Progressivist Teaching

Ashley Collins

Progressivist Teaching

October 17th, 2018

South Dakota State University

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Introduction

Philosophy. Philosophy is defined as, “The study of the fundamental nature of

knowledge, reality, and existence, especially when considered as an academic discipline.”

(oxforddictionaries.com, 2017). The Educational Philosophy are the basic guideline that drives

schools, teachers, and pre-service teachers. This is the foundation that schools use to base their

standards as well as policies on. The philosophy of education is something that helps teachers

and pre-service teachers guide their thinking and helps explain their beliefs. It also encourages

and explains why I use certain methods and teach in specific ways.

Section 1

When taking my Philosophy Inventory, I found that I am a progressivist. As I researched,

I found that this philosophy related to my teaching, as well as my personality very well.

Progressivist teaching typically involves, child centered education, along with incorporating

problem solving, real-life curriculum, and typically try their best to attend to each students active

learning style. They also believe that children learn from each other and like cooperative learning

experiences best. I am going to explore progressivist teaching and how it relates to me

personally.

To being with, let’s investigate where progressivism evolved from and the ideas behind

it. The first ideas of progressivism came from John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey left his teaching

work and started pushing for the concepts of progressivism. He was a philosopher, educational

reformer, and psychologist.

“In the popular press, John Dewey’s name is often invoked as the evil genius behind the

movement, even though he criticized sugar-coated education and letting children do as

they please. While scholars doubt whether any unified, coherent movement called

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progressivism ever existed, its offspring, progressive education, apparently did exist,

wreaking havoc on the schools.” (Reese, 2001).

Dewey was plowing the way for progressive education, he even opened a school in Chicago

called University Elementary School that was attached to the University of Chicago, the was

referred to as the Dewey School. This school was called the birth place of progressive education.

Progressive educational philosophy refers to school that learners are active participants,

problem solvers, and planners. The teachers are there to guide the children and help foster

inquiry. I believe in this type of philosophy because this is who I am as a person. As the student,

I like being in the setting of student lead classrooms. I believe that teachers as well as the

children are able to connect to others in a way they may not have been before. “Progressivist

scale, for example, described themselves and were described by others as stressing students’

understanding, teaching, for principles more than specific content, and giving priority to

creativity or originality over mastery of specific facts or concepts.” (Bidwell, Frank, & Quiroz

1997) This allows children to be creative and have their voice heard. It gives them a sense of

having power within their classroom and lets them be in charge of their knowledge.

I feel that a huge part of progressivism, is giving a child a right to a voice, a voice that

will be heard, a voice that will matter to all, and a voice for their own thoughts and feelings. I

think, this alone is one of the main reasons I agree with this philosophy. When you give a child a

reason to be in the classroom, and you take into consideration what they are saying and what

they need. You as a teacher end up with better lessons, better knowledge of what your students

need to be successful in their lives and in the classroom.

Another main point of progressivism, is creativity. As I work in the Fishback Center for

Early Learning, I grasp a better understating of what exactly this means for children. When they

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are allowed to be creative in all aspects of a classroom or content, they achieve more. They are

able to inquire about things they necessarily would not have thought of before. The children,

when allowed to be free creatively find new ways to help express their emotions. They are able

to tell the teachers what they need and how they can help. “As they are aroused into activity they

become conscious thoughts and emotions, emotionalized images. To be set on fire by a thought

or a scene is to be inspired. What is kindled must wither burn itself out, turning to ashes, or must

press itself out in material that changes the latter from crude metal into a refined product.”

(Dewey, 2005, pp. 68)

Section 2

Progressivism and my profession of Early Childhood Education and Elementary

Education go hand in hand. I have had multiple experiences while working within the American

school system. I have worked in a preschool as an assistant as well as an assistant. I have also

worked in the K-12 grade school system of Brookings School District as a substitute. The

children I have worked with are in traditional as well as progressivist educational systems. In the

preschool, there is a more progressivist approach, allowing the children to be creative,

controlling of their environment, and student lead; whereas the school district follows a more

traditional, teacher lead process. This is how I have come to realize that progressivism is how I

want to teach. “There is merit in considering the larger philosophical perspective within which

the education of a child is occurring.” (Manen, 2002, pp. 46) When teaching in a setting like a

school district like Brookings, if you do not help the children understand how to problem solve,

be creative, and have a mind of their own they will always look toward someone else for

answers. When allowing the teacher to be progressivist, you are giving your child a right to their

own education and a right to the knowledge they can gain by becoming great inquirers. The

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philosophy in which I choose to teach will follow the children I educate for the rest of their lives,

through work, socialization, and life.

Section 3

One of my favorite InTASC standards, is the sixth standard. This standard states, “The

teacher understands and uses multiple methods of assessment to engage learners in their own

growth, to monitor learning progress, and to guide the teacher’s and learner’s decision making.”

