Philosophy of Education:

The Pinnacle of the Modern American Education System Alex Parker

Professor Olivia Williams ED-315-09 December 8, 2012 Figure 1: Analytical Framework Reflecting Todays School System
Personal opinion along with collaborations with (Tozer, S.E. et al, p. 372, p. 412)

Political Economy
Social inequalities: o Racial and ethnic o Gender o Social class Diversity across and within groups Effects of poverty and racism on families Income versus wealth differences

Ideology
Democracy Equal opportunity Bias o Social Class o Gender o Ethnic/Racial Pluralism

Schooling
Inequalities o Educational Resources o Educational Expectations Gender and Learning Differences Multicultural Education No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)

Works Cited

The events that have made up the course of this semester has completely changed and rebuilt my own perspectives on education in the United States. While reading through the various chapters and texts given for this class, I have been able to build and fully understand these perspectives that have come into my mind. Based on this statement, my essay will recollect these various beliefs and ideas that I have created in my mind and how they will be used as well as affect my future classroom and students, all the while also explaining my future goals in mind as a teacher at the secondary level of education. I will be splitting my statements into the five categories of Educational Policies, Students, Teachers and teaching, Administration, and Community in addition to a major focus on the analytical framework that was presented to us during the class periods. It is essential to study this framework as it describes the relationships between its three sections of schooling, political economy, and ideology (Tozer, S.E., Senese, G., & Violas, P.C., p. 11). After reviewing everything I have learned in this class over the course of this semester, I have created an analytical framework that will help describe many of my beliefs and values, but also many of the obstacles that I will certainly face down the road as a secondary education history teacher. Educational policies As I reviewed, read, and organized the materials presented to me during the course of this semester, my thoughts constantly came back to a certain subject pertaining to them, the roles of the schools themselves. In the distant past, schools were meant to educate boys of higher class society to be leaders and respectable citizens while the rest of the population of the surrounding area were more or less forced to accept them as such. A perfect example of

this was the Athenian Society (Tozer et al., p. 15). I know now that in todays modern world, our society has virtually shifted away from the past view of Meritocracy. I certainly have a solid belief that we are clearly headed in the correct direction into a new society where equal opportunity is available for all people, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or social class and so on. I take this based off of a perspective of an educator by the name of Cornell West**. His main point of the perspective is that all students should have an equal opportunity to a quality education that and it should be made available to all without regards to physical or economic status. He includes virtually every human being and puts them into the same position. Although Mr. Wests perspective is simple and to the point, it does not completely reflect the society in which we exist today. While the main ideology of equal opportunity for all students is very active and is very consistent with my own perspectives, the ideology of bias still exists. While not as widespread as it was in the past due to the beliefs of different societies, bias still limits the availability of quality education to some students, particularly ones of lower social class and minority groups. As an example, the interviewee of my Multicultural Interview, Rich Hughes, recalled during one of our non-recorded conversations that bias was strong during his high school years in Muskegon. He was fully aware of his Hispanic heritage and he further stated that even a couple of students ridiculed him for it (R. Hughes, personal communication, September 17, 2012). In retrospect, as long as bias exist in schools in one form or another, there are endless possibilities that can occur to block a student s way to gaining a quality education. I will not tolerate any such bias to exist in my classroom. By following Mr. Wests perspective as one of my guidelines, I will organize my classroom in such a way to eliminate any

problems and make sure that the environment is comfortable for each and every student. This can range from seating arrangements to activities that everyone can easily work on in groups. Students When it comes to teaching in any classroom, students should always be the first and foremost important priority for any teacher. The students that we teach are the essential future generations that will eventually take our own place within society. As such, it is the teachers primary responsibility, including my own, to help prepare these future adults for the road ahead of them. Following two important perspectives of an educator named Walter Fienburg, I have developed my own personal perspective on how to confront this challenge. Fienburg** explains that students need opportunities in which they can not only learn about themselves but of other people in virtually every point of view including race, social class, and religion. He states his position further by encouraging a pluralistic society through education. Simply put, it is more than appropriate for our students to learn about themselves as well as their own neighbors and classmates. In addition, they also will be learning how to co-exist with other human beings down the road in their own future lives. In order for my own future students to understand these vitally important perspectives, I will incorporate them directly into my own curriculum and assignments for my classroom. I want my students to know that there is more than one point of view when it comes to approaching just about any situation, specifically ones that can or will affect their own futures.

Teachers and Teaching The future teachers I try to recruit are those who have refused to let themselves be neutered in this way, either in their private lives or in the lives that they intend to lead in school. When they begin to teach, they come into their classrooms with a sense of affirmation of the goodness and the fullness of existence, with a sense of satisfaction in discovering the unexpected in their students, and with a longing to surprise the world, their kids, even themselves, with their capacity to leave each place they've been ... a better and more joyful place than it was when they entered it (Quotable Quote). This is the one quote that has motivated me the most to become a secondary education teacher. Coming from the very respectable Jonathan Cozol, he explains that the teachers he tries to find teachers that actually try their absolute hardest to unlock the fullest potential in all of their students while making the classroom as comfortable of a place as possible. I completely agree with this quote as it perfectly portrays his extreme determination to provide the best opportunity for all of his own students as possible as well as for himself. Using another of Kozols** perspectives, which says Teachers must play an active, supporting, and caring role for all students , I have formed another strong belief that I will be using in my own classroom. As a future teacher and as a role model, it is my personal mission to make sure that no student of mine is left behind. I will form a supporting relationship with each and every one of my students, letting them know that they are not alone in this world. I have to understand that each student has his or her own personal conflicts that they must deal and that they can range from just about anything. Being in poverty, family problems, or facing racial remarks are just a few examples of such conflicts. I will immediately show my support for any of my students if those conflicts come into contact

