Module 1 Flashcards
These Philosophies are essential for the longevity of education and the continued influence of teachers in the classroom.
Teacher Centered Philosophies
the educational philosophy of teaching basic skills. This philosophy advocates training the mind. The educators focus on transmitting a series of progressively difficult topics and promotion of students to the next level or grade. Subjects are focused on the historical context of the material world and culture, and move sequentially to give a solid understanding of the present day. This philosophy stresses core knowledge in reading, writing, math, science, history, foreign language, and technology. The tools include lecturing, memorization, repetition, practice, and assessment.
Essentialism
A typical day at school might have seven periods, with students attending a different class each period. The teachers impart knowledge mainly through conducting lectures, during which students are expected to take notes. The students are provided with practice worksheets or hands-on projects, followed by an assessment of the learning material covered during this process. The students continue with the same daily schedule for a semester or a year. When their assessments show sufficient competence, they are promoted to the next grade or class to learn more difficult material. For each class, the school board has approved a specific curriculum, which must be taught, although how it is taught is left to the teacher’s discretion.
Essentialism
The educational philosophy that the importance of certain works transcends time. Their works are those considered as important and applicable today as they were when they were written, and are often referred to as great books. Sometimes they referred to as “culturally conservative,” because it does not challenge gender stereotypes, incorporate multiculturalism, or expose and advocate technology, as would be expected of contemporary literature.
Parennialism
The goal of this education is to teach students to think rationally and develop minds that can think critically. Their classroom aims to be a closely organized and well-disciplined environment, which develops in students a lifelong quest for the truth. They believe that education should epitomize a prepared effort to make these ideas available to students and to guide their thought processes toward the understanding and appreciation of the great works, works of literature written by history’s finest thinkers that transcend time and never become outdated.
Parennialism
They are primarily concerned with the importance of mastery of the content and development of reasoning skills. The old adage “the more things change, the more they stay the same” summarizes their perspective on education. Skills are still developed in a sequential manner. For example, reading, writing, speaking, and listening are emphasized in the early grades to prepare students in later grades to study literature, history, and philosophy.
Parennialism
They emphasizes that “ideas should be tested by experimentation and that learning is rooted in questions developed by learners” . They believe that human experience is far more important than authority when it comes to learning. Like pragmatists, they believe that change is occurring and should be embraced rather than ignored. It is all about organized freedom that allows students to take responsibility for their actions in the classroom.
Progressivism
It is “concerned with enhancing the innate goodness of the individual” (115). Its focus is on individual development through a process of developing a free, self-actualizing person. Education should start with the individual and the choices made by the individual. The humanistic classroom is welcoming and caring. Students feel comfortable to share their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, fears, and aspirations with each other.
Humanism
“Emphasizes developing personal meaning through hands-on, activity-based teaching and learning” (117). Teachers are responsible for creating effective learning situations rather than constantly lecturing students. Personal meaning is the best way for students to connect to the material being taught. Constructivist theorists “encourage the development of critical thinking and the understanding of big ideas rather than the mastery of factual information” (117). They believe that students will be more prepared for the ever-changing world if they learn how to develop critical thinking skills. Unlike traditional ways of learning, the constructivist classroom focuses on the way a learner internalizes, shapes, or transforms information.
Constructivism
These Factors refer to the mental processes the learners undergo as they process information.
Cognitive Factors
The learning of complex subject matter is most effective when it is an intentional process of constructing meaning from information and experience.
Learning in schools emphasizes the use of intentional processes that students can use to construct meaning from information, experiences, and their own thoughts and beliefs. Successful learners are active, goal-directed, self-regulating, and assume personal responsibility for contributing to their own learning.
Learners need to have a clear and concrete understanding of knowledge and concepts presented so that they would also know in what particular situations they have to apply them. Learning through experience is the most effective way of teaching. An intentional learning environment is one that fosters activity and feedback and creates a culture that promotes metacognition, that is, one in which the learner becomes aware of his or her learning process and can use tools to enhance this learning process.
Teachers play a significant role in guiding their learners to become active, goal-directed, and self-regulating, and to assume personal responsibility for their learning. The learning activities and opportunities provided by the teacher are very important situations where learners can integrate knowledge and concepts to their experiences. Whenever teachers plan their lessons and topics, they always need to consider how they can bring reality in the classroom.
Nature of the learning process
The successful learner, over time and with support and instructional guidance, can create meaningful, coherent representations of knowledge.
Learners need to be goal-directed. Teachers have to guide learners in terms of determining their personal goals. They need to set their goals, not dictated by others, to ensure their willingness to achieve them. Meaningful learning takes place when what is presented to learners is very much related to their needs and interests. When learners have good understanding of the concepts discussed in school, they can reach long-term goals most likely. Indeed, it is challenging to motivate learners to succeed.
Goals of the learning process
The successful learner can link new information with existing knowledge in meaningful ways.
In planning a new lesson to be presented, teachers would usually find it more effective when they connect the learners existing knowledge to new information. The integration of prior experiences to a new concept to be learned is a way of making connections between what is new and what is already known. That new knowledge is created from old knowledge is the very heart of constructivism. Teachers should initiate more opportunities for learners to share ideas, experiences, observations, and readings as the need arises. Sharing prior knowledge can be done in creative strategies like concept mapping, group activities, and other collaborative techniques where learners are also able to learn from each other’s experiences.
Construction of Knowledge
The successful learner can create and use a repertoire of thinking and reasoning strategies to achieve complex learning goals.
It is a person’s ability to use knowledge in different ways to solve problems, address concerns and issues, decrease difficulties in certain situations, and make sound decisions and judgments in varied conditions. Strategic thinkers do not easily give up even in difficult situations. They are more challenged to find ways to solve a problem no matter how many times they already failed. They are not afraid to commit mistakes because they perceive them as meaningful learning experiences to continuously discover other ways of arriving at solutions. Teachers are supposed to give them as many opportunities to learn, experiment, solve, and explore new ideas and concepts. Thus, to motivate and encourage the learners to be more creative and innovative in their ideas, opinions, and responses are musts for teachers.
Strategic Thinking
Higher order strategies for selecting and monitoring mental operations facilitate creative and critical thinking
One of the most challenging roles of the teachers is to develop among their learners’ higher order thinking skills (HOTS). It means that their learners can do evaluation, synthesis, analysis, and interpretation of varied concepts, information, and knowledge. As previously mentioned, learners develop their thinking skills when they are provided with opportunities and learning experiences to process varied events and situations, specifically if given real problems. This context means that aside from mastering information, discovery, problem-solving, creation, and evaluation should also be integrated into their learning experiences. Assessment tools in school should be authentic. Students can make inferences, sound judgments, and relevant conclusions, and use their learned knowledge to varied situations. HOTS are very much needed in this fast-changing world.
Successful learners can reflect on how they think and learn, set reasonable learning or performance goals, select potentially appropriate learning strategies or methods, and monitor their progress toward these goals. In addition, successful learners know what to do if a problem occurs or if they are not making sufficient or timely progress toward a goal. They can generate alternative methods to reach their goal (or reassess the appropriateness and utility of the goal). Instructional methods that focus on helping learners develop these higher order (metacognitive) strategies can enhance student learning and personal responsibility for learning.
Thinking about thinking
