So far in the course we have talked about three important
members of the education community. From what I know now there are many
different approaches to an “effective” learning environment. However, in Dewey’s
reading, Experience and Education Dewey
talks about traditional verses progressive learning. I actually wasn’t aware of
the progressive learning strategies because I was use to the traditional environment.
After reading Dewey’s philosophies my eyes were open to a whole new way of
teaching. Progressive education seems to be more of how the students feel and
their opinion on things in comparison to just sitting down and listening to a
teacher talk to you for an hour and thirty minutes about subjects that don’t
interest you. Dewey also talked about the role of the teacher and how it has
such a great influence on the students. Plus, the way the teacher teaches is
important because they have the power to push the interest in the students. Not
only do teachers help make the connection with the material but also the
students’ actual experiences help make a difference in their learning. Dewey
introduces the idea of experiences outside of the classroom to help make a
connection to the student’s schoolwork. Everything that Dewey discuss makes me
wonder how different my education career would have been if I grew up in a
progressive learning environment. 
Next, we viewed the readings of Tate in Halfway Home. I really enjoyed reading his writing because he
showed a change. He admitted to his problems and being a bad teacher and made a
change for the better. In his writing, Tate discusses how he did not grow up in
the nicest house and he says that his family struggled financially. He tells a
story about his father working as a janitor for one of the frat houses on
campus, and asked Tate for money to buy his mom a nice coat. Tate did not hesitate
and he gave his father the money. However, Tate never saw that money again, but
he did not care because he knew his father was a hard worker and he too wanted
to see his mother happy. However, Tate’s attitude about his family and where he
came from began to change over the years. He started to shun his family because
he was embarrassed of them. I think this was a huge part of what made Tate who
he was. Once he graduated from college, he began to teach, and he admits that
he was not the best teacher. He let his personal problems get in the way of his
main duty. Tate realizes that by him acting this way he’s not only hurting
himself but his students as well. In the end, Tate does find an effective way
to get across to his students so that they can get the most of their learning
experience. 
Finally,
we read Strickland in Confrontational
Pedagogy. Strickland would agree more along the lines of Dewey and progressive
education. Strickland stressed the opinions of his students and he valued what
they had to say. I thought it was very interesting how much freedom he gave his
students. He was not big on giving physical grades; instead he made his students
write papers on what they have learned. I feel like this could have been a good
correlation of what the students were learning but it could also be negative.
Strickland says that he would want the students to challenge there grade if
they know they deserved better. He gave them an option to write an argument paper
about it and describe why they should have gotten a higher grade. While this
could be good, it could also be nerve wrecking. Students probably would come
from left and right wanting to change their grade and that would be more work for
the teacher, but if you’re like Strickland and enjoy reading a bunch of papers.
I say go for it.
After
reading all these philosophies I feel that learning effectively is the key. I
now have a different outlook on education and I think we should try to look
more into progressive teaching however I don’t think we should forget all about
the traditional. I learned that writing and understanding a topic is very
important for learning. I think that writing should be a main factor when it’s
time to assess students because if a student can write extensively on a topic
then you know they have mastered the material and that’s the overall goal, to
MASTER the material.
