Progressivist Teaching Philosophy

However, some people may argue that students cannot have a voice in their learning because they do not have the professional training as that of a teacher. In order to facilitate learning, there must be some amount of preconceived knowledge to work with. Children enter a classroom without the knowledge and teachers are meant to “teach” them new knowledge using strict curriculum rather than merely “facilitate” what is not there. Therefore, the teacher is the leader of the classroom and tells us how to think and what to think about. However, despite this criticism, I believe that teaching should be collaborative with students because, in the end, learning is about the student and not the teacher.

As an educator, it is my job to find new ways for my students to learn that coincides with their particular learning style and takes advantage of their strengths. In all practical terms, this will mean finding new ways for each of my students to learn in their own particular way. As a whole, my students will need more reason to learn with authentic experiences, hands-on

John Dewey’s Progressive Learning Theory is defined as any various reformist educational philosophies and methodologies since the late 1800s, applied especially to elementary schools, that reject the rote recitation and strict discipline of traditional, single classroom teaching, favoring instead more stimulation of the individual pupil as well as group discussion, more informality in the classroom, a broader curriculum, and use of laboratories, gymnasiums, etc. in the school. It is essentially an umbrella theory for many theories that have contributed to what is known as, Progressive Education.

Progressivism was a wide and varied movement that changed American values and lifestyles having everlasting impact on American history.

Students have their own best way in effectively learning the lesson. With the diversity of students, the problem is each student has a preferred learning style. It becomes undeniably one of the reasons that make it difficult to achieve the best expected outcome out of teachers’ effort. However, teachers try to incorporate various teaching techniques to make every learning opportunity become productive, meaningful, and relevant for the learners.

Any student, whether in elementary or college, learns better when the subject matter is thought-provoking and appealing. Traditional and old curriculum provides a baseline for students to meet and follow. Also, traditional curriculum is based of individualism and discourages exchanges between the student and teacher. Individual work teaches the child to develop internal critical thinking skills but it may bore the student. Teachers should continually interact with their students and challenge the student to think outside the box. Great teachers in today's system should help students develop a new way of thinking about history, math, english, and science and their education in general.

Successful teaching occurs when the teacher is able to select the most efficient method for reaching out to each student’s individual style of learning and inspire students to rise to their highest potential. While the responsibilities of a teacher are extensive (as one can serve as a teacher, a friend, a counselor, a disciplinarian, an entertainer, a facilitator), I believe that students should play a big part in shaping own education as well.

The teacher allowed students to work cooperatively in groups to discuss problem solving strategies. Students appeared to be very much engaged in learning through interaction with peers. The first grade teacher was very active in using the think-pair-share strategy to promote thinking and oral communication. During her writing lesson of editing a sample story, she asked students to think about what corrections they thought needed to be made, then asked them to share their thoughts with a partner. I thought this strategy was very much appropriate and effective for promoting students’ language acquisition, especially for her class of early intermediate language learners.

In the education world of today, it is understood that one can only be effective in teaching by taking into consideration the different learning styles of students. In a classroom, it is expected that teachers would want their students to acquire a meaningful knowledge base, become proficient problem solvers and learn how to work productively with others (Biehler and Snowman, 2006, p. 370). If this is the case, teachers need to know how to be able to develop this situation in the classroom and make it more conducive to learning. Therefore, it would seem that they need to encourage students to converse with each other with group discussions and assignments, to make sure they are active in

social order. The Progressive movement, 1901 to 1917, was ultimately the triumph of conservatism rather than a

Throughout education there are six main philosophies to take into consideration, and they are as followed. From a teacher centered classroom approach they include Essentialism, Behaviorism, and lastly Positivism. In a student centered classroom approach they are Progressivism, Humanism, and Constructivism. What do these terms mean? Essentialism is and educational philosophy that there is a common core of information and skills that an educated person must have. Behaviorism is a psychological theory and educational philosophy that asserts that behaviors represent the essence of a person and that all behaviors can be explained. A person acts the way they do for a reason. Finally positivism is a social theory and educational philosophy that limits truth and knowledge to what is observed and measured. These are all important for a teacher to take into consideration. Progressivism is an educational philosophy that emphasizes that ideas should be tested by experiments and that learning is better developed in questions developed by the learner. Humanism is an

I believe in a cooperative learning pedagogy where teachers guide students’ education and stimulate them to think critically, analyze complex situations, and problem solve. Learning is a lifelong partnership between both teacher and student. There has to be mutual respect and a common goal to facilitate learning. Therefore, students must agree to take responsibility for their learning in order to engage and teachers must be willing to engage. My role as a teacher is to assist students through evidence-based practice, scholarly inquiry, and research.

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.

I believe the essence of education includes growth. The purpose of education is not to just fill our head with lots of information, but to discover your uniqueness and to teach us how to develop it, and to show us how to, in return, give it away. Once you learn something in life, you should be able to absorb it in a way to use it in your life and then in turn pass it on to someone else in order to contribute to their growth as well. I also believe that the essence of education includes knowledge and skills. Once you are educated on a matter you obtain knowledge and/or skill. Education is understood as the artificial extension of human ability to learn, as the product of learner’s own efforts (Sidorkin, 2011).

There is no one size fits all teaching strategy for all students. Therefore teachers must use a variety of teaching strategies to cater for a variety of different learners (Gill, 2013). It is important for teachers to regularly evaluate their practices and whether they are meeting the learning needs of all students (Zeichner & Liston, 1987). Self-evaluation can assist teachers to improve the educational experiences provided for students and assist in identifying the professional education you need to further develop your capacity to teach well (Schwartz, n.d.). As a future teacher developing learning programs, teaching, assessing, providing feedback on student learning and reporting to parents/carers are skills I must be proficient in.