One of my very first assignments in this course was comparing the “traditional” views of E.D. Hirsch Jr. and the “progressive” approach of John Dewey about the purposes and beliefs of education and schooling. Whereas Hirsch presents a “curriculum-centered” approach where the teacher “drills” the material into the students, Dewey supports a more “student-centered” approach where the teacher presents the student with “influences,” and supports the child in responding to those influences. While Hirsch believes the purpose is to provide an ability for individuals to understand and participate in their culture, Dewey’s purpose centers more around the autonomy of the student. To me, the ideal educational system would be a balance of the two. I believe the purpose of education is to give each individual the tools they will need as they go through their journey of life. So why then, is teaching so difficult, and why can’t teachers “just teach?” As Ken Robinson says, “Nobody has a clue...what the world will look like in five years’ time. And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it” (TED, 2006).
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Before taking this course, I had never taken the time to deliberately plan for what questions I would ask to yield maximum student thinking. Through several “discourse” assignments, I was able to plan exactly what questions I would pose to students and thinks about potential student responses in order to listen for key ideas and phrases. I was also given the opportunity to develop an entire unit on Newton’s Laws of Motion, which involved not only planning “just” what content to teach, but also how to clearly state objectives, frame discussions, and craft a “three-dimensional” assessment. When I implemented the unit in my own classroom, it was exciting to see improvements in student engagement and understanding from my previous years of teaching that same topic.
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Upon entering my teaching position at my alma mater, I thought to myself, “I enjoyed playing sports, so that must mean I can coach.” Being an athlete allowed me to step on the field/court as a coach and guide players through practices and games, but now I see that effective coaching, like teaching, is a profession that can be viewed through many lenses. Through my graduate school studies, I had the opportunity to approach coaching from physical, psychosocial, legal, and administrative standpoints. Psychosocial Bases of Coaching (KIN855) provided me with the most reflection about my own coaching and made me realize that, like teachers, coaches do not “just coach.”
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I look forward to my ten-year college reunion where I can edit my response to my fellow biology majors. In response to the, “what are you up to?” question, I can now say with confidence, “I have earned a master’s degree in education, and I am proud to be a teacher and a coach.” Through my graduate school studies at Michigan State University, I have gone from “just a teacher” to a “confident educational leader."
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