us.

As a future teacher, all of these issues are pertinent to me. I am being made responsible

for shaping future citizens. Our democracy is so important to this country that it is imperative

that I do my job correctly and help to solve some of our educational crises. Throughout my

teaching career I will be able to watch the students that I taught go out into the real world and

make a difference in this country. In order for them to make a difference, however, I must set an

example for them to understand what an informed citizen looks like. It all begins with how I

present myself to them, what I teach them, and what I show them in current events. Children are

very moldable in a sense that they observe and then practice what they see. So I must practice

what Barber preaches and shape the next generation of citizens by showing them fantastic

examples of good leaders and citizens in this democratic society.

Once I am a teacher, and have my own classroom, I must remember the lessons of

Barber, Steele, Banks and many more if I want to have a successful classroom. The lessons I

have learned from these articles will help me to make sure that my children love to learn. They

will help me to create a safe and stable classroom. They will help me to accomplish all my goals

for my future classroom.

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