Investigating Professional Education Settings - Research Paper Example

Investigating Professional education settings Introduction: Educational practices that have been implemented over the years have provided insight into practices that work and do not work and experts have offered the view that the process of change must be institutionalized, so that continuous learning and improvement takes place as an integral part of the curriculum1. Structural reforms have been mooted in the educational system, in order to bring about changes in teaching and learning practices2. However, the mere introduction of structural changes may not bring about actual changes in teaching and learning that occurs in an educational environment.3 It appears to be necessary for teachers to adopt unconventional methods of teaching within the conventional educational framework, aided by structural changes, in order to bring about real change. The two films “Dead poets Society” and “Stand and Deliver” both present unconventional teachers, who challenge their students to think out of the box and who impart an unusual element into their classrooms, thereby engaging the interest of their students and leading them on to active participation in learning.4 Therefore, they raise the following issues: (a) would the adoption of an unconventional approach achieve better learning? (b) Can such unconventional methods overcome the stifling conventions that exist in the area of learning, which can be a block to successful achievement from the students? Analysis: “Make your lives extraordinary!” says the Robin Williams character, John Keating who encourages his students to follow their passions. He is an unconventional teacher who encourages his students not to follow by rote learning methods but to follow their passions and to learn to think for themselves. The character of Jaime Escalante, a Math high school teacher in east Los Angeles is equally unconventional and daring in his classes, forever challenging his students to perform. He has a simple philosophy about learning – students will rise and perform to the level of the expectations about them and he constantly challenges the invisible barriers that exist in the students’ minds, about their Hispanic race and their poor socio economic status being barriers to their performance in their lessons and challenges them all to study for an advanced AP calculus exam. The relationship between the teacher and his students in the “Dead Poets Society” that of mentor and co-conspirator, encouraging them to eschew traditional male socialization norms instilled in them by their own fathers, to follow a more unconventional path, although the non conformist views propagated by John Keating are unable to fly because the boys must face the reality of traditional socialization and gender roles. According to Spence, “in contemporary society, gender is a central organizing principle in men’s and women’s images of themselves….and their construction of their social world is indisputable.”5 The socialization of males begins at home at an early age, because parents teach their children sex-appropriate roles and at adolescence, there is socialization along same-sex lines between parent and child.6 These gender roles continue when males move into the world and in the exclusive boys prep school that is featured in “Dead Poets Society” it becomes obvious that the conventional roles of socialization continue to persist in spite of the unconventional teacher’s efforts. The same kind of gender role shaping is evident in “Stand and Deliver”, where the idea of “female” is associated with being submissive and docile, while the “male” is the aggressive protector under whose dominance the woman exists so that gender is signified by relationships.7 Another important issue that arises in “Stand and Deliver” is that of racism, in the context of the high scores that the students of Garfield High School manage to secure in the Advanced Placement exam. The school and students have to face the skepticism of the school examiners who are unable to believe that a traditionally low performing school in an inner city neighborhood has scored so well. As a result, they accuse the students of cheating and they have to re-take the test. Escalante’s students on the other hand, perform so well not because they cheat but because they have been exposed to challenging activities that have enhanced their conceptual understanding of the Math problems that they are expected to solve.8 However, one aspect that becomes clear in both films is the fact that real change comes over a long period and takes hard work and effect. Escalante’s students devote all their free afternoons, weekends and holidays to study and the Math program at Garfield High School was the result of years of improvements and refining to Math education in high school. In the film “Dead Poets Society” the students work equally hard at their poetry, spending free afternoons at poetry sessions under the guidance of their inspiring teacher. The importance of motivation in learning is also corroborated in both films, as also emphasized by Arter and may be seen especially in Escalante’s role and his achievement with his students9. Gardner’s multiple intelligences model allows for various intelligence levels - they assess not only linguistic skills but also body kinasthetic, spatial and intrapersonal skills.10 In the unconventional manner in which Keating teaches his students, as for example during a football game, he is harnessing multiple areas of their intelligence. Similarly, Escalante also makes use of song, humor and some drama in teaching his students, thereby appealing to various facets of their intelligence as he helps them to learn. For example, he teaches them how to calculate multiples of nine on their fingers and a “tic tac toe” shortcut in learning to integrate x^ 2 Sin x dx, which are learning tricks that appeal to the students and enhance their performance. Relevance of the films in real life: There are ethical issues that are raised in both the films, which would play a vital role in real life situations. For example, Escalante’s brutal candor and comments about sex classes would be deemed inappropriate in most modern day classrooms. There are also other ethical issues that arise in this film such as the intrusion into the privacy and family life of the students, apart from the issue of harassment and bullying from the teacher in demanding extra classes and student attention to an extent that would be construed unacceptable. Some ethical issues also rise in the film “Dead Poets Society”, where the unorthodox approach that is proposed by Keating is one that the students are not prepared for, because it involves a battle of philosophies and a brand of freedom that they have not been equipped to handle. While a teacher may inspire his/her students it cannot be through measures that may be too radical to be fully ethical and may go against deeply ingrained beliefs. Personal experience in the classroom: In assessing the relevance of such on-screen depictions of teaching, it appears to substantiate the need for unconventional teaching methods, however the realities of the educational framework and public perceptions about teachers may