1.
Education
(Rousseau says, “…all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of
education.”)
a.
A father’s duty is to support and educate his
own children. (Rousseau: A man owes men to humanity and citizens to the state.)
i.
Tool: Teach them to talk slowly with a few
distinctly spoken, repeated words.
b.
Children are the future. (Beecher: “…unless our
children are trained to intelligence and virtue, the nation is ruined…”)
c.
Gratitude. (Antin: Not everyone has the chance
to go to school.)
d.
Obtained on own. (Mann: “All these necessaries
and conveniences of life should be obtained by each individual for himself.” I
think that education fits in that category. Teachers can present the knowledge
to the students, but it is up to them what they do with that knowledge.)
e.
Independence (Washington: “It is our duty to
help him prepare himself to live there an independent, educated citizen.”)
f.
Intelligence (Ravitch: the idea that the
essential purpose of schooling is to develop the powers of intelligence.”)
2.
Inspiration
a.
Discovery (Wolk: Help them learn and understand
things on their own.)
i.
Tool: Do hands on activities that make them be
involved and discover how things work on their own.
3.
Equality
a.
Biases based on appearance. (Perry: everyone has
these biases. As teachers biases should not be there.)
i.
Tool: students learn by example. If you want to
teach equality, then treat all students the same no matter what they look like
or what their social standing is.
b.
Separate but equal. (Brown: Giving everyone a
chance to go to school and putting them in situations that will help them learn
the best, like special education) (Plessy) (Brown)
c.
Everyone has opportunity to go to school.
(Jefferson)
d.
Self-respect (Du Bois: “In the history of nearly
all other races and peoples the doctrine preached at such crises has been that
manly self-respect is worth more than lands and house, and that a people who voluntarily
surrender such respect, or cease striving for it, are not worth civilizing”)
e.
Special Education (PL 94-142: “… assures all
handicapped children the right to a free appropriate public education.”)
i.
Tool: separate special students from main
classroom for certain subjects. I think that whether they are handicapped or
have above average intelligence, those students should receive special education
to help them grow to their own capacity. In this way gifted students won’t be
held back and regular students also won’t be held back.
4.
True
Learning
a.
Problem-posing (Freire: This method of teaching
encourages the students to think critically, to gain a deeper and better
understanding, and to really know what they have learned and not just have
facts memorized.)
i.
Tool: A way to teach this way is to not give
them worksheets, but to ask questions that will make them think, figure it out
on their own, and even give them more questions to ask. This could be done with
some sort of research project or even just a class discussion.
b.
Skills vs. Knowledge (Perry: A summary of a book
rather than an analysis primarily develops their typing skills rather than
their analytical thoughts.)
i.
Tool: Give assignments where they have to think
for themselves and not just regurgitate what someone else has said. Using one
of Perry’s examples, have them turn in an analysis of the book rather than a
summary. Also in an analysis don’t grade too harshly, they all think
differently and will come up with different ideas. I don’t think they should
all be exactly the same.
c.
Individuals find their own truth (Kierkegaard:
“one or another individual might return from this assemblage and become a
single individual.)
i.
Tool: After a lecture or even an assembly have
each person do a write-up of what they learned to be true.
d.
Knowledge (Erasmus: “All knowledge falls into
one of two divisions: the knowledge of “truths” and the knowledge of “words…”
e.
Continuous (Johnson: “...education is always an
unfinished task.”
5.
Experience
a.
Knowledge (Addams: She says that schools, “rest
upon the assumption that the ordinary experience of life is worth little…” but
this is not true.
i.
Tool: Have students keep a journal in which they
write about things that have happened to them and what they learned from those
times.
b.
Wide-Awake (Greene: Lacking
wide-awakeness…individuals are likely to drift, act on impulses of
expediency…To think about their condition in the world, to inquire into the
forces that appear to dominate them, to interpret the experiences they are
having day by day. Only then can they develop a sense of agency required for living
a moral life.)
6.
Nature
a.
Develop the inner capacity of the child, then to
produce isolated results by my actions. (Pestalozzi: His goal is to help them
develop who they are and learn in the way that works best for them rather than
pushing them to understand and them not ever fully understanding.) (Dewey: “The
child’s own instincts and powers furnish the material and give the starting
point for all education.”
i.
Tool: Taking the child back to the beginning
points of human knowledge and patiently working on those until the child
understands.
b.
World values (Plato)
c.
Consequences: (James: “Pragmatists are
interested in practical, concrete consequences of our actions…does it matter?
Will I ever use this?”)
d.
Determined by needs (Cardinal Principles: “Secondary
education should be determined by the needs of the society to be served, the
character of the individuals to be educated and the knowledge of educational theory
and practice available.”
7.
Pragmatism:
method of settling metaphysical disputes that otherwise might be interminable.
a.
Different views for every situation. (James)
8.
Reformation
a.
Teachers (Anyon: “…teachers are perhaps the most
important element, because it is they on whom change ultimately depends.”)
b.
Self-examination (Anyon: “…examine and change
own behavior.” Instead of blaming the schools, or the teachers, or the
students. I think everyone can change to help learning better.)
c.
Basic Purposes (Nation at Risk: “Our society and
its educational institution seem to have lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling,
and of the high expectation and disciplined effort to attain them.”
