Developing authentic teaching philosophy & pedagogy
“Democracy cannot work if citizens are not autonomous, self-judging, and independent—qualities that are indispensable for students if they are going to make vital judgments and choices about participating in and shaping decisions that affect everyday life, institutional reform, and governmental policy. Hence, pedagogy becomes the cornerstone of democracy in that it provides the very foundation for students to learn not merely how to be governed, but also how to be capable of governing.”[1]
John Dewey, a notable Columbia University education scholar, insists that educators must teach individuals how to function and interact with one another in a democratic society. In other words, Dewey asserts that teachers play an essential role in shaping young democratic citizens. I believe that it is our job as social studies teachers to encourage students to develop independent, analytical and reflexive thinking skills necessary for the difficult task of justice-oriented active citizenship. Besides challenging students to question the manifestations of democracy (or lack thereof) in our society today, we should be modeling for students how to collaborate with one another on a horizontal playing field, develop solution-oriented strategies, and practice what it means to live out democratic solidarity with others. To prepare youth for this engagement, curricula should be at least in part “issue-centered,” designed around authentic inquiry to examine real, contemporary, and controversial problems around the world.
When introducing a social studies course, we must ask students foundational questions for them to consider the lenses and assumptions they bring into the course. A justice-oriented pedagogy should begin with a big picture inquiry approach about fundamental social paradoxes within our democratic society. To borrow and adapt from Teachers College Professor William Gaudelli, we should ask our students questions the following: Where are you existing relative to the context and span of the world? When is this time period relative to the history of the world? What issues concern you - how do they matter to the community around you? In order to answer these questions, students have to grapple with the subjectivity and scale of the narrative arc they assume about the world – which of course, requires thinking about one's own values and thought processes. In education scholarship, these concepts are referred to as reflexive thinking and metacognition.
Although we as individuals may never be possible to distance ourselves enough from our own societal institutions and norms enough to examine our societies objectively (but can we ever be truly objective?), these questions are an important start for students in a Social Studies course to reflect on their own pre-conceived notions about the world. Hopefully, the course will
Justice-Oriented Pedagogical Approaches
Studying institutions of power, migration, the extraction, production and exchange of resources, and a cultural analysis of ethnicity, race, language, gender, sex, and class are essential for students to ultimately locate and contextualize their role (and potential) in the global picture. Using close analysis in corroborating evidence found in documents, film, panels with community members, field trips and mixed media, students should have the opportunity to learn from a variety of sources. To digest and “marinate” on what they learn, students could use tools for reflection such as journals, simulations, and Socratic discussion models as means to explore and “try on” new ideas. Students should have a chance to be exposed to various information sources, challenge and expand their thinking, and have a space to articulate their thoughts. A Social Studies classroom should be conducive to fostering creativity, exchange, and transformation.
But how do we approach controversial or justice issues in the classroom? In their seminal paper entitled: "What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy," Joel Westheimer & Joseph Kahne suggest that a social justice oriented approach is useful when challenging students to consider structural causes for societal issues. For example, a teacher might want to ask students: why are people hungry in America, a country with a GDP high enough to suggest that each person should have plenty of food to eat? Rather than provide students statistics about hunger for them to examine at face value, we should delve into potential contributing factors such as the politics of resource allocation, education, race, gender, agriculture, labor, incarceration systems, and migration.
I like to design my units around thematically-based "Essential Questions" based on Wiggins and McTighe's Understanding by Design model (go here for an overview). As a teacher, I have a commitment to challenge students to consider how we can work towards a global system that does not require the exploitation of one group in order to serve another’s interests or demands. Essential questions to drive at this theme could be the following: Why does the income gap continue to grow in many parts of the world? Is democracy truly possible though the current economic/political system? The next step for how I would choose to implement a justice-oriented model would be to suggest viable alternatives for how to envision structural social changes.
How to Deal with Bias & Teaching
In teaching justice-oriented and issue-centered curricula, a teacher will inevitably choose to prioritize and embrace certain values over others. Sometimes it is tricky to avoid creating a binary or polarity that oversimplifies issues in an attempt to take a justice-oriented approach. We have to remember that we are modeling inquiry and discussion for our students who likely do not have the same extensive background that we do in the subject areas. We cannot lead them to have pre-determined conclusions on issues based on their teacher's personal views. Thus, as curricula designers we need to seek out a breadth of sources for students to access a more nuanced and varied sense of historical context, with gray area being embraced as fodder for exploration, rather than left out because of the risk of confusing students. To quote one of my 7th grade students last semester, who was very proud to use this rhyme: "History is a mystery." Well, history isn't always a mystery, but it is messy. Social, political, and economic issues are complicated, and many times there isn’t just one “right” answer. But we have a duty to dig into these tough questions with our students, acknowledging subjective positions, but opening the floor up to healthy discussion and debate. Respectful disagreements should be encouraged, not hushed. Our classrooms should be spaces where students arrive at questioning and strengthening their own informed opinions in community with others.
