Bernice Reagon: People “know that nobody can survive in a minority position with only one point of view -- we
have always had to understand the majority view as well. In the effort to understand the story of America,
we're still not getting enough help from many people who share the story, because they come from a culture that says that
their view is the only one. Well, I say to them: Welcome to prekindergarten! You will not die if you discover that there are
more lines out there than just your own. In fact, you'll discover that you will have an advantage if you know more of them!”
—By , Utne Reader
March/April 1996 Issue. Available at http://www.utne.com/issues/1999_74/features/524-1.html and Retrieved AUgust 10, 2007.
On the importance of teachers
learning alongside students.
What we need is kinds of activity in the classroom where the teacher is learning
at the same time as the kids and with the kids. Unless you do that, you'll never get out of the bind of what the teachers
can do is limited by what they were taught to do when they went to school. And I think that's possible, and it's a different
concept of what kind of educational kind of materials and activities should go into the school. It's in line with what I was
saying before -- that we mustn't think only of, "Is this to be judged by what the kids learn?" We've got to say, "Judge it
by what the whole system learns, (and) that includes the teacher." The teacher's got to be learning at the same time. And
then with this robotics stuff, it's an example because ... every situation is unique. It's never been there before. And that's
very different from the classroom situation where we're teaching math fractions. We've been there before. The teacher is not
learning anything because the teacher knows that already. And this is a very bad situation for learning. Again, one of my
favorite little analogies: If I wanted to become a better carpenter, I'd go find a good carpenter, and I'll work with this
carpenter on doing carpentry or making things. And that's how I'll get to be a better carpenter. So if I want to be a better
learner, I'll go find somebody who's a good learner and with this person do some learning. But this is the opposite of what
we do in our schools. We don't allow the teacher to do any learning. We don't allow the kids to have the experience of learning
with the teacher because that's incompatible with the concept of the curriculum where what is being taught is what's already
known.
Source: Seymour Papert on Project-Based Learning at
http://www.edutopia.org/seymour-papert-project-based-learning#graph6
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Thinking about the nature of this course,
I happened upon this conceptual outlook on AERA’s webpage.
Reconceptualists, consider the “cultural-sociological-political
implications of the curriculum taught. Reconceptualists are not only, or even primarily interested in the official curriculum,
as curriculum developers are, but seek to examine the hidden curriculum,
the subtext that comes with teaching a specific curriculum a certain way to specific groups of students. Reconceptualists,
in other words, are interested in much more than subject matter. They are interested in the messages or ideologies (hidden
knowledge) that underlay not only subject matter, but also pedagogy, social interactions, and classroom settings, and educational
practices as well as institutional contexts that have long come to be taken for granted. Many reconceptualists ultimately
ask the question, who benefits from these configurations, and who loses…. in the cultural-sociological-political implications
of schooling with respect to social justice, citizenship, or the role education is or should play in society at large.” How will you teach Thanksgiving, Columbus Day, Civil Rights with authenticity? How will we
keep our own biases in check? How will we challenge a system that may de detrimental to the learning lives of the students
we teach?
Source: American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division B - Curriculum Instruction. (August, 2007).
World Wide Web at http://www.aera.net/Default.aspx?menu_id=28&id=1091 (Retrieved August 7, 2007).
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Considering your emerging philosophy of education, are you a Reconceptualist? Is there a need for Reconceptual thinking in education? Please weigh in your thoughts below.
As a critical theorist, I understand that education and language are not neutral landscapes and that they are highly
politicized and controlled by the mainstream, dominant society. As an educator, I am an advocate in giving voice to those
who may be underrepresented culturally, linguistically, politically, economically. I continue to challenge content in textbooks
and in the curriculum and expose students to these incongruencies so they, too, may recognize, question and begin to think
critically on their own. In preparing our students for their future, my philosophy of education has changed to better preparing
our children to be productive in flexible and adaptable environments working with diverse others - culturally, linguistically,
educationally, economically. Learning within environments that are meaningful, relevant and authentic has become an important
focus of my methodology. Reconceptualism is a synonym for critical theory and in this way, I do believe my teaching foundation
resonates with both. Neil Postman said: "The lives of our children are shaped by what they will see and hear in the
media" and "Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.''
Available
at Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness, indeed at http://www.metafilter.com/28832/Public-Discourse-in-the-Age-of-Show-Business-indeed (2007). Retrieved August 10, 2007.
