Personal Respons Paper - Educational Philosophy

Just finished this college paper as an introductory to my philosophy of education class. I was required to write about what I believe truth is; if I believe we can discover truth; and how I view education, the role of the student, and the role of the teacher. This is what I came up with. (If the spacing on this is wrong, I apologize. Just copied and posted it from my Word document). :^)

Kandy

Personal Response: Educational Philosophy

Kandy Crosby-Hastings

The Bible teaches that there is an absolute right and an absolute wrong – an

absolute truth and an absolute falsity. There is no such thing as a “little white lie.” I

left a “good job” just a couple of years ago because this employer encouraged the telling

of “little white lies” for the good of the company. To me, this was not ethical at all.

Satan is the father of lies. As children of God, we should strive for absolute truth.

I definitely believe we can know the truth. When we search the Scriptures, we

will find the truth. This truth is found in God’s Word alone. The world today, society at

large, tries to tell us truth is relative to each individual circumstance. This relativism,

however, is not found in the Bible, the source of all truth. The only instances that I can

find in the Bible that would hint at a relativistic worldview is (1) David eating the

showbread reserved for priests and (2) Jesus healing on the Sabbath. However, these

instances are directed at legalism, not as a question about absolute truth. These

examples, however, should reveal to us, as Christians, how careful we must be in

examining truth and falsehood. There is a fine line between legalism and truth, between

relativism and falsity.

I believe the best way to present the truth is by example. Many others believe

the best way to present the truth is by teaching and preaching. In actuality, in today’s

society, preaching achieves the opposite effect of the result we desire. When we demand

that others accept what they deem as “our way,” they will simply tune out our message,

regardless of its validity. When I think of presenting truth, I think of Jesus’ example.

Jesus did not stand on the street corner and condemn passersby. He called people to

Himself, reminding the legalistic religious leaders that none of them were sin-free

therefore they should not judge others.

Leading by example is especially important when teaching the truth to children.

All too often, Christian educators take the position that they have to drill truth into young

children in order to drive foolishness away. What educators do not realize is that

sometimes strict methods turn children away from the truth. I remember one of my

friends telling me, when she enrolled her son in a Christian preschool, that she hoped

nothing would happen at the school that would eventually turn him away from Christ.

The bad thing is that with many Christian schools who practice strictness and traditional

education (even to the point of corporal punishment in some schools), this is actually a

valid concern. Is this truly the attitude Christ would have us, as Christian educators, to

maintain? A much more effective method of presentation of the truth is to lead the

children gently into the truth by modelling and being willing to answer even the most

insignificant questions that children may have.

I believe the best educational process, if the reader has not guessed by now,

should focus on how the individual students learn best. Education is not all about what

the teacher feels the student should learn by a certain point in time or “grade level.”

Education is about teaching students to learn by following their own interests and God-

given talents. Each individual student’s learning style should be taken into account. Not

every student learns best in a traditional school setting. Some students learn better in a

less structured, more natural setting. The goal of education should not be to make all

students into traditional learners. The goal of education should be to nurture each

student’s abilities and interests. God created our creativity. Should this creativity be

sacrificed on the altar of man-made conformity? I would dare say it should not. I believe

the educational process in place in most public schools (and most Christian schools),

unfortunately, honors conformity over creativity.

I believe the role of the school needs to change. Due to No Child Left Behind,

schools are serving the role of force-feeders of so-called important knowledge. Schools

force-feed students information in hope that these children will be able to regurgitate

the information well enough to receive above-average scores on standardized tests. The

result of this system is schools full of children who are not only stressed but who

memorize “facts” simply long enough to pass a test. Instead of this testing focus, schools

should be allowed to nurture children’s God-given interests and curiosity in ways that are

most condusive to true learning.

I believe people should learn what they are interested in. As crazy as it sounds,

everything will eventually fall into place. I can say this from experience. When we first

began homeschooling, our now six-year old son, Taliesin, was three years old. I began

teaching him using traditional, teacher-directed methods. These methods only caused

frustration for my son. It was then that I discovered Home Education Magazine and

child-directed learning. Many have questioned my methods. What will children

learn if they only learn what they are interested in? What many do not realize is

children are natural learners if we allow them to be. Allowing children to explore

will naturally lead to one learning opportunity after another. And, yes, children do have a

natural curiosity about spiritual matters as well. Jesus instructed His disciples to stop

forbidding the children and to allow them to come to Him. The children had an inner

desire for spiritual things – a part of being created in the image of God, who is Spirit.

I have found this is true of both of my sons. They both yearn to learn more and more

about God if I give them opportunities to ask questions. A good example is, again,

with Taliesin. A few months ago, he had questions about why people take communion.

