Jeremy Cooper

6/29/14
Synthesizing Todays Modern Educational Issues
Throughout the course, we explored various aspects of controversial issues that can be found
throughout education. Each issue to a degree had a certain amount of importance for me, and raised
questions that I was able to make personal connections to in most cases. All of the issues explored in
this course can find common threads and often times are intertwined together. In a few cases, the
issues that we explored were the first time that I really had thought about in the grand scheme of a
students overall learning. I also found that the arguments supporting each issue, contained various
levels of qualitative data and supporting arguments. So the sub-headings that Ive created highlight
what I felt were the most impactful issues for myself and where I also felt that I had the best discussion
with my classmates. I chose the following educational topics described below that had the most
influential impact into my daily teaching and instruction.
The Most Significant Ideas, Issues, Concerns, and Questions
Should schooling be based on social experiences?
This was the first issue that we discussed in this course where I did not find myself in the
middle grey area. In my own opinion, the purpose of all schools is to provide the best possible
educational experience through proven educational practices that will equip all students with various
lifelong opportunities. I felt that the following quote from John Dewey best supported my definition of
education, The main purpose or objective is to prepare the young for future responsibilities and for
success in life, by means of acquisition of the organized bodies of information and prepared forms of
skill which comprehend the material of instruction (Dewey, 1938). I could not be in more
disagreement with the argument for traditional educational practices that Scruton raises in his
counter-argument. To me, the majority of Scrutons argument is opinion and contains virtually no data
outside of his own experiences to support his argument. I also disagree that content professionals are
by nature better educators than those who have emphasized learning how to be effective educators.
In the discussion that followed with my classmates, I found that the majority of the threads and
responses that I read and participated in followed the same idea. In fact there were a couple of
individuals who were attending the same PLC Conference that I was in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The
PLC Conference that we were attending described and talked about the huge amount of research that
has been completed that supports students-centered and its positive impact on student engagement in
the classroom. In terms of overall student engagement, interest, relevance, and students ability to
connect learning with real life has shown to be more effective. John Dewey stated the idea that even
though new educational practices are overtaking the traditional practices, there are still going to be
problems and issues, theyll simply be different (Dewey, 1938). In my mind, there was no larger issue
than this that we looked at, and I couldnt feel more comfortable with which side of the argument I
found myself on.
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Should the Curriculum be standardized for all? and

Is the 21
Century Skills Movement
Viable?

Whether or not the curriculum should be standardized for all was another issue that I felt was
very important. This is a current nationwide debate and many journalists that I follow are saying that
its completely possible that the next presidential race hot topic will be the Core Curriculum. The Core
Curriculum concept really impacts all teachers within the building, and even though Im an elective
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teacher, I still have a serious stake in the success of the Core Curriculum through the 21
Century Skills.
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We ended up looking at the 21Century Skills Movement later and I described just how viable and
important it really is to todays students.
I would like to think that my background as an elective teacher helped persuade some of my
colleagues in the discussion that followed in terms of the importance of exploratory learning

