"I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living," is a quote taken directly from Dewey's creed. As a twenty-three year old graduate student, I have spent the majority of my life in school. From ages 5 through 18 (and even after), I was taught that I had to get an education to make something of myself. Of course, I didn't mind this because school was my absolute favorite place to be, and I told everyone that I would stay in school forever if I could. The notion that I would fail miserably at life if I didn't go to college was ingrained in my brain and I always kept this in the back of my mind. After all, I didn't want to be that person who worked at a fast-food chain for the rest of my life. With this mindset, I never questioned why every year my teachers said things like "you need to know this to advance to the next grade," and "you have to learn {insert confusing topic here} otherwise you won't be prepared for college," because that's just how things were.
"My Pedagogic Creed" opened my eyes about education as a means to an end. After considering Dewey's perspective that school should represent present life, I realized that my entire education has been preparing me for "what's coming next." I think that Dewey is correct and that we have to learn how to function in the present before we can think about the future. He says that education is a social process and I took this to mean that education instills values and helps students learn how to develop and apply solutions to everyday problems. These points made me think that maybe many students aren't engaged in school because they simply aren't thinking about the future that education is supposed to provide them with. It is therefore important that teachers make changes and teach for the present. At my undergraduate graduation ceremony, Dick Costolo (Twitter CEO) said something that has become one of my favorite quotes: "Be in this moment." If we can apply this to our everyday lives, can't we also apply it to education? Teach in this moment?
When considering what present life is like today, one of the first things I tend to envision is social media and technology. If I throw school into the mix, it becomes clear to me that technology can be a very useful tool in the classroom. Rather than spending agonizing lengths of time rifling through encyclopedias and dusty books, technology allows students to access greater amounts of information online in a shorter time span. It also allows students to collaborate with their peers on projects (Google Docs anyone?), communicate with experts, and create things like brochures, among other things. Some schools are already teaching students how to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so I definitely think technology is a good thing to include in the classroom.
There are so many benefits to using technology in the classroom, so to some people, it seems like taking things a step further and implementing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy is a spectacular idea. The downside to using technology in the classroom, however, is the fact that the Internet can be incredibly distracting. We've all seen what happens in our college courses, haven't we? Students get bored and start browsing Facebook and before they know it, they're buying shoes and watching YouTube videos of grumpy cats. I think if there were a way to prevent students from using their devices in an inappropriate way, more teachers would be on board for using technology. It really comes down to a pros and cons list of whether or not to include technology in the classroom. A major criticism I have of the BYOD idea is that it stirs up equity issues. Not every study is going to be able to afford to purchase a device to use in class, so what happens to those students? Do the students with a lower SES just suffer and sit on the sidelines? If a BYOD policy is something that is going to be considered in the future, then teachers and school administrators need to consider how this will affect all students. Despite the glaring problems with incorporating technology, I think it is a fantastic way to teach in the present.
Hi April! I really like how you covered the positive aspects of technology innovations by acknowledging the obvious positives, like Google Docs. Your most profound point was identifying the importance of now. I agree that as teachers with our intent to make a difference, now is crucial... Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteApril, I appreciate the way that you've woven Dewey's ideas into your own experience as a student, and I like the fact that you're embracing the challenge of trying to make school into something more than a self-referential experience in which each step is justified by reference to a future step in the process of schooling. You've wisely raised the equity issue as we think of the BYOD movement. It is sadly difficult to avoid manifestations of inequity virtually anywhere we turn as we look at schooling in our country, and I'm intrigued by the idea that kids can be empowered to used readily accessible technology to engage more fully and more thoughtfully with the world around them. This is a conversation that we'll continue in the fall, April.
ReplyDeleteI really like your reflection on your educational upbringing and how education was framed for you as you were raised. I would say that your environment is pretty typical for people in our program, and I myself also was raised in the type of environment looking as education as a stepping stone for something else (college, jobs, etc.). I think it is important to recognize the privileges that may underlie this kind of environment, where resources needed to be successful are usually plentiful, and focus on external issues out of the classroom are minimal, and school is a priority. I definitely feel lucky to have been given such privileges, but I also am really looking forward to learning more this year about students whose lives aren't similar to mine, and who deal with different challenges or have different goals, and where school unfortunately isn't serving them in the ways Dewey envisioned. I also echo Rachel's comment about the importance of teaching in the now, and really like how you stressed that in this post. I really hope to focus on making sure content for students is relevant to them and will give them intrinsic motivation to learn and apply it in their lives.
ReplyDeleteApril, I really enjoyed reading your perspective on John Dewey's philosophy. I agree with you that so much of what Dewey said so long ago is still relevant and though-provoking today. The quote you included is also my favorite quote from the text! As soon as I read that quote, a light bulb went on in my mind. This quote summarized everything I believed education should be and still want it to be. I had tried to articulate the same idea and failed so many times,yet John Dewey was able to do it in one simple sentence over a century ago. Why have we just heard about him now?
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to mention that I enjoyed that you used personal examples to explain why Dewey was relevant to you specifically. Your examples helped me think about my own experiences and reflect on why Dewey's ideas resonated with me. Your examples also gave me some ideas about how Dewey's ideas could be used to inspire students to value their own education. While noble, some of Dewey's ideas are idealistic and hard to see adopted in today's world of preoccupation with meeting government standards for teaching. I am wondering, however, if this reading could be given to students and discussed in class and if it would prompt students to reflect on the meaning of their own education instead of simply blindly following their teachers as both you (as you mention in your post) and I did?
April, I really enjoyed reading your blog and the way you incorporated your own personal experiences with Dewy's pedagogy. Something from your blog post that got me thinking was : " I realized that my entire education has been preparing me for "what's coming next." I think that Dewey is correct and that we have to learn how to function in the present before we can think about the future. " When I first read Dewey mention how we should be teaching in the present I was a bit skeptical. How can we not prepare out students for the future? The way you put this concept that we first have to prepare our students in the future so that they are prepared for the future made a lot of sense. We can't continue to focus on the future if the students are not learning in the present.
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