Marcantonio

Mandi Marcantonio
Pat Woodward
Educ 275-004
14 Nov. 2013
Inquiry Project
Community Member/Teacher Interviews & Paper
I observed and interviewed Joanne OLeary a special education preschool teacher at
Beattie Elementary. She has been teaching for twenty years and eight of those years at Beattie.
Beattie is a beacon school for gifted and talented students, and their vision is that The Beattie
community supports continuous growth with high expectations in a safe and positive
environment to inspire a love of learning,(Beattie Elementary). Beatties mission is to Educate
the whole child, (Beattie Elementary). I also interviewed community member
Ahmed Sager who grew up in Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia. He went to school at
(Abdulaziz Spring), and came to the United States in 2004 as a 21 year old and graduated
from Colorado State University in 2008 with a degree in accounting and finance. In this
paper I will be analyzing the notes from my interviews, as well as from my observation in
order to compare and contrast the perspecitves of the community member and the teacher
regarding the puropose of education and schooling in the United States, how well schools
meet the needs of all learners, and how the interviewees personal experiences have helped
shape their views of education.
Sager answered that the primary purposes of schools are, To educate people, prepare them
for the working world and increase intelligence and to gain more knowledge. His experience
in school was definitely different than mine, but our paths do cross at some point. He feels the

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U.S. has a great education system, Schools provide plenty of technology and facilities for
students. There is no excuse for students to fail due to the high volume of these facilities and
amenities. The only negative experience Sager had with schooling in the U.S. was he felt
classes were a lot like an internship due to too many deliverables; things like tests, papers,
volunteering, etc. The positive experiences he had with American schools were online classes,
they are easier and have better atmosphere, and the had great educational helpers. When I
asked what he thought about the wide range and various needs of the varying abilities, socioeconomic/ethnic groups, and how well do todays schools meet the needs of all these learners,
Sager replied with The U.S. does so more than Saudi. CSU had better transfer credits, and
offers more help with international offices and translators. Although on the flip side, the fees
are a lot more here for international students. I ended our conversation about what his hopes
and concerns were for the future of education in the U.S.? Stay tuned to find out!
In my interview with Joanne, she answered that the primary purpose of schools was where,
Kids can learn the necessary skills for them to be successful in life. Her experience in the
classroom has not aligned with her initial expectations of teaching, especially in pre-K, Its
more advanced. Throughout the years the curriculum has raised its expectations for
preschoolers; what kids in preschool are learning today, are things they usually would have been
taught in a first or second grade class. Since Joanne has been around the education field and is
specialized in special education, she has seen a wide range and different needs of the varying
abilities, socio-economic/ethnic groups, races, gender, sexual identity, religions, languages, and
individual learning styles, which made her a perfect contender when I asked her, how well do
schools meet the needs of all learners? She respectively answered, The needs are met to fit the
majority based on the school. If the school has majority ELLs then that is their focus, if the

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school has a majority of students on specialized education plans then that help is offered. Same
as if the school is like Beattie which is geared toward gifted and talented students.
My two interviewees both agreed that the purpose of education was to educate kids and to
prepare them for the future. Joanne and Sager differed in that todays schools meet the needs of
all learners. Sager believes that there is no reason a child should be falling behind or doing
poorly with all of the readily resources and technology available, while Joanne believes that the
success of child depends on the schools they attend, and if that school offers what that child
needs. From a teachers standpoint, Joanne believes and knows it is truly up to the teacher to
accommodate every childs individual need because not every school can be specialized in every
need. They specialize in the majority of the kids attending that school, and the rest is up to the
teachers. Sager feels that as long as schools have technology and resources, then every childs
need should be met.
One afternoon, I spent a few hours in Joannes Tiny Town pre-K Head Start classroom,
getting to know her afternoon class of 3-4 year olds. Between her morning and afternoon
classes, she has thirty very diverse students, some with behavioral issues, some with mental and
physical conditions as well as nine ELL students. The afternoon started off with Joanne greeting
students and parents as they drop their kids off and informs them of any issues or upcoming
events. Since not all of the kids parents speak English, she prints off any informational flyers in
multiple languages. This helps bridge the language barrier gap between teacher and parent, so
teachers can have a better relationship with their student. As other students trickle in, the kids
gather on the carpet around the Smart Board to play a pumpkin game, (put a face on the
pumpkin). The teacher gave them specific instructions and had them pick a student to put the
next object (eyes, nose, mouth) on the pumpkin. She got down on their level and let them sit on