experiences. The unfortunate thing is that I dont think its anyones fault that they dont immediately
think about how a standardized or core curriculum movement can have any impact on electives. The
idea that standardized curriculum and standards impact the whole school doesnt get brought up
enough, and more school districts are doing very little to build the culture of its going to take all of us
to improve our students learning. In my opinion, more elective teachers need to get into the debate of
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this issue and describe their positions on a standardized curriculum, their stance on the 21
Century
Skills Movement, and how their courses are helping students construct and apply the skills they gain in
the core to real life situations.
Can failing schools be turned around?
Another subject that I was able to make a personal connection to was the idea of a failing
school, or in my case, a failing program. The first school district in which I was hired into the position
because the administrators wanted an individual who was willing to go into the existing program and
implement changes in classroom practices, curriculum, and vision for overall student achievement. At
the time, I actually received offers from four different school districts that were at various levels of
strength and support from the administration. The school district that I chose was by far in the worst
shape and I chose it because I knew early on that I had the chance to do something special with the
program. I really wanted a challenge where if I was successful would benefit the students in that
district the most, and also show my abilities as a technology teacher. I am a very goal oriented person
and I often look for challenges that will push me to do my very best. The program budget that I was
provided was extremely small and certainly did not allow for major equipment or facility modifications.
The course offering was eleven courses in an eight period day, with an average of four students in each
course. Even for a 1A school district, those were very small class sizes.
Through the implementation of improved curriculum that met modern standards, decisions
made based upon data, and the use of a professional learning community I achieved success. I
experienced improved student achievement through common assessments, increased student
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enrollment, and increased alignment with the established 21
Century Skills and Technical Literacy.
What this should all say to you, is that no program or school is irreversible. It simply takes the sheer
will and culture surrounding it to support the idea that you will improve. Now the task itself is not
going to be easy, and it takes incredible devotion and the willingness to help change minds (parents,
staff, and students).
Connections to My Own Life
Many of the issues that we explored have connections to my own life and I really tried to
include my personal connections along with my arguments in the other sub-headings. I do however
want to personally highlight virtual schooling and how the idea has the potential to really revolutionize
the traditional school system.
Is the Road to Virtual Schooling Smoothly Paved?
The majority of my own personal learning occurs in a virtual environment and typically online.
My masters degree program is in instructional technology, and I am currently taking all of my courses
in an online learning environment. Ive chosen the online learning environment for several reasons, 1)
The ability to work with my already busy schedule, 2) I can connect with colleagues and peers in a
completely different way (often individuals who I would otherwise never meet in a traditional setting,
3) Because I believe it is the future of education and I wanted personal experience in that kind of
learning environment.
The PLC Conference that I attended a few weeks ago had sessions where when it came to the
question and answer time, the question was raised regarding the future of education. The most often
answer that I heard, was that our schools would become more of a blended style learning
environment. Students can have the choice of completing their required courses completely online, and

they can have the ability to go to a physical school if necessary for additional support or to take
exploratory courses that cannot be taught completely online.
I personally do not see education moving in a direction to that suggested by William Crossman,
which described how education will move away from textual based information. The ability to write
and conveys ones thoughts is still going to be an incredibly important skill and necessary to the overall
future success of students. I do not disagree that videos and audio will have its place in the future to
act as supplemental and alternative projects, but to not teach a student to read or write is simply
ridiculous. The technology is simply a tool that helps enrich the activities that are already in place, and
also used as a method to more highly engage students in the material. Again, I felt this was an
important topic to include because I have been participating in a Masters program that directly relates
to the topic, and because of the increasing number of 1:1 schools in Iowa.
Did I find myself surprised?
Has the Time Arrived for Universal Preschool?
I found myself very surprised after reading the two sides of the argument and my classmates
discussion regarding universal preschool. There were some individuals, who were very passionate
about their stance, and I respected that they were able to make a case for both sides. Surprisingly, I
didnt think that I would become as opinionated on the subject as I did because I never attended
preschool and all of my educational experiences have been in secondary and post-secondary education.
I tried to keep a very open-mind to the subject because I really didnt have any prior opinion to change
going into the issue.
I found myself siding with those who argued that there are already successful programs in
place for preschool across the country, and that universal preschool will not solve any of the identified
problems. The issue regarding universal preschool had a lot of history involved with how various
programs and political figures shaped the system to what we have today. Today, there are many
different programs, such as Head Start, across the country whose goal is to provide enrichment learning
activities to preschool age students. Preschool is currently viewed as something of an exclusive
environment to those who can get their children into these programs and also afford them.
I found myself looking at the overall cost of implementing universal preschool, which one
estimate showed could be in the billions of dollars per year, and trying to figure out how just throwing
money at the issue would solve it. If the real problem is just expanding the current availability of
programs and getting all kids involved, why not create funding grants or scholarships for children in
various economically deprived situations. The preschool programs that are working, why not supply
those organizations with scale-up funding similar to that of STEM based organizations in Iowa? STEM
scale-up funding has been extremely successful in boosting programs that were currently in place and
just needed help building their infrastructure. I dont see any evidence that shows that a similar system
and reaction could not occur within preschool programs across the country.
Was I ever persuaded to change my argument?
We have covered many different topics in this course and looking back through all of them, I
never really changed my mind regarding any particular arguments. Hopefully this will not be seen as
me not trying to be open-minded, but rather understanding that the reasoning I gave behind my
decisions was typically based upon data, or lack thereof. There were several issues, such as; arming of
teachers, failing schools, or universal preschool, where if it could be shown through data that a better
choice existed that I would change my mind.
The counterarguments that were made in many of these issues were interesting and I can
understand why someone might see it that way, but I couldnt change my position without supportive
evidence, studies, or some kind of data showing why one instance is better than another. The only area
where I sort of came up with an opinion as I was reading was Has the Time Arrived for Universal
Preschool? as I documented above. It wasnt my expertise area and I actually never attended
preschool, so I didnt really have an opinion one way or another going into the topic.

