The goal of progressive education is to aid in the development of creating self- sustaining, globally aware, and egalitarian citizens of the world. Another goal is to help each individual regardless of ability or social position realize their full human potential in regard to their own unique goals and talents. Also, education’s goal is to promote personal agency and critical thinking in an effort to produce the cultural and social currency needed in order to perpetuate and improve the conditions of human existence. Education provides a framework of experience that allows the individual to understand what has come before in an effort to generate current and future strategies of survival and hopefully innovation and improvement.
Students learn by doing, by experience. This being said, I agree with Dewey when he stresses that experience on its own is not enough, but rather the quality of experience. (Dewey, 1938,pg.27) Structuring learning so that it builds on past experience while also creating the conditions for further development is key. Structuring these experiences so that the student has a sense of accomplishment and freedom of inquiry is crucial, as we do not want to create and atmosphere where learning is punitive and rote. Experience implies interaction and it is fundamental to realize that learning happens in a profoundly social context. If the nature of all learning is social then it is logical to base all educational lessons in the most dynamic social construct possible. Dewey argued that more traditional schools did not anchor instruction in the realities of life outside the classroom, and did not allow for an exercise of freedom of intellectual choice. He saw this conflict as an essential flaw, but cautioned that freedom without structure would not facilitate learning either. (Dewey, 1938. Pg.61)
Cognitive dissonance is a key factor in supporting the construction of knowledge. Creating cognitive dissonance as a motivator for inquiry while anchoring the material in real life situations supports a sense of organic inquiry. Helping students reconcile what at first can seem contradictory is a way to promote authentic learning and to develop thinking skills that can be transferred from one discipline to another. Scaffolding them through such lessons or problem solving exercises through modeling and mentoring facilitates learning. Also being aware of the developmental stages of your students is crucial. I agree with Piaget when he breaks down the stages of intellectual development in an attempt to understand the psychology of knowledge construction and I think this is also key to helping students learn how to learn. It is notable to regard the cognitive limitations likely to an age group when designing a curriculum. Learning is limited by biology, especially in preadolescents before formal operations of thought emerges around age 11. (Piaget, 2000, pg.131) This developmental limitation being understood, it is also important to realize that if full concepts cannot be learned at early stages of development, essential building block concepts can be internalized and absorbed. These essential concepts can be called up later and deepened as the student advances. (Bruner, 1977, pg.13)
Students also learn by developing language and sharing definitions. Vygotsky made the link that all knowledge is socially constructed and that learning is development. He made the argument that intellectual growth and the growth of consciousness can only be made through social interaction. He agrees, “Good learning is that which is advance of development”. (Vygotsky, 1978,pg.89) How do we promote this kind of advancement through our teaching principles? There are many possibilities, but each student and each teacher will align themselves with those that have a special resonance with their own educational identities as learners.
Multiculturalism is for me a crucial principle in education. If knowledge is socially constructed, then logically the more diverse the society, there is a greater potential for deep and varied understanding. The challenge with creating a truly multicultural classroom is having the techniques and awareness to acknowledge the potential numerous cultural differences and bring them to a level of praxis. Merely being in a class with someone of a different culture does not necessarily breed enhanced learning. Students need to be scaffolded through the steps of inquiry regarding multicultural issues. The cognitive dissonance generated by cultural differences can be a great tool for understanding if structured correctly. The implicit values of inclusion as well as the skills that build cultural competencies are based in interpersonal exchanges and a platform of respect for diversity. Being able to compare and contrast cultural viewpoints, and incorporate the deepening of language use and vocabulary through original and diverse texts is a way I see multiculturalism being used as a tool in the classroom.
One way to normalize multicultural inclusion is through interdisciplinary approaches to discipline specific inquiries. Utilizing interdisciplinary methods of instruction as a sub-strategy for multicultural principles in a good principle itself, as it takes focused and concerted effort. Building a narrative in history, for example, through literature, music, and culture is a way to bring other worldviews into the classroom without having them associated with a person in the group. Studying South Africa and Apartheid in this context would be very fruitful. Hopefully the skills gained could be then transferred to other historical events or to current cultural conflicts as a possible framework for drawing parallels.