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her lap in the teacher chair and gave kids hugs, which promoted instruction, relationships and
positive reinforcement.
Once everyone had arrived, Joanne went over the classroom jobs for the day; every kid has a
job in the classroom: line leader, door holder, napkin captain, etc. which teaches them
responsibility and instruction. The next item on the agenda is lunch! During this time and
throughout the day, Joanne listens to students talk about familiar topics such as home and
community; encourages students to use content vocabulary to express their understanding;
provides frequent opportunity for students to interact with each other and the teacher during
instructional activities; and encourages students use of first and second languages in
instructional activities, etc., (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence,
2005). By doing so, she not only helps bridge the gap between English speaking and ELL
students, but she is also offered insight about students home life. Joanne even eats the same
food, and dines at the students level; she stresses everybody being equal and works with kids on
the importance of good manners. After lunch the students go to the bathroom, clean up after
themselves, and brush their teeth. By being responsible for throwing away their trash and take
care of their plates teaches them instruction and purpose.
Afterwards they would typically go out to recess to an enclosed playground, but due to
weather we did centers inside which consisted of a maze worksheet, Play-Doh, and coloring
worksheets. Joanne walked around the room and sat at different tables (centers) and interacted
with the kids by helping them write their names, and practiced coloring in the lines. These types
of centers and even recess help the students with purpose and in building social skills.
After 30 minutes of free time the kids clean up and go to circle for a story, (usually pertains
to the unit theyre working on, i.e. Halloween). The teacher shows the book on the document

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camera so students can see better, and she explains the author, title, and adds commentary for
understanding. This type of instruction can be seen as a concept of holistic education, as well as
an approach to multicultural curriculum reform. Holistic education is comprised of three
orientations, transmission, transaction, and transformation. In transmission learning students
acquire knowledge and skills from reading a text or listening to a teachers rationalization.
Transaction learning is more cognitive and interactive and is often dialogue between teacher and
student. Transformational learning considers the student as a whole, the curriculum and child
are no longer seen as separate but as connected, (Miller, 9-11). It can also be seen as one of the
levels of integration using James Banks approach on how teachers can transform their
mainstream-centric curriculum into a multicultural one. Joanne demonstrated level two, the
Additive Approach where, content, concepts, themes, and perspectives are added to the
curriculum without changing its structure, and is often accomplished by the addition of a book, a
unit or a course to the curriculum without changing it substantially. Like the level one approach,
this approach also allows room for teachers to insert ethnic content without having to reconstruct
the curriculum, its purpose, nature, and goals, (Banks, 232). These techniques and approaches
are very applicable, especially with a class like Joannes were the students are so diverse. Joanne
also uses this time to go over any housekeeping business and talks with the students about any
issues that have come up in class or things they need to improve on, specifically the classroom
rules, (keep your friends safe, keep the toys safe, keep your friends safe).
Joanne then assigns each student to a center/cooperative-learning group where they will be
playing and learning for the duration of 15-20 minutes until they switch to a different center.
Since 3 and 4 year-olds do not have the attention span or mental capacity to sit in desks and
actively engage in lectures or read texts, centers act as different subjects. Each center has a

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different learning objective and instructional purpose, and a teacher or a paraprofessional is

stationed at every table for guided instruction.
Center #1: Play Dough (fine motor) students build relationships with other students and
practice fine motor skills.
Center #2: Bats (Shape ID) Teacher led, tied into book they read earlier in the week
(Stellaluna) assist students in direction and encourage creativity. Positive reinforcement.
Center #3: What comes next? Activity (matching) students match the shapes based on the
pattern they have.
Center #4: Candy Corn activity (cutting practice/gross motor) Teacher led, kids practice
cutting, shape ID, gluing and instructions.
Center #5: Legos (gross motor) students build relationships with other students and practice
gross motor skills.
Joannes teaching style and philosophies are evident through centers, and is a
combination of behaviorism, essentialism, and realism. In behaviorism, It is a teachers
responsibility to design and create learning environments where students can learn to their
utmost potential. Teachers arrange a set of conditions and contingencies that encourage students
to respond and behave in a certain way, (Huerta, 36). In centers, students are learning in a form
of playing, which is the most appropriate environment for this age group because it comes
naturally to them and they feel comfortable doing it. Joanne also practices a blend of
essentialism and realism. In essentialism she, delivers a basic body of knowledge that every
member should know to become a productive member of society, (Huerta, 33). Like
essentialism, Joanne also exercises realism, where she, provides students with the
fundamental knowledge they need to survive in the natural world through a curriculum where

