Chapter five of Kauchak and Eggen’s Introduction to Teaching: Becoming a Professional, discussed four dominant philosophies that teachers tend to fall under in a classroom setting. Each philosophy has its own learning theory with different views on how teaching should be and how children should attain learning skills for life. The first one is perennialism, where it is believed children should be taught essential material that has been proven effective over time, to provide a solid foundation, with emphasis on math and science to promote logical thought and intellect (154). Students need structured knowledge, and the ability to obtain the information provides lessons of morality. Teaching is based on lecture with discussions and feedback,
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I assume that I would end up teaching in an urban setting, being there’s a need for teachers, and so I would be faced with various forms of diversity. Chapter three discusses ways to teach children of various diversities, and not only must I recognize that each child is different and does not fall in a “one size fits all” category in terms of learning, but I must also be sensitive, accommodative, and present an inviting atmosphere for all to have an equal chance to grow and thrive, with a variety of ways for each to learn (71-102). If for example, I applied a philosophy such as essentialism, I may be teaching something they need to know, such as Christopher Columbus “discovering America” in 1492, but if a child isn’t originally from the US, they might not have interest to know or retain social studies information. However, if I were to apply a way to create a connection, such as asking children to find out something unique about their own culture to share with the class, and then having the children discuss and write about their favorite experience in “discovering” something new about their classmates, they can make a real world connection and find interest in the whole concept of historical discoveries as well as retain the information given, versus simply handing out information and expecting it to be memorized. Diverse classrooms need different ways of learning material, and having children set up in groups would help the children learn from each other, collaborating in ways to find answers as to what they would do with the new information they just learned about one another, and how they might be able to use it. I could also extend the activity and create an individual project for each to discover something
I assume that I would end up teaching in an urban setting, being there’s a need for teachers, and so I would be faced with various forms of diversity. Chapter three discusses ways to teach children of various diversities, and not only must I recognize that each child is different and does not fall in a “one size fits all” category in terms of learning, but I must also be sensitive, accommodative, and present an inviting atmosphere for all to have an equal chance to grow and thrive, with a variety of ways for each to learn (71-102). If for example, I applied a philosophy such as essentialism, I may be teaching something they need to know, such as Christopher Columbus “discovering America” in 1492, but if a child isn’t originally from the US, they might not have interest to know or retain social studies information. However, if I were to apply a way to create a connection, such as asking children to find out something unique about their own culture to share with the class, and then having the children discuss and write about their favorite experience in “discovering” something new about their classmates, they can make a real world connection and find interest in the whole concept of historical discoveries as well as retain the information given, versus simply handing out information and expecting it to be memorized. Diverse classrooms need different ways of learning material, and having children set up in groups would help the children learn from each other, collaborating in ways to find answers as to what they would do with the new information they just learned about one another, and how they might be able to use it. I could also extend the activity and create an individual project for each to discover something