How progressivism can be utilized within curriculum

. Introduction (include a definition of curriculum based on the literature – cite accordingly)

Progressivism is a philosophy based on preparing students for a much more difficult and competitive global environment. Espoused by award winning psychologist John Dewey in 1938, this concept of education attempts to avoid much of the impractical theory that pervades current education curriculum. It also advocates for continual learning on the part of the instructor as to keep their skills up to date in order to properly instruct students about real world applications. This is my opinion is the more preferrable approach as it best prepares students for active participation in a globalized world. Likewise, as technology continues to permeate throughout the world, it is critical for students to develop strong critical thinking skills that continually challenge the status quo. This is important for a number of reasons. First, technology is predicated on rapid change. As it permeates the entire world, the industries in which it interacts with are therefore subject to large amounts of change. Industries once thought untouchable such as banking and retail are now being challenged ration dramatically be technology. It is therefore important to teach students the latest critical thinking skills as oppose to theory that might be obsolete in just a few years. The antiquated teaching methods and curriculum, are in my opinion, serving to harm the competitive position of the United States relative to the world. For one, a large number of students are graduating with degrees that are neither demanded or needed by society in any large scale. Disciplines with degrees such as Dance, Psychology, Creative Writing, History, Archeology, and Anthropology are not in very high demand by society. All these disciplines are needed to a certain extent, many of these disciplines simply are not needed in the relation of the number of people graduating with these degrees. In addition, many of these graduates end up working in fields completely different than their degree discipline. Saddled with debt, a useless degree, a very slim job prospects, society ultimately suffers. These can not be completely erased with progressivism but they can be mitigated by providing students with a honesty and real-world perspective of life and skill applications. With functional expertise, students can then be better prepared to properly matriculate into society in a manner that not only benefits the student but society overall (Flinders, 2013).

2. (Your) Educational Philosophy (label it according to one of those discussed in Ornstein and Hunkins text)

My educational philosophy is predicated on three key tenets with directly correlate to the principles of progressivism. First and arguable most importantly, students must take ownership of their learning experience. They should be empowered to speak up and engage with both the instructor and school leadership. Students should look to help improve the overall learning experience by providing constructive criticism when needed. In addition, students must look to engage with the education material in a manner that is beneficial for the them. With progressivism, the learning will be based on practical outcomes. As a result, students can not get by simply be memorizing formulas or theories. Instead, they must engage with peers, make mistakes, learn from the mistakes and be much more hands-on in their learning. Admittedly this may not work for all students, but it provides a much more comprehensive approach to learning with direct ramifications for the student’s future. As such, the student must take ownership of their experience and cater to their vision of the future. This future vision can change, but they must be willing to continue to engage wit the curriculum. Second, teachers must be engaged and use data-driven instruction to help support the learning of students. This ultimately provides a cooperative relation with both students and teachers that ultimately results in shared outcomes for both parties. Finally, leaders must continually facilitate push the overall classroom to achieve higher and higher standards (Higgins, 2009).

3. (Your) Curriculum Perspective

My curriculum perspective is much more experiential, as advocated by John Dewey in 1938. As discussed above the experiential perspective is arguable the best approach as it properly prepares students for a future predicated on skills, innovation, creativity and critical thinking. John Dewey in his initially created his perspective based heavily on inquiry and projects. Here, the basis for education is based on a curiosity that is predicated on the student’s passion for a particular subject. This unique as curriculum can be developed that looks to leverage a student’s passion through activities that are based in the real world. Traditional, students are not as engaged as they are often handed a set of facts and are expected to memorize a certain set of facts. Through my curriculum perspective these issues will be exchanged for much more effective methods predicated on practical learning. The approach should therefore be based on open-ended questions which look to guide students towards a path of exploration and discovery rather than a path of memorization. Here, the teacher functions as not only an instructor but also as a facilitator, coach, and observer. Here the instructor rarely provided the “right answer” but aids students in discovery what they believe the right answer is to them. These students then discuss with each the appropriate methods or observations to arrive at the correct answer. Here, a much more comprehensive approach is utilized. It allows the student to learn from their mistakes along with the learning of others. It also allows for each student to grow through hearing varying prospective that they might not have otherwise known. This is critical as it allows each student to learn from each other as oppose to memorizing textbook theory that may not be applicable to the given problem. This is important in the coming technological revolution as it is important to develop critical thinking skills. From a curriculum perspective, critical thinking skills are very important elements to master. For one, critical thinking skills allow students to apply their knowledge in a way the furthers the learnings of their particular profession. All too often, students simply regurgitate information that has been provided to them without regard to the meaning of the information. Through critical thinking, students can challenge the status quo and further the learning of the profession through the own research and inquiry. This not only benefits the individual but society as a whole (Gutek, 2014).

4. District/School Approach to Curriculum

The district and schools I am familiar with heavily utilize the constructivism approach towards education. Here constructivism is based on the premise that students leverage their own past experiences when it comes to learning. This is important as students must leverage their skills in a real-world environment. Traditional teaching curriculum focus almost exclusively on memorization. This is often done to teach to a certain standardized test which is used to evaluate both the student and the school. This is exacerbated by school funding programs which are predicated on overall school performance on standardized tests. As a result, teachers often teach towards the test as oppose to teaching towards comprehension and retention. This creates a conundrum of sorts as teachers are essentially depriving students of the real-world applications that are needed for success in the real world. Instead, they are replacing these applications with memorization that does nothing for the student expect for their scores. In addition, constructivism can be very dangerous as it is based heavily on past experience. This past experience can be very negative further contributing to negative outcomes for a student who relies on them (Graham, 2007).