This leads to the principal of cooperative learning. I believe that structuring lessons that rely on the participation of each member of the group towards an outcome shares the construction of knowledge and increases the ZPD. I plan to use exercises that will not only generate group interactions and utilize individual expertise, but also serve as community building activities. Practicing working with others in order to reach a goal greater than could be achieved alone reinforces negotiative social skills and emphasizes the power of shared experience. It also removes the idea that learning is best facilitated in isolation. It also removes the teacher as the authority figure and the intellectual source. Granted, cooperative learning must be carefully planned and does rely on a strong level of pre-assessment by the instructor, but its potential benefit in building interpersonal skills is paramount. The method itself should impress a way of learning that can be replicated by a student at will in future educational and social projects. This approach should promote a more self reliant and socially conscious awareness in the student and allow them to develop an identity as a teacher as well, not just as a passive learner. It is my hope that this approach would lessen erroneous competitive behaviors and encourage the recognition of the value of each individual’s success within the group. The goal would be to support positive interdependence. (Thousand, 1994, pg.2)
I have had a long history with working in multicultural groups and in fact did my first master’s degree in the field of international multicultural education. What was most notable in the process was the amount of work our classes had to do just confronting issues of their own group dynamics before being able to study another’s. The consequence of studying other culture’s communication dynamics is that you end up learning a tremendous amount about your own. Learning to deconstruct your own cultural assumptions and identify behaviors that you might culturally take for granted is a huge learning experience. It makes what has been invisible somewhat more tangible. Sometimes difference is merely based in behavioral perception, and emotional and social motivations are strangely similar. If you then move to learn about non-western cultures, it is somewhat easier to surrender your own communication needs for the sake of understanding others. In a way, it builds cultural literacy from a theoretical standpoint rather than from forms based only on language ability.
In relation to interdisciplinary approaches to learning, I am sure I learned more about history from being in the theatre then from my history class in high school. When I would have to play a character, I would have to research all the background information about his life and times as part of my preparation. My love of theatre served as my way into historical narratives and I still seek to understand historical actors, causality, and change over time though the arts. I know I will be using role-plays with my students and encouraging them to demonstrate their own knowledge through non-textual formats. I want to make sure that as many diverse viewpoints and voices are included in my lesson plans for social studies.
In our classroom, since it is both my students and mine, I would be focused on making the curriculum inclusive. I would bring in texts that challenge traditional dominant concepts of history. I would make the case that history should be viewed through the life experiences of all people, not those who may be perceived as the winners. Being that my students will be in American schools, I will work consistently redefining what being American means. I will stress global responsibility and social justice and encourage critical thinking. It is my belief that it is not enough for students to be aware of just their own nation. In preparing young people for the demands of an increasingly global worldview, they need to have a higher level of the need for social justice and equality, and they need to work with and understand cultures different from their own if they are going to find successful jobs and have meaningful careers. (Grabinger, 1995, pg.665)
“How far can society, and the institutions of society such as schools be pushed to accommodate the changing definition of American?” (Nieto, 1996, pg.336) This is a great question and one I feel strongly about. I think about nationalism and the concept of the open society and how the voices of all citizens, either naturalized or colonized add to the definition of American in a new global construct. The power of the US and its mythological presence can serve as a hindrance to those who do not feel honored in its history, so unpacking that history in an overt and proactive way seems crucial, not only from the stance of multicultural inclusion, but also as a way to appreciate the agency of each subgroup, dominant included. Being American, or the idea of American values in their essential form, may not be bound by geographic borders, but perhaps have applicability as more global egalitarian concepts. Devaluing American hegemony and replacing it with universal human rights seems to make sense to me. Making unequal treatment obvious and exploring its causes through the lens of history will hopefully help build resilience not only in my students but also in myself. As important as identifying discrepancies is the strategizing on how to make change. Doing this together will no doubt move my students forward and encourage them to become agents of change, not just for themselves but for others. The idea that young people have the ability to confront deep questions about life and their world resonates with my own beliefs. I want to encourage my students to think deeply about their own lives and the lives of others.
