Posts in Category Philosophy of Education

Where’s the Line?  Putting Democratic Teaching Ideals to the Test

In my efforts to model democratic practices to pre-service teachers, I ask my students at the beginning of each class, "Are there any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, complaints?" Usually I am met with silence or with just basic housekeeping-type questions (e.g. when do we have to take Praxis II? etc.). Occasionally, though, a student will offer a concern or complaint about the work load or impending due dates, or they'll propose a change to a grading rubric item. For example, in the last month, I had students request to be able to pre-record their Pecha Kucha presentation (a sort of slam poetry form of powerpoint presentation -- 20 slides in 20 seconds each to explore an...

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Posted on Nov 11, 2009 - 11:41 AM by Kristan Morrison

Smart, funny and slightly disruptive

I have one kid I can't get to shut up and pay attention. He's smart, funny, and cute and is just always playing and being slightly disruptive. It's like being quiet for one minute is impossible. I don't want to totally shut him down, but I want to be able to work with him. What do I do?

- Minna D., San Francisco, CA, 9th grade teacher

This is a classic situation. The pace and structure of school carries with it expectations of what young people are and should be like. We expect our children to be able to "shut up and pay attention." But what do we really mean by that? In this situation it's not only that you want him to pay attention, it's that you want him to pay attention to what you...

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Posted on Nov 04, 2009 - 11:27 PM by Jonah Canner

Using the Master’s Tools

My first week into teaching after my year in graduate school, I was filled with grand ideas and ideals as to what I would do in my classroom to help my students liberate themselves from the intellectual shackles of US public education. I entered my classroom and my school with the belief that my students and I would revolutionize the educational experience in Detroit forever--no hyperbole intended. This is how deeply I believed in my students and their potential to be positive change agents in a world which deemed them failures or equally insulting, average at best.

Critical pedagogy was my tool of choice: an educational philosophy accredited to the late Paolo Freire, which...

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Posted on Nov 01, 2009 - 06:47 PM by Ammerah Saidi

Welcome to Op-Education

Hello, and welcome to Op-Education. I am delighted to have you as a reader. My name is Shawn Gaillard, and it seems like I will be blogging pretty regularly for IDEA. I must say that I am truly excited!

As this is my introductory post, I suppose offering some background information about myself might be nice. I am twenty-three years old and live in Tempe, Arizona where I attend Arizona State University as a student of Philosophy. I am a passionate musician, a good friend, a dedicated vegan, and an open-minded biped if I do say so myself. I enjoy thinking outside the box, as well as exploring many different methods for accomplishing goals that are usually pursued in routine ways. I...

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Posted on Oct 25, 2009 - 10:50 PM by Shawn Strader

Prisoners or Students?

I'm 5'2" and about 105 lbs. I'm small--so walking through the hallways of the new school in which I just got a teaching position, I get mistaken all the time as a student, by students and teachers alike. This gives my students the impression that I'm a pushover, and staff the idea that I won't last in this school past a couple of months. But what my misleading physique grants me is a world into the daily feelings of my students inside a building they will spend four of their formative years in--if they make it through four.

"Hey! Where's your pass?"

"Where are you going? Get to class!"

"Who let you in this copy room?"

"Get to the back of the line!"

All of these are greetings given to...

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Posted on Oct 20, 2009 - 01:14 AM by Ammerah Saidi

Welcome to ‘Got Questions?’

Welcome. Before I begin responding to your questions I would like to say two things about what I will be doing here.

The first has to do with my own life as a young person. I remember being very excited about the concept of democracy: People coming together to decide, through discussion and compromise, through an open exchange of ideas, the best course of action that they, as a group, should take. Perhaps that is why I never understood censorship or indoctrination. If you believe an idea to be wrong, let it out in the world so it can be proven wrong. Don't turn it into a precious subversive commodity that people can rally around without being given the space to truly understand it or its...

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Posted on Oct 14, 2009 - 02:16 PM by Jonah Canner