Philosophy of Education
Education exists so that one generation may pass on the cumulative body of current knowledge to the next generation. This is done by providing students access to knowledge. That is it. It’s not about grades, it’s not about achievement test scores, it’s not even about equipping young people to “keep up” with other young people in the ostensible competition of life. It’s just about passing on all there is to know to the next generation, who, by the way, may do with it what they please. It comes with no particular responsibilities. They may choose to continue the tradition of adding to the body of knowledge and then passing that on to the next generation, or they may not. The pattern is not inevitable. It is just the way that much of the world has chosen to behave since the Renaissance. In Medieval Europe, for example, society did not use this pattern, and generation after generation lead a sort of static lifestyle for several centuries. Families did pass on provincial knowledge of everything from moral values to agricultural procedures, but there was little emphasis (or means) to tap into a greater body of work, then add to it with research, invention, and so on. Once that emphasis became a cultural value, the Renaissance began, as did a pattern of education that continues to this day.
The primary way that knowledge is passed on is through documentation- books, scrolls, inscriptions, maps, etc. With each new invention the size and connectivity of documentation grows. Libraries and public forums were among the first of these inventions. Recently, electronic data bases, and the internet have greatly multiplied the amount of documentation, and the potential for connectivity among those who want to study it. To a young student, the amount of documentation can be overwhelming. This is where teachers come in. The contemporary educator is not a keeper of information, and certainly not the source of the cumulative body of knowledge who must pass it on through oral tradition like an ancient sage philosopher. The teacher is simply a guide to accessing the knowledge that exists. Teachers exist to provide young students with the basic tools of access (which are reading, writing, and math) and to provide intermediate students with a variety of entry points into knowledge (history, science, advanced math, art, literature). It is entirely possible to learn without the presence of a teacher, however, as guides, teachers facilitate education by demonstrating the processes of learning (questioning, research, experimentation). In this way, teachers provide a living key or legend to an infinite map. This means that teachers should not teach simply through transmission (lecture and presentation). Teachers are not audio text books. They are not documentaries of their content area. They are more. Teachers themselves are learners and contributors to the collection knowledge and information. It is through guidance and example that teachers perform their most important tasks.
Teachers and students now find themselves in a culture where this approach to education is more important than ever. The cumulative body of knowledge and the connectivity of its documentation are growing at an unprecedented rate. Access, too, has become much easier. While this is all very good for the potential of education, it brings with it new challenges. The first is that the media that give access to information are not silent. Each has the potential to share messages, and students are at risk of being influenced by the loudest and most ubiquitous of these. Unless teachers model the processes of critical thinking, examining “the motive of the creator relative to one’s own experience” (Semali, 2001) we risk allowing students to become “passive citizens” (Semali, 2001) who live to play out these dominant messages. Teachers must then provide a model and challenge students to think critically in all encounters with information. Another major challenge is that students and teachers must work together to keep up with the methods by which information is shared. If teachers are going to model the act of contribution, they must be up to date on technologies that enable it, and in many cases the students must go with them. Yet, very rarely do students walk into a classroom where the teacher knows everything there is to know about current technology and media. Teachers sometimes must model by learning it themselves. This is not something that every teacher is comfortable with, but it is the most effective way to “pass the torch.” It is also the only way to help students avoid becoming people whose media usage is “characterized by consumption rather than production, such as watching movies on the PC or the television, playing computer games, listening to music, and reading magazines” (Avila & Pandya, 2013). Students now live in a “participatory culture” (Avila & Pandaya, 2013) and if teachers want to continue the tradition of providing access to knowledge, education must reflect that.
References
Ávila, J. (2013). Critical digital literacies as social praxis: Intersections and challenges. New York: Peter Lang.
Semali, L. (2001, November). Defining new literacies in curricular practice. Reading Online, 5(4). Retrieved from http://www.readingonline.org/newliteracies/semali1/index.html.
Five ResourcesMiss Representation Remember “Killing Us Softly” with Jean Kilbourne. Well this is the website for a very up to date documentary that tackles those some dominant media message videos. I have seen this documentary, and Kilbourne along with many others are in it. It’s on Netflix now, and this webpage has a link to the school curriculum.
Reading Online Here I love the sections on “Teaching Hip Hop Culture” and “Teaching Popular Film.”
My Zeitgeist 2013 Here is a great PBS Lesson plan which basically forces students to explore media and evaluate the world by describing current beliefs.
I would also like to add that NPR's weekly radio show "On The Media" is a great discussion on how to interpret and view many specific news stories. It can be found in podcast form on iTunes, or on the NPR website/app.
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