often be an inhibiting factor that prevents the kind of results that the teachers in the films are able to achieve. Based upon my personal experiences in the classroom, I would hesitate to apply the methods the teachers used in the films, because they could be construed as unethical. In most countries, there are strictly enforced laws that protect minorities and the rights of students and their families, especially in public schools where teachers are held up to higher standards of behavior. I do not feel that such radical approaches as shown in the films could be adopted in my classroom, without incurring protest, both from students and their parents as well as from the school authorities. Moreover, a study by the Ministry of Education in New Zealand revealed that the public perception about the profession of teaching tends to lead them to view it as a low status professions, since it does lead to fame or wealth11. While individual teachers may be admired for their skills, most people judge teachers by their own negative experiences in schools and are quick to criticize teachers. As also shown by the report, the public has a negative perception about teacher status yet their expectations about teacher performance in guiding students is high and they view teachers as having a high degree of influence in conditioning student conduct. As a result, teachers are in a high profile position and their conduct and personal standards are constantly in the public view. As a result, I feel that this places greater pressure upon me as a teacher to conform to the ethical and moral standards that are expected of me and makes me hesitate to incorporate radical methods into my teaching that could incur criticism. However, in my classes, I have found that adopting a somewhat unconventional approach in the classroom, as the two teachers in the films did, is quite effective. I have also discovered the value of the unconventional approach when used to a limited degree and have found a learner centered approach to be more successful because it invites the students to participate actively in the learning process12. For example, in teaching art class, I found that a more interactive approach where I invited students to participate was more effective than an approach where I talked down to them. I also feel that the issue of cheating that was raised in the “Stand and Deliver” film was a valid one which is particularly relevant in real life. With increasing competitive pressures in the marketplace that are leading students away from a teaching career13 there is also the pressure to perform well, which can lead weaker students into cheating to achieve the necessary grades. This is particularly so with students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and is therefore an issue which I have to deal with in my classroom as well. Conclusion: Issues such as stereotyping, especially of minorities, and gender roles which were raised in the films are still prevalent as a part of the classroom experience. These movies especially brought home to me the fact that different teachers employ different approaches and there is no one completely right way to teach because every group of students is different and needs to be approached in a different manner. Hence, there is considerable value in adopting an unconventional approach. Therefore they were realistic to the extent that they demonstrated that teachers sometimes have to be creative and resourceful in inspiring their students, however in real life, very few teachers would carry matters so far as the teachers in the films did, since there are several restrictions within which they need to operate such as school board rules and parental requirements, the norms of society and various other factors. There are only a few teachers who would be in a position to involve themselves so deeply in the lives of their students, neither would they be in a position to so deeply influence their home environments as Escalante did. Most parents and families would fiercely resent such a degree of teacher intrusion into their privacy and consider it unethical behavior. Keating unorthodox methods which were viewed as fun by the students would rarely be adopted by teachers in real life since they could undermine the foundation of respect that students need to have for their teachers. Therefore, while there may be some similarities between the teachers in the films and real life, the incidents represented in the films are rarely likely to be replicated in all their intensity in real life. On this basis, the issues that have been posed may be answered as follows: (a) Yes, there is merit in adopting an unconventional approach in the classroom, in order to achieve better learning outcomes. (b) However this can only be implemented to a limited degree, since ethical considerations and public perceptions and expectations place teachers in a high profile position where their conduct is under scrutiny. References * Arter, Judith (2000). Rubrics, scoring guides and performance criteria: classroom tools for assessing and improving student learning Paper presented, based on the book Scoring rubrics in the classroom: Using performance criteria for assessing and improving student performance by Judith Arter and Jay Tighe, Corwin Press. * APA Work Group of the Board of Educational Affairs, “Learner-centered Psychological Principles: A Framework for School Reform, American Psychological Association, November, 1997. * Cohen, D.K., 1995. What is the System in systemic reform? 24, Educational Researcher, 91(11): 17,31 * Elmore, R.F., 1995. Educational reform and Educational Practice Educational Researcher, 24(9): 23-26. * Gecas, V., & Seff, M. (1990). Families and adolescents: A review of the 1980s. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52(4), pp 941-958. * Hildebrand, G., “Gardner/new Bloom Grid”, in EDF5422 Communication, Learning and Assessment: Readings, Monash University, Semester 1 2006, Melbourne, Victoria * Spence, J. T. (1981). Changing conceptions of men and women: A psychologists perceptive. In E. Langland, & W. Gove (Eds.), A feminist perspective in the academy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp 130-148. * Parratt, C. M. (1994). From the history of women in sport to womens sport history: a research agenda. In Costa, D. M. & Guthrie, S. R. Women in sport: interdisciplinary perspectives. (p. 1-12). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, pp 10 * Perceptions of the status of teachers. [online] available at: http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?layout=document&documentid=11191&indexid=6533&indexparentid=5871 * Stipek, D., & Gralinski, J. H., “Children’s Beliefs About Intelligence and School Performance”, in Journal of Educational Psychology, 1996, Vol. 88, pp. 397-407. * Steigelbauer, S.M., 1994. Change has Changed: Implications for Implementation of Assessments for the Organizational Change Literature. IN Anson, R.J. U.S. Department of Education Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Systemic Reform Perspectives on Personalizing Education. (Publication No: ISBN 0-16-045326-7). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office * Film: Dead Poets Society * Stand and Deliver Read More