What ideas and beliefs held true?

Is there support for arming teachers in schools?
Without a doubt the one issue that I went into with a solid belief and opinion that remained the
same, was the idea of arming teachers in a school. I saw and participated in a lot of very enriching
conversations regarding the topics, and looking back I dont think we had anyone that supported the
idea. I may have missed a discussion, but overall it looks like the majority of teachers in our class do not
want to have the responsibility and liability of carrying a weapon into school.
Most of our class cited that the need for SROs was still relevant and that integrating local
authorities into more the school environment would act as a positive deterrent to situations such as
this. Also, there are certainly strong opinions, but really no evidence showing that districts which allow
teachers to carry weapons are actually any safer than those that do not.
I continue to point back to the true idea of what kind of environment do all educators want to
create? Most would argue that they want to create a safe and successful learning environment. Its
difficult to argue that a safe and successful learning environment can be established, when the teacher
is carrying a loaded weapon. It immediately sets the tone for where the students are and raises the
difficulty in getting students to trust you as a person. If a student is going to carry out an act of violence,
its difficult to say that arming teachers is going to prevent that act from occurring anyways. I feel that
spending more time on alternative learning environments, continuing to monitor the mental health
states of students, and anti-bullying programs is much more effective than arming teachers.
What changes will I make to my professional practice due to what Ive learned?
At the end of this course, its difficult for me to say that many of my professional practices will
change, but rather it has solidified the practices in which Ive been taught and have used in the
classroom. I dont want to give the impression that I know everything and that I have no where to learn
and grow, I do, but I think I have a good foundation for the environment that I want to create for my
students. Between reading about the various sides of the issues and the online dialogue Ive had with
my classmates, its been enriching to read about their experiences and how all of these issues really tie
together. I certainly enjoyed reading the alternative opinions on some of the issues because it makes
me question my own stance and whether or not Im justified in my own opinion.
Many of my professional practices revolve around professional learning communities, which
focus on student learning objectives, data-driven decision making, and common assessments. In many
of the issues, especially those that I felt were most significant to me, the use of a PLC is an excellent way
in which to accomplish those tasks and know that you are making the right decisions for your students.
In the issues, such as arming teachers, if I were asked to carry a gun in my district, I wouldnt leave
because of it, but I would continue to make the argument that there needs to be evidence supporting the
decision and that all of the questions from teachers and the community need to be answered. Those are
issues that would be somewhat out of my control and that I would have to adapt to based upon what
the community or administrative team has decided is best for students.
Again, I appreciated all of the dialogue that I had with my classmates over this summer term.
They provided valuable insight into their personal opinions, situations, and supportive evidence
regarding their view on the education issues.

Resources

Greene, J., Stotsky, S., Evers, B., Forster, G., & Wurman, Z. (2011, May 9). Closing the
Door on Innovation. Education Next.
Koonce, G. Taking Sides Clashing View on Educational Issues. (2014). Dushkin Pub
Group.
The Albert Shanker Institute. (2011, Spring). A Call for Common Content. American
Educator.