The environment we find ourselves in or create for our students is a crucial aspect in their ability to learn. In this way, as Thorndike suggests, “the classroom is a vast laboratory in which are made thousands of experiments of the utmost interest to “pure” psychology”. (Thorndike, 1910, pg. 12) Understanding that the study of educational psychology informs the field of psychology in general places a greater importance on the learning environment. In order to promote the most dynamic and inclusive conditions for learning a student’s environment needs to be filled with strategies that keep him or her engaged in problem solving and relevant psychosocial goals. There must exist a general exuberance for education and a direct link to usefulness in everyday life. The learning needs to be relevant in the present as well as in the future. This environment needs to be interactive, social, and diverse, focused on process and reflection through ongoing assessment, rather than mere testing of retention of facts. It also implies that the learning environment will have the recourses and expertise necessary to foster authentic intellectual inquiry though teachers with shared goals, and students with a willingness to engage. How can we frame and encourage the circumstances for such an environment?
The term I would coin for a conceptual educational philosophical reframing is inter-needed. Why is the concept of need necessary in this framework? For my purposes as an educator, I feel that the stakes need to be raised in the language we use when talking about the education process. Just as we need water and food to survive, we should need education. We should talk about it with the same fervor as with other basic human rights. Enforcing education as a human right is problematic at best. In a world where education is yet another limited commodity controlled through complicated structures of privilege and unequal systems of access, one person, one teacher, one student can seem impossibly insignificant. This sense of insignificance in the face of change or struggle creates fear. This fear then festers and further isolates the individual from the realization of potential and keeps perpetuating the unbalanced system. How do we as educators find our voice and how do help or students find theirs? How do we make the invisible tangible? How can I promote praxis in my classroom, in my school, and in my community?
Paulo Freire, my favorite educator, said, “Education is politics” in his work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. When I first read Freire’s writings about the process of education it changed how I thought about the role of education in society. Freire’s work in South America proved that change could happen through the work of teaching as activism. His example fueled my desire to work in multicultural and international education. I mention this not as a justification for my own political beliefs or as a way to align with someone I consider a genius, but for the purpose of anchoring my embryonic practice in a philosophic stream of thought. I see education as an overt form of political activism, however my activism as a teacher must be a fuel for my own sustenance not meant to be replicated in cause by my students. It is my hope that they will find their own issues to follow and perhaps add yet unknown struggles and insights to my own limited repertoire. After all, the focus of what I am studying is the student and what will help him or her attain self-actualization.
I want my class to be a place of depth and humor. I want my love of learning and culture and history to be infectious. I want to encourage passion for teaching in my peers and in my students. I plan to make learning vital, not obligatory. I want my students to know how much I value them and their opinions and how much trust I place upon them to make a difference in each other’s lives and in the world. I know that it will be my students who shape my growth as a teacher and I welcome them to inform not just my teacher identity, but my comprehensive identity as well. It is crucial to recognize that relationships that form between teachers and students are interdependent and reciprocal. By reciprocal I am making the claim that by mere human interaction there is an exchange of influence. This reciprocity is not always predictable, nor should it be. The sheer number of possible exchanges in the classroom through the lenses of culture is contingent upon a myriad of factors. These factors are fluid. It is this fluidity that presents the greatest challenge and the greatest sense of possibility in the educational domain. How can teachers help students make sense of the world around them? How can they construct an approach that can create insight and empowerment? Educators should move from a place of recognizing practical interconnectedness and political interdependency to a more psychosocial platform that emphasizes the emotional, psychological, and spiritual.
Bibliography:
Bruner, J. (1977). The Process of Education. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education. NY, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Grabinger, S. (1994). Rich Environments for Active Learning. Denver: UC-Denver.
Piaget, J. (2000). The Psychology of the Child. New York, New York: Basic Books.
Nieto, S. (1996). Affirming Diversity. New York: Longman Publishers.
Thorndike, E. (1910). The Contribution of Psychology to Education. The Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 5-12.
Thousand, J. A Villa and A. Nevin (Eds), (1994). Creativity and Collaborative Learning. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