We had just studied the story of Jesus’ last supper, crucifixion, and resurrection using

Resurrection Eggs (one of both of my sons’ favorite manipulatives). We discussed why

the importance of communion; and he also wanted to take part. I asked him if he believes

that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. He said he did. I explained to him

that only people who have Jesus come into their hearts are allowed to take communion,

because it reminds us of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for us. He understood. Now each

week before church, I ask Taliesin if he wants to take communion with the church or not.

If he answers yes, I always ask him why we take communion; and he answers. Likewise,

my four-year old son, Nathanael, loves reading about the creation story and has many

questions about sin. I always am willing to answer any questions he has, no matter how

many times he has asked them and had them answered before.

My conclusion, therefore, is that students should learn what they are interested in

in ways that are natural for them to learn by. All else will fall into place naturally. To

prove this point, for a college class last year, I was required to write about the curriculum

standards for the state of Kansas. If Taliesin were in the public school system, this year

he would have started kindergarten; therefore I chose to conduct my research over

curriculum standards for kindergarten. I found that with Taliesin, we had already

covered every concept public schools teach in kindergarten except for graphs. Of course,

when I inquired of Taliesin and Nathanael (my younger son) if they wanted to study

graphs, they overwhelmingly decided to. So we made a homemade volcano and a

homemade geyser and graphed with stickers on a large piece of brown paper sack paper

which one shot higher. Plus, we had covered a lot more that public schools,

unfortunately, deem unnecessary – concepts of art and music, which are usually a part of

our daily activities.

I believe the role of a teacher should be that of a facilitator. I believe a teacher

should provide guidance, should answer any questions the students may have, and should

be there to provide ideas and to introduce concepts. A teacher should not try to force or

coerce a student into being something (s)he is not ready for.

The role of the student should be as that of a natural learner. I am a firm

believer that children are born natural learners. They remain natural learners until they

reach kindergarten when teachers teach them that their creativity does not matter,

that the only thing that does matter is what the teacher thinks and teaches. The following

poem epitomizes what I believe about why the traditional role of teacher and student

leads to students who cannot think for themselves:

( found at http://home.bresnan.net/~cabreras/theboy.htm).

I'm a Licensed Childcare Provider!

Well, today was an exciting day. I not only had my house inspection for the daycare but also recieved my temporary childcare permit in the mail. Now that I've passed the house inspection, my regular license will come at any time! I'm so excited! Now to start advertising. :^)

Kandy

What we've been doing

Playing dressup

Computer Art

Fairy Muffins

At the Park

Being Beavers, Making Dams

Babies have to Keep Clean

Unschooling

Kandy

Trying to Keep Up

It's been awhile since I've posted. Just trying to keep up with everything. This is my final week of the two college classes I've been working on - this, of course, means two research papers due by Sunday. Tuesday is my house inspection for the daycare. Just finished with the fire inspection this week and have been conducting my twelve and a half hours of daycare observations I need for my license. In between, we've been having fun just learning from all the new opportunities.

But I will be posting more - eventually.... LOL. Naw, it should not be too long from now that I'll be posting more fun activities and pictures.

Kandy

Education Assignment - Lesson Plans (or lack thereof)

This week, this unschooler was required to write about why I feel lesson plans are necessary for good classroom management. Ha! Ha! Ha! No, I seriously had to write about this. Yes, I know it goes totally against my educational philosophy. So here's what I wrote. :^)

