I will discuss the scenario of Wayne who is teaching at an inner-city school. Although Wayne is spending a lot of time on content, he is noticing that the class has developed into two groups: the first is motivated but results focussed, the second is not engaged.
Theme 1: Two Groups of Students.
There may be various reasons for the two groups of students.
Inner-city areas that have experienced a return of professionals ("gentrification") may have two demographic school groups: professional families, often with two working parents, with high expectations of the children, and non-professional families that do not value education as highly. Connell (1982) argues that when school and parents connect, then students do well. Wayne may be seeing motivated students that are the result of the school and their professional parents connecting, while the unmotivated students are the result of a lack of connection between school and parents.
Demographics may not be the only reason for the two groups of students. The unengaged group of students may be the result of the extension of compulsory schooling in Australia and the raising of the school leaving age. The unengaged students are simply not interested in the schooling and curriculum on offer. Proponents of curricular justice (for example, Connell 1992) would suggest that as education is a right, then social justice is required to make the curriculum appropriate to the marginalized students.
Finally, due to the increasing emphasis on the economic role of education, Wayne may be seeing one group of students who see some economic value in good results (but necessarily deep learning) and the other group do not see any economic incentive to perform in his classes.
Theme 2: Teaching Content
Wayne's reaction to the motivated group pushing him intellectually has been to concentrate on content. This is consistent with the view of the teacher as a scholar, a view held from Confucius and early Greece. Shulman has demonstrated the need for pedagogy in education; content is only one aspect of a teacher's professional knowledge.
The work of Dewey suggests that learning by inquiry, the constructivist approach of building knowledge, not just absorbing it, would both engage the unengaged students and encourage the motivated students to strive for deeper learning. The students are not just empty vessels waiting to be filled (Locke) but need to be first understood and then motivated.
Wayne may be concentrating on content due to his personal fears of being exposed as not the "all-knowing" teacher. He may also be concentrating on content in response to the pressure to cover all content in the curriculum. This approach of transmission pedagogy (Neilsen 1989) may then be influencing his students - promoting results-oriented learning or turning students away from learning. The ideas of critical thinking may encourage the motivated students to be less results focussed.
The provocation "Should we teach students or subjects?" asks the question about the balance between student learning and content teaching. Also the provocation "What will students want and need from me?" touches on the issues of students needing motivation and engagement, not just content.
Theme 3: Professional Reflection
Wayne is starting to reflect on his classroom experiences. Reflection is a key aspect of the idea of teaching as a profession in the provocation "Is teaching a profession or a trade?". Moore discusses the reflective practitioner.
It may be that Wayne is a fairly new teacher who is moving from graduate teacher to the accomplished teacher. As he matures and gains confidence in himself as a teacher (confidence in content and classroom management) he may be asking questions on the learning outcomes of his classroom. Such reflections are necessary for Wayne to continue to develop his teacher identity.
John ,Well done, a great beginning. I like the way you have constructed your post using a number of key ideas.You may want to consider what each group in the school values in education, and the philosophical position of this, do they want something different from education. Also, considering the location and architecture what was the historical purpose of the school?
ReplyDeleteI like the connections you made between the background of the students and their performance at school; you have explored so many different factors as to why Wayne’s students could be falling into these two categories. It appears that Wayne philosophy of education is somehow out of step with the results that he is seeing. He wants his students to engage with what he is teaching at a deep level, which neither group are really doing. This said, I’m finding it difficult to work out which philosophy of education Wayne is influenced by. He is very content driven, which points me to Idealist or Realist approaches (Phil’s Lecture: Philosophical Foundations). However, Wayne doesn't appear to be focused on measuring or ranking his students, it’s not just about rote learning and knowing the facts. Instead, he wants them to engage deeply with the content. This is seen clearly by his dissatisfaction with the motivated group in his class. Instead of spending so much time focusing on content, it could be helpful for Wayne to reflect on his pedagogy and explore how he is teaching, which philosophy of education he is being influenced by and what he sees as the purpose of education. He could also consider the Progressive philosophy of education, which is much more student focused rather than content driven (Kaplan).
ReplyDeleteJohn the raises important question of what would motivate the students. Dewey's approach undoubtedly has merit -- it is one I have used myself when teaching -- but I have the nagging doubt of whether it works if there isn't some motivation to begin with. The mind may be a flame to be kindled [who said that originally?], but is there really any guaranteed way to start the fire? This may be where "teach the student" becomes important. If you really understand the student's mind, perhaps you can understand what would make the student interested in the subject, and what the best path is from where the student is right now to where you as the teacher want him or her to go.
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