(CCSSO, 2013. pp. 30) I believe that using formal and informal assessment within the classroom

is very important. I will implement formal along with informal assessment in my classroom.

There are many children who struggle with formal assessment and have the need to be assessed

informally. When you use multiple ways to assess a child’s growth you are gaining a better

understanding of what the child actually knows. You are able to have the child apply the skill in

a meaningful way.

You can use informal assessment as a final assessment or you can use it periodically

thought out the day in simple ways. Assessing a child can be as simple as asking the child to

stand up if they understand or stay seated if they do not understand what is happening in a lesson

as the class is learning. Informal assessment can help you gage if you need to move at a faster

pace or slow down. Informal assessment is as important to me as formal assessments. To

formally assess children, I will do things such as, spelling tests or quizzes after we finish a

content topic. This is how I will be able to assess myself as well as the children. By doing these

formal assessments I am able to go back over the content if the children are struggling or move

onto the next area if the children are doing well. This can also allow me to help those students

who may need extra help in some areas.

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InTASC standard eight is another one of my favorites. Standard eight states, “The teacher

understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage learners to develop deep

understanding of content areas and their connections, and to build skills to apply knowledge in

meaningful ways.” (CCSSO, 2013, pp. 38). One way to keep the attention of your students is to

help them learn within their active learning strategy. As a teacher I have my own ways of

understanding new content as well as old. I personally need to be able to touch something and

feel it in my hands to really grasp what I am learning. However, as a teacher I also need to be

able to teach in multiple ways. All children are different and learn in different ways. As a teacher

I have to be flexible with my teaching methods, learning to adapt to the group that I am

educating

Say that I am teaching a fire safety lesson to a group of kindergartners for a week. I can

incorporate new ways of learning the content each day to help all of the children in my

classroom. To help those students who are kinesthetic learners, I would have drawn beforehand,

a map. I would then have the children follow the map. This way they are able to touch and feel

the things that are around them. I could also have a bag with things that are related to fire safety

for them to touch and pass around. This could also be applied to the visual learners, as they are

first hand seeing and experiencing. To appeal to children who are audible learners, I can have a

fireman come into the classroom and talk with the children about what they would need to do in

case of a fire. This way they get to collaborate with someone from the community, while

inquiring with them also. At the end of the week, we would be able to sit down and do something

together like a brain storm board where the children could collaborate what they learned and how

to apply what they learned.

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Finally, my favorite InTASC standard, is standard three, “The teacher works with others

to create environments that support individual and collaborative learning, and that encourage

positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.” (CCSSO, 2013,

pp. 21) This standard, I believe best suits my philosophy of progressivism. I think that this

standard applies well because it is encompassing that teachers do not work alone. They use the

help of many others within the community to teach children, as well as children themselves. You

as an educator have to be willing to bring others into the classroom to help you as well as the

children.

There are many ways to help create a positive environment. Something that I have done

in the past with my students is encouraging a hug or handshake goodbye. This encourages each

child to leave the room at the end of the day in a positive manner. It shows them that you care

about each child and fosters positivity. Another thing that I could implement in my classroom

would be to invite families or colleagues into the room to help the children build a sense of

community. When allowing the children’s families to come into the classroom in an educational

setting it can help the child become comfortable and more willing to engage in conversation. It

will help the child with positive social interactions by watching their peers and family members.

When working with others, having an open mind can be life changing for the children. They

watch you, as the teacher to know what is acceptable. When the child sees that not only their

family is proud of them but their teachers and peers are as well it can help develop self-

motivation that may not have been present previously.

Conclusion

The progressivist teaching philosophy not only engages me in furthering my learning

experiences but allows me to understand the reasoning behind my personal teaching approaches.

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It fosters an ability to understand the InTASC standards in a new light and understand things in

new ways. Progressive education allows collaboration, problem solving skills, and creativity to

flow together as one as we learn. Progressivist philosophy allows me to see how they can be

adapted to new learning experiences as I further my education in early childhood and elementary

education. When practicing this philosophy I am able to see guidance and know where I need to

take my abilities to give the children the best environment possible.

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References

Bidwell, C., Frank, K., & Quiroz, P. (1997) Teacher types, workplace controls, and the

organization of schools. American Sociological Association. 70(4), 285-307.

Dewey, J. (2005). Art as experience. The Burkley Publishing Group.

CCSSO. (April, 2013). Interstate teacher assessment and support consortium InTASC model

core teaching standards and learning progressions for teachers 1.0: A resource for

ongoing teacher development. Washington D.C

Manen, M. (2002) The tact of teaching: the meaning of pedagogical thoughtfulness. The

Althouse Press.

Oxforddictionaries.com (2017). Retrieved from

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/philosophy

Reese, W., F. (2001). The origins of progressive education. History of Education Quarterly. 41.

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