with my classroom. The classroom itself is a place of learning that needs a constant positive atmosphere. By showing my support for my students, I will make certain that the positive flow remains intact. However, in addition to conflicts, I also must be wary of the ones that I will encounter in my classroom personally. The biggest conflict that I will constantly be facing is following the guidelines and requirements set in place by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The main goal is to make sure between 90% and 100% of all students pass the proficiency standards set in place by the act and these are measured by standardized tests (No Child Left Behind Legislation and Policies). As much as this act tries to accommodate all students, standardized testing is not the way to helping students gain their respective educations. Simply stated, NCLB is not taking the correct approach at helping all students. I am not a teacher that merely teaches a few history facts to be answered on a standardized test, I am a teacher that has a purpose of helping students understand the past and help them shape their own futures. While any students success is critical, I want to teach them in such a way that they can use the lessons learned within my class in their own future decisions in life. Teaching isnt about just about learning past facts in a classroom to answer on a test; it helps students prepare for the whole world that lies ahead of them. Administration A classroom that students step into represents only a small portion of the opportunity that is available to them. The rest of the world outside of that classroom makes up the rest of that opportunity. It is vital to remember that the outside world is what students will deal with

for the rest of their lives. Thus being said, there is simply more than one environment in which students have the opportunity to learn new things that can help shape their future lives. I will take full advantage of these additional environments and immerse them into my curriculum for my students to partake in. I base my perspective of multiple learning environments off of the perspective created by the educator Nel Noddings. Noddings** created the educational theory in which it is said that there is an endless collection of encounters that students will come into contact with. Some are planned and some are not. She went further and made the idea that a students home is another site for these educational encounters and that schools should include these outside sites into their curriculums. Not only is she saying that classrooms should change the curriculum to accommodate these encounters, but whole school systems should do the same. In the case that even I develop a similar approach to learning as Noddings, I fully expect the administrators of my future school and classroom to have a similar viewpoint. Additionally, I expect the administration of my future classroom to accommodate brand new types of learning that are presented to them, as long as it remains logical and does not hamper students ability to learn. It should be noted that this should apply to any school as well. Lastly, it is r vital that outside of the classroom that other people should view and agree with my position, namely from the families of my future students. Community While it is vital that any teacher shows the most support they can for their students inside the classroom, it is also essential that there is an equal amount of support from the outside as well. All students need to have more than one support base just from a teacher they

have in school. Parents and/or other family members should show just as much support for their children to succeed. The key point is that our students are our future. They will be in our shoes one day and it is our generations responsibility to prepare them for their future. I based my perspective off of a perspective from one very talented educator. Michelle Rhee** created the perspective of family involvement. Its main basis is that having family involved encourages students and therefore will raise their academic performance. Students are at a time in their life in which they begin to become aware of their surroundings and they need as much positive support as they can muster. Families are critically important in the fact that while they are positively supporting their kids, they are also preserving their legacy onto their kids for the next generations to admire. Being positive is much more rewarding than being negative, even knowing the simple fact that your child went on to be successful due to your support. With that stated I will reach directly out to the parents of my future students and explain to them how important their support really is to their children. I will use a wide variety of materials and times to talk to each of the parents myself and show my enthusiasm for the education for my students. This will include handouts to the parents for the students to bring home, scheduling parent-teacher conferences, and holding a gathering at the start of the school year to meet with them. I want as many people involved as I can to give the best education possible to each and every one of my future students. Conclusion In retrospect, everything that I have learned from this class over the past three months has really opened up my eyes on not only my own future, but the future of the students that I

will have in my classroom in the coming years. By opening up my ears, reading the text and multimedia provided, and listening to my classmates ideas, I have created my own personal perspectives on what the American Education system should be. It is my crowning achievement to be a teacher that will help create a better learning experience for every student that comes into my classroom. No student shall be limited from an education as I will create an environment in which all can flourish without negative factors that can get in the way. I want all of my students to use the learning experience they have gained from my classroom and use it for their own future decisions while showing my upmost support for them to make those decisions on their own. I also expect that the families of my students also show the same support that I have shown, if not even at a greater extent. These students are the future of this great nation and I want them to be as educated as possible so they can unleash the potential that I know they have to take on the challenges that they will face.

Works Cited
Hughes, R. (2012, Sept. 22). Personal Interview. Meritocracy. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster. Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/meritocracy

No Child Left Behind Legislation and Policies (n.d.). In U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/guid/states/index.html "Quotable Quote." Quotes by Jonathan Kozol. Goodreads, 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/148660-the-future-teachers-i-try-to-recruit-arethose-show>. Tozer, S. E., Senese, G., & Violas, P. C. (2009). School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Educational Consultants Referenced **Feinburg, Walter. ED-315-09, Professor Olivia Williams. (Fall 2012) **Kozol, Jonathan. ED-315-09, Professor Olivia Williams. (Fall 2012) **Noddings, Nel. ED-315-09, Professor Olivia Williams. (Fall 2012) **Rhee, Michelle. ED-315-09, Professor Olivia Williams. (Fall 2012) **West, Cornell. ED-315-09, Professor Olivia Williams. (Fall 2012)