I have read the textbook and can understand why its authors consider lesson plans an important part of the day. Public schools have to focus so much on testing, it is important that both the teacher and the students stay on task. If the students know what is expected of them through organized lesson plans, they will perform and behave much better. Also, if the teacher appears more organized, the students will follow his/her example and be organized also in their learning. The textbook authors feel that even student-directed activities should be organized through lesson plans. (My question about this is, honestly, how is that truly student-directed if the teacher has the assignments planned out? The activities may be hands-on, yes; but student-directed, no). I can understand that if structured schools of any kind - be it teacher-directed or the authors' definition of student-directed - do not focus on the tasks at hand, they will not pass the standardized tests that will be necessary for the school's success. If the teachers have a specific plan, they will be able to accomplish more in the lessons because there will be fewer distractions from the students.
As the textbook also points out, the way the lesson plan is developed should aid in classroom management. For instance, if a lesson captures the students' attention at the beginning of class, the students will be motivated to learn what the teacher is teaching. The teacher must keep that attention throughout the lesson in order to keep the students motivated. The lesson must be paced correctly so that the students do not become bored with the lessons and act out on that bordom. The teacher should not jump randomly from one idea to the next. Such jumping will break the students' concentration, thus also resulting in poor behavior due to not understanding the lesson. At the end of the lesson, the teacher should point out that the lesson is nearing an end. This, in my opinion, allows the students to relax a little and recap in their own minds the information that was taught. The lesson should end in a way that will allow the students to move smoothly to the next class (and possibly the next teacher, depending on the grade) with little or no interruption. This will result in better behavior during the next presentation, because the teacher is better prepared. (I believe, however, that this turns the lesson into a speech rather than a teaching).
Now that all of this is said, I would like to give my opinion. As I stated in the first paragraph, true student-directed learning is not planned out days in advance. It is directed by the students. The teacher can have a basic idea of what (s)he would like to cover; but it is covered by initiation from the students. People say that this cannot be done. Trust me, it can. I do it everyday. I know of several others (even one that worked in a Christian school setting) that follow this exact lead. And any "lesson" can be modified to teach anything. I can give several good examples that only require thinking one step ahead. Just a few days ago, Taliesin (my six-year old) requested that we play musical instruments (something that is all too often put on the back burner in many schools in favor of language arts and math). So we got out the percussion instruments and began playing. This led us to putting music to stories to add excitement to the stories (Taliesin's idea, but incorporating creativity [music] with language arts [stories]). And the story Taliesin chose was perfect for percussion instruments. We read The Lion King. This type of student-directed learning using music and reading would have gone on and on had a neighbor girl not come over to play. But play is also much more important that schools all too often realize. The day after this, we spent most of the day outside, planting a garden, talking about the seeds we were planting and the insects we were findng underground, playing and running. But my sons were learning - without a lesson plan. They were learning by following their own creativity and imagination.
Now most of the comments that I receive when I write something like this is this type of un-structure may work for a homeschool environment, but not for a classroom environment. Nothing could be farther from the truth. If a teacher comes to the classroom willing to allow the students to learn rather than intent upon teaching them; amazing things will happen. First of all, students will enjoy learning. They will not need motivation to keep them interested during something they really do not want to learn. This will result in better classroom management. For instance, say the curriculum requires that students learn how to multiply fractions. The teacher could use a suggestion in the textbook and have various stations set up. There could be a visual learning station with traditional workbooks. There could be a hands-on learning station with manipulatives (beans work especially well with fractions). There could be computers with learning games with headsets for auditory learners. There could even be an art station in which the students could draw or paint using measurements that are determined through multiplying fractions (using geometric concepts). The teacher allows the students to go to whichever station they wish to go to. The teacher acts as the facilitator rather than as a lecturer. If the students have any questions, they can ask the teacher (or a peer). Each student is learning in the way that is best for him/her. After the students have tired of whatever tool they have chosen to learn through (this will vary with each students), they can choose some other type of learning activity - be it sustained silent reading, a play-based activity (which, again, I do believe is important for all ages), or some other activity that will engage the interest of the students. If the students are required to do a language arts assignment, art and music can be incorporated very easily - making the assignment much more enjoyable for the students. Again, for those students who are traditional learners (like I, personally, am); traditional methods should be made available. Lessons can be taken outside. There is just something about being in the sunshine that nurtures learning. Going outside should be impromptu. Are the students especially restless on a nice spring or fall day? Take it outside. This requires no lesson plan. Lesson plans can stifle the creativity of the students. Who would not misbehave if what is being taught is boring? I honestly feel that the less the teacher relies on a specific lesson plan and the more (s)he relies on the interests of the students; the better off the teacher and class will be. Children are natural learners. They are just taught all throughout their lives that they have to be taught what the teacher thinks is important. In my opinion, a lack of lesson plans and more reliability on the students themselves will result in much better classroom management (not to mention more learning).

God bless.

Kandy

My Little Dance Star

Tonight was Taliesin's big night! He danced his little heart out at his first dance recital. It was awesome. One thing I love about Taliesin's and Nathanael's dance studio is when they do a recital, they make it an event, a performance spectacular! And tonight's event was sold out. There were nearly 250 people there this evening watching. Taliesin is so proud of himself - but I am even more proud of him! He remembered his steps and smiled while he did it. He's all ready for next year's recital. He is actually requesting to take both dance classes and a dance camp this summer. And he's wanting to start jazz. This year, he took ballet and tap, which he will continue with as well. The theater does not allow pictures to be taken of the performances, but I do have some fun videos from the dress rehearsal. I will see if I can figure out how to get those posted. :^)

Kandy

Happy May Day!

The Preparation

The Product

The Delivery

Kandy