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subject matter is introduced according to level of difficulty, (Huerta, 37-38). Pre-K through
kindergarten is a childs foundation for the entirety of their education. It is Joannes job to make
sure students can cut/paste, write the alphabet, identify emotions, speak full sentences, and have
respect for themselves, their peers, and materials. When it comes to teaching her ELL students,
Joanne treats them relatively the same as she does her English-speaking students. Because of the
age group, her classroom is naturally driven to be a more sheltered English classroom where,
the teaching and the classroom materials are in English but are sheltered through language that
is made meaningful with props, graphic organizers, demonstrations, body language, drama, and
the like. In sheltered classrooms, academic content is taught in a meaningful context, and is
appropriate for all children, (Huerta, 251). Since this age group cannot read yet, pictures are
often used to describe things rather than words. This allows students to explore their native
language if they choose.
While there are no formal ways to assess this age group, but a form of testing is done
through observation of the teacher. How well a student performs a task/assignment, interacts
with their peers, and handles certain situations are all graded on a proficient through partially
proficient scale, in which a teacher must have some type of documentation for. On the whole, it
takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and ten minutes to get every student through each
center, and make sure theyve done every task. Centers reinforce purpose and instruction,
preparing them for kindergarten, where they will be expected to be familiar with completing
tasks and following instructions.
To wind up the day, Joanne brings the kids back to circle and they do an activity related
to what they did for that day. Kind of like a conclusion and an assessment to see if they retained
what they were suppose to during the day. The best observation I made about Joanne and her

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teaching is the amount of love and compassion she has for each and every student. She gives the
kids hugs and calls them her friends, giving them all a sense of belonging. Spoken by the
Dalai Lama, Love and compassion are the basic necessities of life, (Lama, 86). There are
many socio-economic variances in the class; some kids do not have appropriate sized clothing,
while there are others who do not even have a house to call their own. Since these are often the
realities Joannes kids are faced with, it is apparent that she follows the advice of His Holiness
the Dalai Lama, Each individual case will have different factors involved; and in order to be
able to effectively deal with these problems, one has to be sensitive to the individual
circumstances, context and so forth. But a fundamental belief that I have is to find some way of
giving the individual a sense of hope, somehow helping them believe in their own-inner
potentials, (Lama, 92).
Throughout my four-hour observation I identified how much of time Joanne spent
identifying purpose, giving instruction, and building relationships. From my data collection
Joanne spent a total of 55 minutes on identifying purpose, 5 minutes on giving instruction, 75
minutes on building relationships and a combination of 15 minutes on instructional/relationship,
and 90 minutes on instruction/purpose. This chart demonstrates the number of minutes (as
previously stated) Joanne portrayed each teacher role in over the course of 4 hours.

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Sager and Joanne had quite opposing hopes and concerns about the future of education in
Colorado and in the United States. Sagers hope is, That education will get better via
technology. The older teaching methods will evolve and become more relevant to the time; and
its always going to progress forward. Unlike Sager, Joanne had very different ideas about the
future of education in fact they were concerns. Joannes concern is, That with all the
technology that is widely available to kids these days, it inhibits their interpersonal skills. She
used tablets as an example, They change the way a child uses their fine motor skills because
there really is no physical coloring or writing. From doing this project, I was able to gain a
better understanding about the puropose of education and schooling in the United States, how
well schools meet the needs of all learners, and how the interviewees personal experiences
have helped shape their views of education. The interviews and observation helped me
understand how different peoples perspectives are about education, and all of the
complexities that come with trying to be sucessful in a diverse classroom. I learned that in
order for your students to be sucessful everyone needs to be on the same page about their
expectations are of educaiton. Ultimately, its all about the kids; we want whats best for
them and their future, and "A mind once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original
dimensions," (Beattie Elementary).

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Works Cited
Banks, James A., and Cherry A. McGee. Banks. "Chapter 10: Approaches to Multicultural
Curriculum Reform." Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley, 2007. 225-44. Print.
Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence. The five standards for effective
pedagogy. 2005.
Huerta, Grace. Educational Foundations: Diverse Histories, Diverse Perspectives. Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin, 2009. Print.
Lama, Dalai. "Education and the Human Heart." The Heart of Learning: Spirituality in
Education. By Steven Glazer and Huston Smith. New York: J.P. Tarcher/Putnam, 1999.
85-95. Print.
Miller, John P. "Holistic Curriculum: The Why and the What." The Holistic Curriculum. Toronto:
OISE, 2007. 1-14. Print
"Mission and Vision Statement." Beattie Elementary. Poudre School District, 2013. Web. 14
Nov. 2013.
O'Leary, Joanne. "Teacher Interview." Personal interview. 1 Nov. 2013.
Sager, Ahmed. "Community Member Interview." Personal interview. 4 Nov. 2013.

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