Solving the Puzzle

In my opinion, the process of teaching in a school setting can be linked to the idea of completing a puzzle. This is because there are many different types of students that an instructor will encounter within their classrooms, just as there are many different shapes and sizes of pieces in a puzzle. This idea can also be related to the purpose of a puzzle, which is to connect its various pieces in order to produce a larger image. Much like this idea, the students that an instructor may meet in their profession may have various learning needs, such as disabilities and contrasting styles of learning, which may impact their performance in the classroom. However, the instructor must accommodate each of these needs in order for her students to be able to adequately complete their schoolwork. Therefore, much like the puzzle is completed at the end of the process of making it, the ideal result of the process of classroom instruction is that each student is connected to the academic material through the good quality of the instruction that the educator gives and the various pedagogical methods that are included in her lessons.

Over the period of the semester, I have realize that the process of schooling is more successful if it caters to students as individuals rather than students as a larger group. I have seen many posts in the blogs and discussion posts of the other students in this class that espouse similar ideas, such as those that discussed the integration of children with various learning differences into general educational programs, and how certain students who they have met in their formative schooling may have been more successful within a more individualized school atmosphere due to their various challenges in life. Also, I have discovered that there are many different forms of classroom instruction that deviate from the traditional school, but are very successful in regards to instructing children in academic knowledge. I agree with the ideological beliefs that these methods of instruction are based in due to their recognition of the failure of the public school system to provide students with varying forms of instruction that will both increase their interest in academic knowledge and allow them to learn in ways that provide them with the most comfort in the school setting. Finally, I now know that teachers have more responsibility to provide their students with a decent academic experience than students do to actually learn, as the latter group is essentially unable to succeed within the classroom if the former group cannot provide them material in a manner that they can access, such as if the teacher fails to support a certain learning style that a student may have.

 

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BUSD - Toyon Elementary School - Classroom Environment

Social Justice within a Secondary Education Setting

Because this is an education course, the question that I had concerned how I could make my future students more aware of social justice within a secondary school environment. Through my reading more about how I could do this, I found a curriculum that employs political comic strips as a tool to encourage discussion about various social justice situations. For example, there are lessons that include strips about the prejudicial views that some may have towards minorities and homosexual individuals, and there are also lessons about the sexism that takes place within our society. In my opinion, employing these strips as tools for instruction about social justice is a very unique and valuable way to help students learn about how to be more inclusive of those who are different from themselves. This is because the humor and art that is included within the comic strips allow the students to enjoy the lessons more than if they were simply being lectured, and the strips also encourage discussion among themselves and with their teachers about social and societal issues.

One weakness that I could see about including social justice within secondary lessons is that it could provoke arguments and conflicts within the classroom setting due to the sensitive nature of the issues that social justice is involved with. Also, these situations could happen due to the diverse nature of the students in a classroom, which may result in their having differing views about certain issues. However, I feel that these potential consequences are unimportant, as each student that I have will become an adult who has to live in a diverse world. For this reason, these students need to learn how to discuss societal issues with different groups of people without engaging in negative interactions, which I feel the comic strip curriculum for lessons about social justice encourages greatly (McNergney & McNergney, 134).



Works Cited:

Image From: Student Journalism - The Value Of School Newspapers - By Holly Epstein Ojalvo

McNergney, Joanne M. & Robert F. McNergney. Education: The Practice and Profession of Teaching. 6th Ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009. Print.

Using Editorial Cartoons to Teach Social Justice - Teaching Tolerance

The Cloud Forest School: A Further Exploration Of This Program

During Module 9, I was very interested in learning about the Cloud Forest School, which is located in Costa Rica. Because this is a school that is centered around broadening the views that students have for the various characteristics of the outdoors, I wanted to focus on this school for my journal entry about environmental education. One of the aspects of this school that I found to be the most intriguing was that the educators wanted to help the students care for the outside world and have an interest in ensuring its safety from harm. Although this school is not in the United States, I feel that this message is especially important here due to our being so focused on our own lives and goals that we do not often think about the damage that can potentially take place in the forests, rivers and other non-residential and non-commercial locations of this country. Therefore, I feel that a school such as the Cloud Forest School would be good in more rural areas of this country, where students can learn about mathematics and reading while still forming a concern for their surroundings.

The second message that this school offered and that I thought was intriguing was that this school hopes to teach the children who attend it how to cope a world that is centered around businesses in relation to the needs of the outside world. This interested me because of the fact that, when these children become adults, they will probably be employed by businesses, and these businesses may or may not be considerate of the outside world that surrounds them. The Cloud Forest School most likely prepares students for this future by teaching them to advocate for the outside world through telling their employers about its rights and needs. I thus feel that these types of schools have excellent curricula due to their focus on the connection between the realities of adulthood employment and the importance of the outside world.

Cloud Forest School Homepage

Cloud Forest School - Mission

Cloud Forest School - Our Philosophy

Image From: Cloud Forest School Homepage

The Banking Method vs. The Waldorf Method

As I researched the renowned educator Rudolf Steiner and his Waldorf method to education, I quickly recognized that Steiner would almost definitely not subscribe to the Banking method of education. According to Freire, the Banking method discourages creativity, discussion and educational discovery within the classroom, as the primary purpose of education would be for the "teacher (to) teach and the students (to be) taught." (Freire, 2). However, the Waldorf method revolves more around the information and inquiries that the students provide in each classroom rather than the information that the teacher imparts. This is done through multiple methods, such as storytelling, participating in plays and creative writing. Steiner claims that through providing a more active and participation-centered alternative to the traditional educational process, children will begin to develop a desire to consistently build on their academic knowledge, which is something that Freire claims that is missing in the Banking method due to the needs and role of the teacher having priority in this method.

Although I agree with the general idea that surrounds the beliefs of Steiner and of the Waldorf method, which is that students will learn more if they are more active participants within their education, I take issue with the beliefs that this system has regarding computers, televisions and other forms of industrial advancements that have altered our ways of living over time. In the Waldorf method, these types of tools are heavily discouraged within classrooms due to their allegedly preventing students from experiencing exposure to nature and the aspects of life that do not involve said tools. However, I feel that if students do not have experience with computers (as well as other advancements) during their childhoods, they will be unready for a country that is built on these tools. I thus feel that students can benefit from an education that provides lessons that are built around various educational methods, but are also sensitive to the industrial demands that children will face as they grow into adults.

High-tech vs. No-tech - The Federation of Rudolf Steiner Waldorf Schools in New Zealand

Paulo Freire - The "Banking" Concept Of Education (Please Log In To Canvas In Order To Access)

Why Waldorf Works - About Rudolf Steiner

Why Waldorf Works - What Is Waldorf Education?