Philosophy, Sociology and Pedagogy

As I reflect on the philosophy, sociology and pedagogy of education I have recently read or watched, I find myself adjusting my teaching practice to incorporate the ideas learned. I subscribe to Dewey (in Mintz, 2018) and Rt. Hon Gibb’s (2016) idea of education being a great equalizer. Furthermore, like Dewey (in Mintz, 2018), I believe that testing in education should not be geared toward test scores but much more toward learning in a self-directed context with opportunities to practice. In my view and Dewey’s, (in Mintz, 2018) success is determined by much more than the achievement of a passing grade. I believe success is comprised of the willingness and ability to learn, grit, curiosity, teamwork, oral communication, ability to listen and creativity.  Teaching adults outside traditional classes allows me more latitude to format my teaching practice in alignment with my philosophy. A phrase I have become known for is “English is not a test of your intelligence or how smart you are, it only checks your understanding and use of the language”. Furthermore, learning about Paola Friere’s Critical Pedagogy Freire which he encompassed in “social justice, critical knowledge and social change” (Shor, Ira.   1992) allows me the opulence to embrace and attempt to put into practice the ideas postulated by 21st Century Skills proponents.  From my vantage point, Critical Pedagogy is a method of achieving emancipation of the minds of students and breeding in them 21st century skills.

I had the idea that teachers were purveyors of knowledge, that it was their sole responsibility, to ensure students who did not understand the material were made to understand, and that all aspects of educational success rest solely on the educator. I had never considered the notion that there exist differences between education and learning as in my mind, they were synonymous. In the last few weeks, as I researched the matter, I came to understand that education is the formal process of attending an institution with the aim of gaining knowledge whereas learning is the acquisition and adoption of knowledge, values and skills. I have adopted progressive pragmatism with critical pedagogy as my preferred perspective. This school of thought’s adherence to the Locklean and Platonic perspectives endear it to me even more and they provide me the rationale and  latitude for my stance that my role as a teacher lies in developing increasingly more complex knowledge through exposure to true source and not just absorbing prescribed matter (Itelimo, n.d.).

As a result, I have adjusted my teaching style as well as the manner in which I approach student learning. At the beginning of my teaching career, I stuck very closely to the prescribed curriculum. As time progressed and I learned about the value of self-directed learning, the teacher as facilitator, advocate, social activist, and 21st century skills,  I began to deliberately perturb the teaching and learning in my class by introducing aspects of the next higher level’s curriculum into the coursework to provoke a problem. The solution would demand students’ engagement in proactive learning through seeking information and creating new knowledge. I continued to increase this new content until the curriculum was at about thirty percent next level content. This allowed me to involve students in conducting research to find out about news items like number of new Corona virus infections reported for the day, or other current events. The ability to do research and find out information on one’s own and form new knowledge is a valuable skill that all learners must possess in this 21st century. The whole process itself requires the student to employ many skills that have been identified as critical for the 21st century learner. Granted there are a few students who balk at this independent learning approach in the beginning. However, since the purpose was to find a different method of assessment for students progressing to the next level from the standard testing that existed. I took the view that students who rose up to the challenge were ready for the next level. For those who were resistant, I continued to engage in one-on-one conversations to help them understand how they were learning and what they were learning by doing research. Prior to  me learning about this, students who were resistant to doing work assigned were informed in no uncertain terms that not doing the work would delay their progress, without any considerations of cultural, ethical or other aspects of the seeming refusal.

The research on which I embarked has taught me to believe that every student is capable of success if they are in the right environment with the right teacher fit. I have come to realize that my attitude and body language not only affect learning but also motivation. I am more conscious of my instinctive reactions and pay more attention to them.

Lastly, I have learned the value of reflective journaling. I started a one-liner journaling called “Daily Findings” where I write thoughts that strike me about my practice or schooling, students; progress or anything that stands out in the day. It is indeed much fun to go back and read some of what I have written and recall the moment it happened.

 

References

Gibb, N., Rt. Hon. (2015, July 9). The purpose of education. GOV.UK. Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/the-purpose-of-education

Itelimo, M. (n.d.). Meaning, scope & functions of philosophy of education unit structure. academia.edu. Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://www.academia.edu/35933986/MEANING_SCOPE_and_FUNCTIONS_OFPHILOSOPHY_OF_EDUCATION_Unit_Structure

Mintz, A. I. (n.d.). What is the purpose of education? Dewey's challenge to his contemporaries. [pdf] Retrieved October 27, 2020, from https://www.academia.edu/23693775/What_is_the_Purpose_of_Education_Deweys_challenge_to_his_contemporaries

Schor, I. (1992). Education is politics: Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. In Paulo Freire: A critical   encounter. [pdf] (pp. 24-36). Retrieved from eBook Central in LIRN.

Rothermund, D. (2002). Gale - institution finder. Gale Ebooks. Retrieved September 13, 2020, from https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL

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