eately.

52/3ip
Personal Educational Philosonhv Scoring Rubric
CATEGORY 1 2 3
Length of Paper Less than Three Three double-spaced Four double-spaced Five or more double-
double-spaced pages pages pages spaced pages

Introduction There is no clear The introduction states
introduction to the the purpose, but does not
purpose of the paper or adequately preview the
its structure. structure of the paper and
does not engage the
reader.
The introduction clearly The introduction is inviting,
states the purpose of the encourages the reader to
paper, previews the learn more about the
structure of the paper, but candidate's philosophy, and
does not engage the 4. clearly states the main
reader
C "
'A en t0.
..,, c. rile' n )
3,,,,, ?OS
points and the purpose of
the paper.
qett, \ tix r r-

Coverage of Information includes Information includes few formation includes some Information includes
Teaching very few, if any, of the of the knowledge, skills, of the knowledge, skills, thorough delineation of the
knowledge, skills, and and dispositions of and dispositions of knowledge, skills, and
Dimensions dispositions of effective effective teachers; effective teachers; clearly dispositions of effective
teachers; articulates articulates some best articulates severath.est teachers; clearly articulates
few best practices of practices of effective practices of effactive many best practices of
effective teachers teachers -- -s - ,

Integration of Does not include Offers few examples of 0 e - -- - :, alues, Offers quality details and
Experiences, examples of personal experiences, values, and and beliefs to illustrate thz examples about personal
experiences, values, or beliefs to illustrate commitment to most experiences, values, or
Beliefs, and beliefs related to commitment to dispositions beliefs to illustrate support
Values dispositions dispositions. Examples of dispositions
add little to the discussion.
Incorporation Connections between There is little connection There is some connection There is a strong
of Theories and the writer's expression between the writer's between the writer's connection between the
of philosophy and expression of philosophy expression of philosophy writer's expression of
Readings curriculum theory, and curriculum theory, and curriculum theory, philosophy and curriculum
practice, constructivist practice, constructivist practice, constructivist theory, practice,
theory and readings theory and readings theory and readings constructivist theory and
completed in courses completed in courses. completed in courses. readings completed in
are unclear or Few points are supported Most points are supported courses. All points are
unrelated. with references. with references. up cr. --: ferenc
Sequencing/ Many points are not in Some points are not in Points are made in a tits ar ee marein a lo. al
Transitions logical order. The logical order; the way they logical order; the way they order; the smooth flow
paper lacks are presented makes the are presented sometimes effectively maintains the
organization. The writing difficult to follow makes the writing difficult interest of the reader and
transitions between and less interesting. to follow or less interesting increases the ease of
paragraphs and/or Some transitions work for the reader. Transition- reading. A variety of clear
ideas are unclear or well; but connections show how ideas are transitions are used. They
nonexistent. among ideas are fuzzy. connected, but there is clearly show how ideas arz
little variety. :-. .
Conclusions There is no clear The conclusion is The conclusion is e conc usion is strong
conclusion; the paper recognizable; but does not recognizable; ties up and leaves the reader with
ends with no summary tie up several loose ends. almost all loose ends in a an understanding of the
statement. It simply summary statement. writer's points; offers a
ends. summary statement, looks
forward to the future, uses
a quote, cites a unique
erience, etc.
Mechanical Many grammatical, Several grammatical, 45 -;:r two errors in No gra
spelling, or punctuation capitalization, spelling, or grammar, capitalization capitalization, spelling, or
Errors
errors; errors interrupt punctuation errors; the and/or punctuation; the punctuation errors; the
the flow. errors interrupt the flow. aper is easy to read. paper is exceptionally easy
to read.
Proper Use of Some sources are not All sources (information Ariources (information All sources (information and
Citations accurately and graphics) are and graphics) are graphics) are accurately
documented. accurately documented, accurately documented, documented in APA format
but many are not in APA but a few are not in APA
format rmat
Passing is 27/36 with no score of a one.
Running Head: THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 1

The Meaning of Education

Edrienne Brown

Wesleyan College
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 2

The Meaning of Education

An unknown artist once said, "The meaning of life is to give life a meaning." I believe

that this is a saying that everyone should follow when they want to see a change in their society.

However, the main way to find the form of life is to be educated in some level of knowledge.

But, education around the world is very different due to the different beliefs of philosophies.

In my experience of going through elementary school all the way to college, I do not

believe that every school should be grounded to only one philosophy, but that they should build

from one philosophy to the next until we reach the philosophy of Constructivism. In the

Foundations of American Education, Webb, Metha, & Jordan (2010) stated, "Each theory was

developed as a protest against the prevailing social and educational climate of the time." I take

this statement into consideration of the human body evolving over time. But as we evolve, we

are still using our old knowledge to make new ones. This is one of the reasons why

constructivism is interesting to me because it ties the older philosophy together. Just like

progressivism, constructivism is student-centered. But, it also deals with the understanding of

reality like behaviorism. However, due to it being the finish line of adopting a form of

philosophy into education, we need a starting line.

The first philosophy that should be encountered at the early elementary school level, is

the belief of progressivism. "Progressivism focuses on real-world problem-solving activities in a

democratic and cooperative learning environment," (Webb, Metha, & Jordan, 2010, p. 74). As a

young child, their minds are still developing on their surrounding of discovering new places and

faces. Following the roles of a Progressivist will allow a student to gain experience at a young

age by doing hands-on activities. Students are more active at that age and would like to have the
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 3

freedom of discovering their world before being introduced to the life's rules. Classrooms should

be managed around the platform of the outdoors, to allow the students to understand the beauty

that the ancestries saw. Then the students should be able to discover the different views around

the world. Children love to be able to look out the window and see all the flying animals and

different vehicles driving by, but schools are starting to decrease the sizes of the classroom

windows due to distraction. But, in my opinion, I believe that students are more focused on the

outdoors because they do not see enough of it. The majority of the time that we spend awoken,

we are indoors, which bores the students. Young elementary students should have outdoor

classes for experience, for example, studying different forms of live science.

