Nicole Cross

My Pedagogy of Education
June 2014








Abstract
Students have the ability to change society. Teachers have the responsibility to help
facilitate change through the classroom and bring about social reform and activism. Change
begins through a strong classroom community that communicates deep caring, a genuine love of
learning, and the ability for students and parents to advocate for themselves and their futures. A
love of learning can be cultivated through example, interests, purposefulness, and community of
sharing.
My Pedagogy of Education
I believe students have to learn to think critically and creatively. Students must learn to
think critically and creatively to prepare for the future. As stated by John Dewey (1897), . . .[I]t
is impossible to foretell definitely just what civilization will be twenty years from now. Hence it
is impossible to prepare the child for any precise set of conditions. To prepare him for the future
life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full
and ready use of all his capacities, that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command,
that his judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the
executive forces be trained to act economically and efficiently. Deweys words sound as if they
were written today. Although technology is important for students to interact with because that is
their world, it should not be the only focus because those tools will look completely different 20
years forward. Teachers must focus on teaching higher order thinking skills that can apply to
whatever the future holds.
I believe students must learn to be advocates for their own education. I believe families
must also learn to be advocates for themselves and their children. As Henderson and Berla
(1994) report, partnership between family and teacher benefits students through more positive
attitudes in school, improved academic achievement, better behavior in the classroom, higher
rates of work completion, increased participation in classroom activities, and even better
attendance. At the preschool and kindergarten level I have taught, family engagement and
advocacy is essential. In my experience there has been a direct correlation between parent
engagement and achievement. Many family members who were involved in my preschool
classroom decided to make decisions such as taking English classes or attending community
college to create better lives for their families. They also came to the classroom and learned basic
skills such as how to speak with their children, make interactions educational, and experienced
that education could be a positive experience. Families also learned what teachers who were
worked hard for their children looked like and how to advocate for their child in the future when
something did not seem right in the classroom. Few families at my current school have that sense
of empowerment in their childs education. The school I work at makes it difficult for parents to
feel welcome into the classroom. Students are taught to respect their teachers no matter what
versus the advocacy the families at the preschool began to understand. Next year I plan to make
family engagement a focal point on the classroom. Families deserve to understand what is
possible for their child and themselves. I aim to do this through family days set up after school or
on Saturdays, as well as more frequent newsletters translated to Spanish, and an increase in
family engagement through offering tasks that highlight families cultures. When parents are able
to advocate for their children, children will be more apt to be capable of advocating for
themselves as they get older.
I believe students should be motivated intrinsically to learn rather than engulfed in
extrinsic motivators that deter intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators deter intrinsic
motivation. Intrinsic motivation can be fostered through example, meaningful tasks, providing
more choice, and ensure tasks are optimally challenging (Deci, Koestner, Ryan 2001). When
teaching Headstart no external motivators were allowed. This allowed me to move away from
stickers and behavior charts I had been encouraged to use in my past field placements. Positive
behavior support works. When students are able to understand why their actions have a negative
impact on others in the classroom community they began to think for themselves and treat others
in a way they would like to be treated. Children are born with a love of learning and the restraints
of school, behavior charts, positive reinforcement are things that take away from that. In my
current classroom although initially pressured, I do not have a color system, nor do I offer
stickers or a treasure box for rewards for behavioral or academic goals. Students follow our
classroom rules because they care about their community. Students learn because they want to
make their brains smarter and have a genuine interest for the world around them. Students say
things like, I wonder why bees sting? and then run to our classroom library to see if they can
find any research about their question or ask me if they can use the internet for some research.
When they find the information they may take notes, tell classmates, or even choose to make a
presentation on what their discovery. When students learn something new they cannot wait to
share their knowledge or accomplishment with others. When a student who was struggling with
counting all year made it to 20, students felt genuine excitement for the student. The class
clapped and many students approached the child and said, Congratulations JC. You can count to
20 now! Perhaps this is a reward but I prefer to call it a celebration made in deep caring. This
was student founded. Students care about each other and thus rejoice in each others
accomplishments just as any caring family would. Students do not work just to get people to say
congratulations and they certainly do not learn because they want to get a prize out of the toy box
or a sticker. If students can instill this within themselves now, I believe they can accomplish
much in life as learners always yearning to further their knowledge.
I believe students must learn how to be effective communicators through positive social
interactions. This means, if someone called another classmate a name, it is important for the
student to tell the name caller that they did not like being called that and that it made them feel
sad. If a student calls another child a name and that child does not speak up for himself, the other
children in the class speak for that child and are able to say that a word is not kind and it is not
okay to use the word at school because it can make people feel sad. Responsibility for ones
actions must also be learned through learning deep caring for one another explained and modeled
through rich language (Coloroso). When students have empathy for their community an apology
is not an empty, Im sorry. An apology could be saying to the class, Im sorry for talking and
making everyones pictures of AM talking go away. I am going to sit in a different place so I can
see and make pictures in my head of AM talking so I do not talk. If I want to say something I
will raise my hand so I can talk when AM is ready. When students have developed deep caring
about one another it is easier for students to expand this empathy to the injustices of society as a
whole. Dewey advocated in his Philosophy of Education, that curriculum should arise from
students interest and curriculum topics should be integrated rather than isolated from each other.
Dewey also believed in education as growth rather than an end in itself, and that education
occurs through its connection with life, rather than through participation in curriculum. Learning
should be hands-on and experienced based, rather than abstract. If all of these factors are present
students can excel and propel the society in which they live in.
I believe students learning should follow the interests of students, with the teacher there
to guide students in the direction necessary along the way (Dewey). After introducing students to
a Robert Munsch book, students became very interested in the book. Rather than move to a book
in the scripted reading program, I went to the library to acquire more Robert Munsch books. The
interest continued to grow. Instead of moving on I cultivated this interest by allowing students to
continue to learn writing, reading, and even speaking standards from these books. It is imperative
to teach standards organically rather than move robotically through a scripted curriculum. As a
teacher I must have a mindset of where want and need to go but also the flexibility on how to get
there. Many teachers are uncomfortable with this. Teaching this way does look different and it
does mean not having a set plan for the month on what you will do each day. Instead it takes the
standards and works with the classroom community on how to get there.

Reflection
I struggled tremendously with this assignment. I feel my experience thus far pulls from so
many different pedagogies and experiences. My pedagogy is constantly evolving. The evolution
is happening so fast it is sometimes difficult for me to process my beliefs. I feel often this is
possible only in retrospect; however it is important to try to gain insight of my beliefs throughout
the journey.
References
Coloroso, Barbara. (2008). Just because its not wrong doesnt make it right: Teaching kids to
think and act ethically. London: Penguin Global.
Deci, E.L., Koestner, R., & Ryan, R.M. (2001). Extrinsic rewards and intrinsic motivation in
education: Reconsidered once again. Review of Educational Research, Vol. 71, No. 1.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/35160641.
Dewey, John. (1897). My pedagogic creed. New York: E.L. Kellogg and CO.
Dewey, John (1938, 1998). Experience and education. Indianapolis: Kappa Delta Pi.
Freire, Paulo. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: The Continuum International
Publishing Group Inc.
Hendersen, T., & Berla, N. (1994). A new generation of evidence: The family is critical to
student achievement. Washington, D.C.: National Committee for Citizens in Education.
Vygotsky, Lev Semenovich. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes. United States: President and fellows of Harvard College.