Education is a Road/ What I Learned in EDU 100

One thing I will take away from this class that I didn’t have before is the knowledge of all the different types of education that are available in the world today. Not only are there different teaching styles and theories as to what is the best way to provide an education, but there are also schools that teach in completely different ways the public schools I knew growing up. I wasn’t aware of the diversity in the educating process before this class, and I think that is something very important to know about when making the decision to become a teacher. Another great thing I learned from this class was about all the issues with public education today. I wasn’t aware of all the ways people have thought of to better education, and I think these are very important to know as well, because they may be the new ways of teaching in the future. I think one of the most important things I will take away from this class is what I learned during my time observing a classroom. Watching an elementary school teacher gave me a real idea of what teaching is like as a career, and working with children gave me a chance to see what my strengths and weaknesses are in this field. This experience really opened my eyes to what being a teacher is like, and made me more confident in my decision to teach.

Education is like a road. It can take you anywhere you want to go, if you’re willing to take the time to travel down it. There are roads that lead to many different places, and education can similarly take you to so many different careers, experiences, lifestyles, etc… Education can be a very smooth and easy road for some students, while other may have a bumpy road and struggle through parts of their education. However, while everyone’s road is different, they all learn from their travels, and everyone has the ability to get to their destination. Some people know where their road is going to take them, and they succeed by sticking to their planned path. However others can be equally successful by changing their course and discovering what they want along the way. Teachers in this sense are like maps or signs, guiding students in the right direction along their journey. It is ultimately the student’s choice whether they want to heed the advice and direction given by teachers, or whether they want to pave their own path, but teachers are there to make the road a little smoother.

What do Teachers Need to Know about Religion in Public Schools?

There’s a lot of private religious activity allowed in and about public schools by the Constitution. One right of a student is that they are allowed to pray in groups or on their own. They are also allowed to discuss their religion or their view on religion as long as they’re not disturbing others. They can say grace before a meal or even read the Bible or other religious writings. Public schools cannot teach religion to their students, but they can teach the history of religion, how some events were caused because of religion and by people with religious intentions like the Pilgrims coming to America. When it comes to theories about how life started on Earth, religious views are allowed to be taught in social studies or comparative religion class, but it is not allowed to be taught in science classes. Only scientific theories are allowed to be taught about life starting on Earth. Another right of students’ religion in public school is the right to express their religion in the form of art, projects, and even homework. This right is protected under the Constitution and teachers cannot refuse or correct these kinds of expressions merely because they include a religious symbol or address religious themes. Students are also allowed to pass out religious literature to their classmates, but outsiders are not allowed to pass out religious or antireligious material to students. Before or after school activities are allowed, but any school official participating in such an event is not allowed to encourage or discourage participation in the event. Teachers are allowed to stop religious speech if it has become harassment that is aimed at a small group or a single student. Religious persuasion, however, is entirely permissible. I personally believe that these rights of students and their religion are how they should be.

 

https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/religion-and-schools
http://www.freedomforum.org/publications/first/findingcommonground/B06.TeachersGuide.pdf
http://www.aclu-tn.org/pdfs/briefer_religion_in_public_schools.pdf

Garlough Environmental Magnet School: An Environmental Education Elementary School

              After learning about place based education and learning through experience, I was interested in finding out what a school based in this type of learning is like. After researching environmental elementary schools, one in particular stuck out to me. This school is called the Garlough Environmental Magnet School, and it is located in West St. Paul, MN. This school stuck out to me, particularly because it located across the street from a 320 acre Nature Center, called the Dodge Nature Center. The school uses this area regularly as an outdoor classroom, as a way to teach children about the environment.
           Another reason I found this school very interesting is that they focus a lot on hands on learning, and learning through experience, which is a big part of place based education. The school website lists that they study things such as "counting and sorting leaves, measuring rainfall, and restoring prairie grasslands." I think that this type of learning is great for producing environmentally aware children, which is very important for the future. These are the kind of people we will need in the future to think critically about issues in the world and having this awareness from such a young age will certainly help them to solve many problems in the future.
                     I also think this kind of education is important because it helps children feel connected to the world around them, which changes their concept of education. When they feel that what they are learning actually matters, and they know that it will make a difference in their future, then education becomes important to them. I believe that we need more schools that teach in this way, to help children get more involved in their own education.

http://www.garlough.isd197.org/about/OurSchool



John Dewey and Experimentalism vs. the Banking Concept

       John Dewey was an educator and philosopher, who was a leader of educational reform. He was born in Burlington, Vermont in 1859. He exceled in public schools as a child, and went to the University of Vermont when he was only 15 to study philosophy. He taught for many years and later went on to study psychology at Johns Hopkins University. After this he became a professor at several different universities, all while continuing to develop his educational philosophy and promote educational reform.
       John Dewey's philosophy is known as experimentalism, which centers around the experiences of humans, and improving the human experience through experimentation. For his educational philosophy, this meant that he believed people should learn through experience, and that students should play a part in their education. This stands in stark contrast to the banking concept of education, which states that, "the scope of action allowed to the students extends only as far as receiving, filling, and storing the deposits," the deposits being whatever is told to them by the teacher. In fact, Dewey's philosophy was the exact opposite of the baking concept. He believed that students should take part in their learning by interacting with the curriculum, and that school was a place to learn how to live rather than just a place to gain knowledge about facts and skills. He was also a strong believer in the power of schools to produce social change.
       Dewey interested me because I think his concept of education is one that we can really learn from, and I think schools would do well to incorporate his ideas. I don't think that education should be the process of merely memorizing facts for a test, but rather an experience where you learn how to use your strengths and potential to help you for the rest of your life. School should make students aware of their world, and help them to think critically and solve problems, because these are skills that if they are developed, will be useful to students for their entire lives.

 

http://www.biography.com/people/john-dewey-9273497#awesm=~oAO57KSIaLuaaS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey#On_education

http://www.iep.utm.edu/dewey/