Akademik I need help writing a paper/draft about two educational theorists. It will be three pages. APA not counting the frist...

Why Dewey 8

Running Head: Progressive Dewey and Parker

Why Dewey Have Progressive Schools? Diversity Dewey and Practicality Parker

Mission Accomplished… you made me read this twice. Clever!!

Jeremy Peterson

Bemidji State University

Foundations in American Education

Dr. Barbara Bridges

This title page is perfect.

Blue means good point and good thinking

Purple means I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!

Red means it needs your attention for next time.

CAPS MEAN I DO NOT WANT YOU TO MISS THIS COMMENT

September 18, 2013

Abstract

Who helped transform American education into what is it today? I bet you remember watching shows like “Little House on the Prairie,” and I hope at some point you realized it is not like school today. Certainly there are teachers that are a little more like Miss Beadle, but now we have a whole group of teachers that teach in an almost opposite way. Who came up with that new way of teaching? Who’s responsible for raising up teachers that focused on children, teaching students how to think instead of what to think, and teaching educators that a student is an individual? Turn the page and you will soon find out.

Why Dewey Have Progressive Schools?

Schools are different places than they used to be. When we look at schools in the days of the pioneers, we notice a lot more differences than the slates and varied ages of the children. We can see how the children sit, how they are spoken to, what they are taught, and how they are taught are all dramatically different. We know two people that were largely responsible for some of the changes in the education system were John Dewey and Francis Wayland Parker. Research has shown that the nearly everyone benefits from the changes these two theorists brought to our education system, with some particularly great benefits to those with special needs like intellectual disabilities or emotional problems (Woolfolk, 2013). What would our classes look like without them?

Your launch paragraph was exceedingly well written and passionately stated! You set the stage and used transition snappy/provocative questions! You made me want to keep reading!!

John Dewey justified left

You may guess by looking at some of the pictures of John Dewey that he was some sort of gunslinger from the Wild West, but in fact the only things Dewey were slinging were fantastic, revolutionary ideas on how to change politics and education for the better. Schools in the days of Dewey were focusing on getting each student to have a set of basic skills, but Dewey was concerned about more than that. He wanted to re-shape the education system to focus less on the teacher and more on the students. What did a teacher really know about who a student really was, especially when the individual was lost in the pool of hundreds of students that populated the monitorial schools of the early 19th century? Dewey’s ideas gave popularity and legitimacy to the progressive school system because he was already famous for his philosophical work on Pragmatism, a movement founded by Dewey (Gouinlock, n.d.). Dewey thrived on change. Stagnation was an enemy. AND BORING!! With every generation of students comes another set of dramatic changes in lifestyle, health, knowledge, difficulties, and technology. How can a teacher think a “tried and true” method of teaching will work the same today as it did even twenty years ago when twenty years ago OR FIVE YEARS AGO we didn’t even have smartphones, MP3 players, or YouTube? Dewey said, “I believe that next to deadness and dullness, formalism and routine, our education is threatened with no greater evil than sentimentalism (Dewey, 1897).” We cannot get caught up in feelings of the “good old days” when we are talking about teaching our children how to live and learn in today’s modern world. In America, the internet is available nearly everywhere, and 87% OF THE students are going ALREADY ARE to be using it for everything. Teachers are going to have to use available technology so students are familiar with the same technology they’ll be required to use on the job. John Dewey transformed our national education system by giving legitimacy to teaching styles that have a student-centered approach. Focusing on the student is also a fantastic way to truly appreciate student diversity. It is no wonder that today we still have multiple schools named after him. John Dewey worked hard but was by no means alone in the push to make schools more progressive.

Exceptional work on this section! Well written and supported and I was impressed with the synthesization. Less is more with me, as you know. Google John Dewey and Trotsky for a real peek at his brilliance.

Francis Wayland Parker

Francis Wayland Parker was a man to take the progressive education movement and put it into action. Parker was a teacher before he enlisted in the civil war, however after the war he returned to teaching. He became a superintendent, supervisor, and then principal in various school districts. He then established his own school, now named the Francis W. Parker School, which is located in Chicago, Illinois. The Francis W. Parker School’s (2013) mission perfectly reflects the ideals of Parker: “The Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a democratic society and global community.” PRETTY MUCH COVERS IT. Parker did not want any child to get overlooked and he did not want any child to receive a one-size-fits-all education. Parker wanted all students to have an experience-based education that included testing ideas. Making lessons interesting and relevant WHITHOUT PERSONAL RELEVANCE –KISS THE STUDENTS GOODBYE to the students was also of the utmost important to Parker because he truly believed that lessons need to be practical. If they had no use to the students, why teach it in the first place? BUT THAT IS THE CHALLENGE… HOW TO MAKE PHYSICS RELEVANT? IT CAN BE DONE!!! We now know through extensive research that Parker’s views on education have been tested and proven to benefit all students, especially those with intellectual or emotional disorders (Woolfolk, 2013).

Comparing approaches to teaching and learning

The ideas of Dewey and Parker often work together because of how like-minded the two theorists were. Both felt that learning comes best from the students raising questions and that this process helps them learn why to think a certain way rather than what to think. They both believed that teachers are not the center of the universe or the classroom. Each student is an individual person with a unique past, a unique set of characteristics, and a unique set of talents. This is especially important to students that have special needs, however there is no single teaching method works best for absolutely every student. Part of the beauty of progressivism is that it is formulated to adapt to the students. Teaching in this way helps the student understand that he or she are important to our world and they have something to offer that other students do not.

Reflections

I truly believe that without John Dewey and Francis Wayland Parker, our educational philosophies would not be the same. Both theorists were called, “The father of progressive education,” and rightly so. Giving students a day filled with lessons that are applicable to life which have been tested through experimentation is a way to help the students understand why they are learning what they are learning. It is also a great way to engage and motivate students, as they will certainly try harder to learn something that will benefit them in the future. I also feel empowered by this teaching method because I feel it gives me more freedom to be who I am and also gives me more freedom to work with students. I love to change my environment, so there are not many better teaching methods than progressivism for me.

Change is a central part of teaching to the progressive teacher.

Conclusion

We explored the different ways Dewey and Parker sought to reform the education system. They wanted to have a student-centered, adaptive, experimental, and experiential learning experience for all students. This happened through hands-on learning when possible, making the lessons practical and relevant, and asking a lot of questions. The students are capable of so much more than we expect and their capabilities are increasing with every generation. Let us do our best to facilitate and catalyze that learning and when necessary, get out of the way.

Theorist Contribution 13 Quality of Information 13 Critical Analysis 13 Compare and contrast 13 Theory to practice 13 Conclusion 13 APA style , citations & references 12 Just the sub-title error

Mechanics 8

You earned a 98

References Perfect.

Dewey, J. (1897). My Pedagogic Creed. School Journal, 54, 77-80.

Francis W. Parker School (2013). Our Mission. Retrieved from http://www.fwparker.org/Mission

Gouinlock, J. S. (2010). In Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160445/John-Dewey

Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., Hall, G., Gollnick, D. M., & Dupuis, V. L. (2008). Foundations of American education: Perspectives on education in a changing world. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Woolfolk, A. (2013). Educational Psychology. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.