Assignment 8

While I was taking the inventory exercise, I really stopped and thought about some of the

questions that were asked and wondered to myself, would I want to teach or have my child go to

a school like this? I felt like that would be the most honest way to determine the answer that best

fit my mindset. Once I tallied all of my points I was a bit surprised to see that my high scores

ended up tying three columns. The philosophies that I scored the highest on were Progressivism,

Social Reconstruction, and Existentialism. I read about the different philosophical education

types and realized that I am not as traditional as I once thought I was. I think that Progressivism

appeals to me because it concentrates on real-world application. The textbook explains it as

“answers are not drawn from lists or even Great Book; they are discovered through real-world

experience” (254). I believe this is a very important part of education because the world that we

live in is what we should be teaching the students to thrive in. I am also drawn to this particular

philosophy because of the teacher playing the role of a facilitator to help get the minds of the

students churning and working together to construct strategies for problem solving (254). The

next philosophy was Social Reconstruction. This idea was appealing to me because I feel it ties

in with Progressivism but takes it a step further to not hide the injustices in the world. These

social challenges are a fact of life and should be discussed in great detail. I like the idea schools

should be a place all students “can acquire the skills to regain control of their lives and influence

the social and economic forces” (257). I agree that education has become a challenge for those

with economic hardships and that is because the entire education system was built upon, and for,

those with the most money. I feel this mentality is closing doors to some of the brightest minds

that this world may ever know. Money is just a mean that should not be used to cast out

individuals because they are seen as having no value. The last philosophy that I scored the
highest on is Existentialism. The more I researched and read about this the more intrigued I

became. I am enthralled about the idea of the students having a true democratic say in the

direction of the school and what is taught. I feel that helping students to discover what they are

passionate about, what drives them, and where they want to go in life. I have gained more and

more belief in the fact that the student has to find their own way because real learning does not

take place until it is inaugurated by them (259). I think the natural curiosity of humans,

especially children, will lead them down the path they chose to explore and along this journey

the need for reading, writing, and mathematics will present itself in order to continue. The

driven individuals will take these tasks on enthusiastically so that they can continue to hold

steadfast to the end state that they have set for themselves. The reinforcement that is laid out in

the book that sticks with me is “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear” (257). I

whole heartedly believe with every fiber of my being that it is time for society to rethink the

definition of a proper education. We, as a whole, need to step outside of the antiquated thinking

that has been drilled into our heads for decades and take the time to research these ideas. I also

think we need to let loose of the reigns some and have some trust in the students to do the right

thing. The students should be taught that the education they want to receive, life they want to

live, and the future they want for society starts and ends with individual actions plus personal

accountability for those actions. The future depends on them and they should have some control

over it.