[1] Henry A. Giroux. “Introduction: Democracy, Education, and the Politics of Critical Pedagogy.” Critical Pedagogy: Where are we now? Peter Lang Publishing Inc.: 2007.
John Dewey, a notable Columbia University education scholar, insists that educators must teach individuals how to function and interact with one another in a democratic society. In other words, Dewey asserts that teachers play an essential role in shaping young democratic citizens. I believe that it is our job as social studies teachers to encourage students to develop independent, analytical and reflexive thinking skills necessary for the difficult task of justice-oriented active citizenship. Besides challenging students to question the manifestations of democracy (or lack thereof) in our society today, we should be modeling for students how to collaborate with one another on a horizontal playing field, develop solution-oriented strategies, and practice what it means to live out democratic solidarity with others. To prepare youth for this engagement, curricula should be at least in part “issue-centered,” designed around authentic inquiry to examine real, contemporary, and controversial problems around the world.
When introducing a social studies course, we must ask students foundational questions for them to consider the lenses and assumptions they bring into the course. A justice-oriented pedagogy should begin with a big picture inquiry approach about fundamental social paradoxes within our democratic society. To borrow and adapt from Teachers College Professor William Gaudelli, we should ask our students questions the following: Where are you existing relative to the context and span of the world? When is this time period relative to the history of the world? What issues concern you - how do they matter to the community around you? In order to answer these questions, students have to grapple with the subjectivity and scale of the narrative arc they assume about the world – which of course, requires thinking about one's own values and thought processes. In education scholarship, these concepts are referred to as reflexive thinking and metacognition.
Although we as individuals may never be possible to distance ourselves enough from our own societal institutions and norms enough to examine our societies objectively (but can we ever be truly objective?), these questions are an important start for students in a Social Studies course to reflect on their own pre-conceived notions about the world. Hopefully, the course will
Justice-Oriented Pedagogical Approaches
Studying institutions of power, migration, the extraction, production and exchange of resources, and a cultural analysis of ethnicity, race, language, gender, sex, and class are essential for students to ultimately locate and contextualize their role (and potential) in the global picture. Using close analysis in corroborating evidence found in documents, film, panels with community members, field trips and mixed media, students should have the opportunity to learn from a variety of sources. To digest and “marinate” on what they learn, students could use tools for reflection such as journals, simulations, and Socratic discussion models as means to explore and “try on” new ideas. Students should have a chance to be exposed to various information sources, challenge and expand their thinking, and have a space to articulate their thoughts. A Social Studies classroom should be conducive to fostering creativity, exchange, and transformation.
But how do we approach controversial or justice issues in the classroom? In their seminal paper entitled: "What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy," Joel Westheimer & Joseph Kahne suggest that a social justice oriented approach is useful when challenging students to consider structural causes for societal issues. For example, a teacher might want to ask students: why are people hungry in America, a country with a GDP high enough to suggest that each person should have plenty of food to eat? Rather than provide students statistics about hunger for them to examine at face value, we should delve into potential contributing factors such as the politics of resource allocation, education, race, gender, agriculture, labor, incarceration systems, and migration.
I like to design my units around thematically-based "Essential Questions" based on Wiggins and McTighe's Understanding by Design model (go here for an overview). As a teacher, I have a commitment to challenge students to consider how we can work towards a global system that does not require the exploitation of one group in order to serve another’s interests or demands. Essential questions to drive at this theme could be the following: Why does the income gap continue to grow in many parts of the world? Is democracy truly possible though the current economic/political system? The next step for how I would choose to implement a justice-oriented model would be to suggest viable alternatives for how to envision structural social changes.
How to Deal with Bias & Teaching
In teaching justice-oriented and issue-centered curricula, a teacher will inevitably choose to prioritize and embrace certain values over others. Sometimes it is tricky to avoid creating a binary or polarity that oversimplifies issues in an attempt to take a justice-oriented approach. We have to remember that we are modeling inquiry and discussion for our students who likely do not have the same extensive background that we do in the subject areas. We cannot lead them to have pre-determined conclusions on issues based on their teacher's personal views. Thus, as curricula designers we need to seek out a breadth of sources for students to access a more nuanced and varied sense of historical context, with gray area being embraced as fodder for exploration, rather than left out because of the risk of confusing students. To quote one of my 7th grade students last semester, who was very proud to use this rhyme: "History is a mystery." Well, history isn't always a mystery, but it is messy. Social, political, and economic issues are complicated, and many times there isn’t just one “right” answer. But we have a duty to dig into these tough questions with our students, acknowledging subjective positions, but opening the floor up to healthy discussion and debate. Respectful disagreements should be encouraged, not hushed. Our classrooms should be spaces where students arrive at questioning and strengthening their own informed opinions in community with others.
[1] Henry A. Giroux. “Introduction: Democracy, Education, and the Politics of Critical Pedagogy.” Critical Pedagogy: Where are we now? Peter Lang Publishing Inc.: 2007.
