Educational Theory

Introduction

This article will investigate my chosen educational theory that speaks to me and how it has informed me of my classroom practice and impacted my teaching methodology and approach. Having been educated in Singapore, England, Australia and United States, my educational theory encapsulates traditional theories to postmodernist theorists about conduct. Thinkers of educational theory draw three sources from traditional principles; the first is reasoning, which postulates that if the human mind could understand a rational system of conduct with axioms, then the human mind might be shaped as theorems in geometry and various forms of thinking of Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, and others. Secondly, there are otherworldly principles of conduct beyond and superior to human experience capable of evaluating it. For instance, believers in otherworldly standards outlined in the word of God that they do not need human conduct, which stands apart from that conduct. Thirdly is a scientific discourse where the principle is derived from experience. Some advocates for this scientific principle as conduct rather than about conduct. For example, attempts to develop the science of human development, which takes place in stages as if they are principles which determine human conduct. All these three principles, “rational", "otherworldly”, and "scientific”, are sources to determine and judge actual conduct. Many writers have also worked on theories of education in which the nature of conduct has to be worked out through experience. For example, John Locke called the “various and unknown senses of humour, interests, and capacities of men.” and what John Dewey called “unreconciled diversity” and the “recalcitrant particular” in reality. This theory means that the nature of experience is an empirical matter in this traditional approach and not a nature that can be known before experience. Therefore, education theories must be theories of conduct rather than theories about conduct. (Chambliss, 1987).

This article will examine my educational theory with corresponding philosophies in education.

My educational philosophies

My guiding educational philosophy, or “love of wisdom”, as I will interject, combines progressivism, behaviourism, and social reconstructionism to encapsulate my educational theory. I believe that experiences come from the student, and responding to student’s personal lives and experiences is imperative to learning by doing. I also believe that acquiring new behaviour is based on environmental conditions. The teacher can teach students to respond favourably to various environmental stimuli. Teachers can arrange environmental conditions to provide positive reinforcement or corrective measures. Finally, I believe that the curriculum should focus on students taking social action to solve real problems in the world. My teaching practices in the classroom tend to be more of a social reformer. (Krutka, 2016)?

Progressivism

This philosophy relates to two groups of critical importance, mainly administrative progressives and pedagogical progressives. John Dewey is a great proponent of this philosophy, where interaction and collaboration are required in the class. Hence, setting an environment with learning by doing is imperative for students’ success. The goals of progressivism are to impact educational rhetoric from pedagogical perspectives and impact the structure and practice of education for students’ developmental and holistic achievements as well as social efficiency from administrative perspectives. My teaching methods are one of facilitating, coaching, and mentoring students into learning by doing. The curricula are focused on vocational training and differentiated outcomes as part of democracy in learning. (Labaree, 2005)

Behaviourism

The acquisition of new behaviour based on environmental conditions can shape and modify students’ behaviour in the classroom. Here, my teaching methodology would provide students with the tools and conditions to respond to the given activities and curricula. The practices of teaching students by assimilating them into an environment with various stimuli to engage, excite and inform them of the possibilities of a safe and creative environment where learning can be created with positive and concrete reinforcement. (Sikhauli, 2018)

Social Reconstructionism

My belief in social reconstructionism resonates with Jerome Bruner, the father of constructivist theory, who postulates that children are active learners who construct ideas based on existing knowledge. They solved the problem by building upon concepts already known from real-world applications. In my classroom practices, I guide students through self-discovery rather than memorizing information. My teaching methodology emphasizes techniques like Socrates seminar, collaboration, reflection, and exploration. The main themes are intellectual development, action-based learning, and spiral curriculum. For intellectual development, students will be guided on action-based using hands-on approaches such as touch, feeling and manipulating tasks. Students will also be learning through videos, pictures, and diagrams to develop their capacity for language to think abstractly and interpret symbols and meaning. In action-based learning, a student will gain new information during each lesson, the ability to transform previous information with newer ones and to evaluate and judge whether all the information gathered makes sense. In the spiral curriculum, students revisit basic ideas repeatedly, building upon them until the entire concept is fully comprehended to facilitate critical thinking and problem-solving skills. (Smidt, 2009)

How do these beliefs impact my classroom practice?

As a higher education practitioner, my belief in progressivism is to acculturate learning by doing. Therefore, teaching students to ask questions allows them to be active participants in the class and provoke curiosity using the scientific method of inquiry so students can study matter and events systematically to achieve a better mastery of the subjects in the business and management domain. In the practice of behaviourism, they are providing students with positive reinforcement for the acquisition of new behaviour based on environmental conditions set to stimulate students’ critical thinking and decision-making for abstract and concrete analysis. Finally, on social reconstructionism, students are taught action-based learning, where they will build or construct their knowledge from new content to more difficulty levels towards mastery of the subject. These practices have informed me of my approach and beliefs in guiding my students.

Conclusion

This article has provided an in-depth analysis of my chosen educational theory. The significant details of the philosophy and why this philosophy speaks to me have been elucidated in terms of a combination of progressivism, behaviourism, and social reconstructionism and how my belief in this combined philosophy impacts my classroom practice.

References

Chambliss, J. (1987). Educational Theory As Theory of Conduct: From Aristotle to Dewey. State University of New York Press. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/univ-people-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3406918.

Krutka, D. (02 June, 2016). 5 Educational philosophies. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H0DbcDbIbs&t=610s&index=2&list=WL (12:09)

Labaree, D. (February, 2005). Progressivism, schools, and schools of education. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/7055356/Progressivism_Schools_and_Schools_of_Education

Sikhauli, S. (3 March, 2018). Western philosophies of education. (n.d.). 49-55. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/34327764/M.A._Edu._Philosophy

Smidt, S. (2009). Introducing Bruner : A Guide for Practitioners and Students in Early Years Education. Retrieved from https://cd21k6h6z-mp01-y-https-ebookcentral-proquest-com.proxy.lirn.net/lib/univ-people-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1434038&query=Jerome+Bruner

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