Reflective Summary 2

Assignment 1

Group C

Their has been many schools wavering back and forth on the issue if they should teach students for education or teach student more learning of social skills. Research is being done to see which system is more appropriate and gives students a better understanding of knowledge. Teachers can do quite a lot to provide appropriate learning opportunities and good learning environments for children. Many teachers are being asked to teach learning in both educational knowledge and society skills.

Learning is developmental, social, and cultural approach has been going on for awhile, it is not a new concept. It started in 1896 with philosopher John Dewey when he wrote an essay called “My Pedagogic Creed.” In his essay he touches on the learning concept of learning to the social context in which they learn. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky devoted themselves to understanding how children develop cognitively. According to Piaget, “children think in fundamentally different ways from adults and that their thinking develops as they make sense of experiences” (Oakes and Lipton 171). Teachers need to try and bring in as many social experiences as they can for the students to learn from. Just like Dewey, Vygotsky “placed great importance on the teacher’s role of arranging activities and social groupings that keep students stretching within their zone” (Oakes and Lipton 171). Today, schools are trying to find the line that they can include in their social learning. Many public schools are asking more from the teachers to teach their students social norms that are in this country.

As for my personal experiences with this issue I have been on both sides of it. In the fifth grade I clearly remember having “the talk” as a whole grade. The school had separated the genders into separate room for the subject matter making it more comfortable learning experience. The teachers played a video about puberty that we would all be soon experiencing in the years to come. For me in my situation this was my first time learning about it. My parents relied on the public school system to teach the social part too. Also, another experience that I had in high school was in biology class. We were learning about the theory of evolution. Our teacher had a hands off approach trying not to offend the beliefs of others in the classroom. This is a good example of the public school teacher letting the students learn about both sides. Without being basis, my teacher let us believe whatever one we wanted. This was something that was taught in the public schools that could go over very badly with many students. By having the right teachers to teach the subject it was a great topic to be taught and it did not cross the line of where the teacher influenced the student’s decisions. They left it for the students to believe what they wanted. I feel that both of these examples display how public schools play an important role for teaching social change agent.

For me personally, I feel that this is an important issue. By having public school teachers try to do both is a great idea. For example, “teachers enact these theories in their classrooms profoundly influences students’ willingness and ability to apply their natural learning processes to formal school learning and makes a critical difference in allowing all students in a diverse society to succeed at school” (Oakes and Lipton 202). By trying to include both social and educational ways of learning it gives students a better understanding of what they are learning. Also, it helps them become more of a well rounded student since they will have the social skills for real world experiences.