Progressive Teaching Essay

The twentieth century only saw an increase in the industrialization and urbanization that began in the nineteenth century. The new social, political and economic problems that began to emerge due to all of the changes developing in America during these times led to a need for reform. Reform was needed throughout society whether it was in regards to immigrants, civil rights, regulating trusts, or woman’s rights to name a few. These problems extended equally into the problems that educational progressives sought out to reform. John Dewey is commonly used as the embodiment of progressive era reformation ideas but there were others as well, such as Grace C. Strachan, George Counts, and Booker T. Washington.

Today’s classrooms are becoming more and more diverse with students that have disabilities and those that come from different cultures. It is important for educators to ensure that their teaching strategies are appropriate for all of the children in their classroom. When it comes to the classroom there can be many cultural challenges that educators will have to address to ensure that all students are growing and developing appropriately. Educators need to make sure that they are capable of addressing each of their

Teaching theories are as much part of the classroom as the student and the teacher. The effect individual theories have on an environment depends how they are incorporated within the classroom in addition to the influence they have had on the curriculum construction. This essay will briefly look at how motivation theory, cognitive and social cognitive theory along with constructivism have impacted on education and the classroom.

As a practicing teaching, it is responsibility to create and maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for students. Whilst on professional experience at a local school in Cairns, I taught a series of lessons (artefact 4) for a year 8 Health and Physical Education class. In order to effectively teach each lesson, I had to manage the classroom activities and challenging behaviours. I used the ten micro-skills for classroom management to not only manage students’ behaviour but also ensure inclusive student participation and engagement.

Governor Jeb Bush initiated the nation's boldest voucher experiment in June of 1999 when he signed into law his Opportunity Scholarship Program. Florida is the first in the nation with a statewide plan allowing state-paid tuition for children in "F" graded schools to attend private schools or other non-failing schools. Opponents claim that giving parents the choice to use state education funds at private schools could end up bankrupting the public education system so many children rely upon. Proponents of vouchers argue the voucher program will give parents a way to help children trapped in failing schools. Matthew Berry, a staff attorney with the Washington, D.C. based Institute for Justice, believes, “As

Diversity encompasses numerous characteristics including socio-economic background, ethnicity, special needs, gender, and giftedness (Cazden, 2001). Today, classrooms are getting more varied and diverse with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds, and students with a disability. It appears that teachers must meet the needs of all students successfully and individually to effectively teach a classroom of diverse students. This paper will first identify three challenges involved with ensuring that teaching strategies are

In the first half of the 19th century, American teachers were primarily men. However, by the 1840s a feminization began. One historical reference, explains the shift from men to women. “God seems to have made woman peculiarly suited to guide and develop the infant mind, and it seems…very poor policy to pay a man 20 or 22 dollars a month, for teaching children the ABCs, when a female could do the work more successfully at one third of the price”—Littleton School Committee, Littleton, MA, 1849 (PBS, 2017). Deaminizes women—saying they are not capable of pursuing a career that involves thought and intelligence, and justifies why women should not get paid the same as men for the same work.

Most students these days just think they have to go to class, pay attention, write some notes and they will do fine. That may be true for some people but if they were to use a more active learning approach instead of passive, they could do even better. Active learning is a learning approach that gets the student more involved which helps lead to a better understanding and idea of the material being learned (VickyRN, 2009). Passive learning is the common classroom learning approach where you listen to a teacher and read information (VickyRN, 2009). If students were more aware of the benefits of active learning and the difference between active and passive learning, they could achieve higher academic results and may even enjoy it more. Many

There are many theories that are relevant to classroom teaching today. Marsh (2008, p. 17) states that “each theory is nothing more than a set of reasonable suggestions”. A teacher should look at the information available to them and take what is necessary to achieve a positive learning environment in their classroom. This may mean taking a little part of one theory and combining in with another part of a different theory, there is no singular theory or theorist that encompasses everything that is required in a modern classroom. Some of the most important theories of learning are motivation, constructivism and behaviourism. Teachers choose their teaching style and strategy to complement their students, to arrive at their own personal

Public education in the United States is perhaps one of the most critical issues we face as a nation. Once pronouncing the United States as a “nation at risk”, the educational institution began to implement one reform strategy after another. In efforts to improve schooling for K-12 students, education reform has fiddled with class size, revised graduation requirements, and created standardized testing just to name a few. Unfortunately, traditional public schools are still failing to provide students with a quality education. This is disheartening as we learn that the United States lags behind in math and science compared to our international counterparts. It is safe to say that educational reform has spent billions of dollars over the

“Be a reflective teacher. Honestly look at what you do from time to time. Evaluate the purpose of your role as a teacher.” (Robert John Meenham, 2011)

Progressivism will also be a part of my classroom. The world is constantly changing and as a part of the world we must be able to change with it as John Dewey, the man responsible for the success of progressivism, realized. Dewey relied on the scientific method to develop his ideas and found that books are no substitute for actually doing and experiencing in the learning process. I agree with Dewey on this point because in my classroom I plan to allow students to experience as much as they can first hand. Actually, being part of or performing an experiment helps to teach students because they are able to apply what they are learning to the real world. This ties in with the essentialist philosophy as well as the behaviorist philosophy. Progressivism also encourages social interaction between all students. Learning social skills is an important part of the learning process in school because this is one of the skills that the students will need in the world after school. Having activities and lab experiments in the classroom will encourage the growth of social skills.

John Keating, a student at Welton Academy inspired his fellow classmates, to meet in caves and read challenging poetry of the past, not with flashcards, but with these words, “Now, my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again. You will learn to savor words and language. No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.” Typically, students do not hear enough of this type of passion in a traditional classroom. However, a progressive classroom, be it a cave or college can inspire students to memorize facts, not because they have to, but rather because they want to for the betterment of humanity. Society desperately needs students educated in a progressive style because America needs students who realize

Elementary teachers not only introduce their students to the basic concepts of core subjects, they also help pave the path to each student’s future success. Education to become a teacher is long and tedious, and while the income may not be the highest available, watching students develop a new skill or grow an appreciation for learning can be very rewarding. Because there will always be a need for education, even with the recent budget cuts, teaching jobs will always have to be available somewhere.

In the field of education there could arise many philosophical ideas of each individual teacher. Many of the past philosophies have been and still are used in today’s education programs, such as the Socratic method. My philosophy will also contain some of the many philosophies of the past and possibly the future. I will state the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of public education, method, and curriculum according to my own philosophies, which also may be based the philosophical ideas of previous individuals.