The purpose of starting school at a young age is to gain knowledge of the things that we

cannot witness at home. Schools for early elementary students are supposed to allow freedom to

explore and gain experience. I read an article called Green Nature/Human Nature, by Charles A.

Lewis, and it talked about how young students are geared to adoring the Savanna because it is an

open landscape. According to Lewis (1996), "Savanna is an open landscape of scattered trees

with an understory of grasses and shrubs that affords distant views for safety...humans have an

innate preference for savanna-like settings that arises from their long evolutionary history on the

savannas of East Africa" (p. 19-21). Even though our city is not located near the Savanna, I

believe that pulling classroom ideas from this passage is very helpful. It talked about how nature

can make a child feel safe without having set rules but by being student-centered to observe the

landscape or surrounding area and express the knowledge of survival skills.

Unfortunately, most counties follow one belief throughout a student's school career.

Being a former Bibb county student, our mission statement is, "The Bibb County School District

will develop a highly trained staff and an engaged community dedicated to educating each
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 4

student for a 2P' century global society" (bcsdkl2, 2017). This mission statement is geared to a

Social Reconstructionist due to the reconstruction over the period of time. Towards the end of

the middle school years, I believe that schools should focus on Social Reconstructionism. In the

rules of a Social Reconstructionist, "the school's purpose is to teach students and the public not

to settle for 'what is,' but rather to dream about 'what might be.' Most important, the purpose of

schooling is to prepare students to become change agents" (Webb, Metha, & Jordan, 2010, p.

84). By using social reconstruction, we are still allowing students to have the freedom to change

the way things are, just like in Progressivism, and we are still challenging their behavior by

bringing in new circumstances.

In other words, the Bibb County mission statement should be redefined by the grade

levels. As I stated earlier, the early elementary school level should focus on the progressivism

due to the development of the mind. I do not remember my experience in elementary school, but

going through two semesters of field experience, I have gained knowledge of what it is like to

see a child grow through the eyes of an adult. The second graders in my field experience are

developing a mind of a third grader but are still discovering new things. They do not like to be

controlled over book assignments. As a young person, they are still geared to being in control of

when they can have movement and when to play games.

As I witness in elementary school, educational games, like math games, are used as an

instructional method because it allows the students to be able to play with some skills of

developing knowledge. It also enriches the behavior actions of what an older person is supposed

to do. For example, young children like to run around and find excitement, but if it was replaced

with fun games that focus on one of the four subjects it can build their learning skills and

behavior skills.
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 5

As the human body transition to the higher level of elementary school, I believe that the

philosophy should switch over to behaviorism. The reason for a chance is because when a

student reaches the higher level school, that student will start to take tests like the Georgia

milestone. It is very important to show good behavior because the end of the year test will

determine if you will be able to go to the next grade level. I also believe that moving from

progressivism to behaviorism is very useful because once the student learns about their

surroundings, they should learn how to react to it.

During my transition to the sixth grade, we were introduced to new classes like

orchestra, home education, and technology programming which is very different than going to

recess to run around. These additional classes were our "Social Reconstruction" form of a recess

that allowed us to take advantage of a different value of education that was not necessarily

geared to Literature, Math, Science, or Social Studies. Music and programming allowed us to

take a step into what we could become as we grow older and pursue a career. Additional changes

can also motivate us to go to certain colleges, like a tech school or a liberal arts school.

However, like I stated before, Constructivism is the most popular to me because it can

draw in many different forms of philosophy. For example, constructivism is more of a student-

centered learning that grows with interaction. This correlates with the philosophy of

progressivism due to the ability to allow a student to grow by learning. As the Wesleyan

Education Program Conceptual Framework states, "2.5 Creates a learning community that

encourages students to create their own meaning according to the principles of constructivism."

This is another reason why I care more about constructivism because as a future teacher, our

classroom will be controlled by the Board of Education and as a teacher, we would need to

understand how to take advantage of whatever philosophy is used in the school system. In my
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 6

opinion, I feel that having a philosophy like progressivism or constructivism allows us to be open

minded.

On the contrary, one of the philosophy that I do not look upon in a public education is

Perennialism. The reason for it is because this philosophy is focused more on the understanding

of religion and God. As the nation grows, so does the multicultural values of religion in a school

building. It is hard to accommodate a certain belief and to try not to offend the other. I believe

that in today's society, Perennialism should be seen more in Churches or religious-based schools.

However, it is helpful in teaching about the everlasting truth. Unfortunately, it is not a very

common philosophy in a school system that I have been enrolled in or seen. But, it is not a

philosophy that should be forgotten.

In conclusion, even though one philosophy may have a better strategy then the next one,

schools in the surrounding district should not be grounded to only focusing on that one

philosophy. A student's education is seen as a staircase, as we climb higher so does our

knowledge. I believe that the decision of philosophy should be seen as a staircase as well. The

main goal is to reach the philosophy of constructivism, but by developing the frameworks of

progressivism and behaviorism. Also, the use of philosophy should not only be used in the walls

of the schools but in religious houses, like a church. Even though Perennialism is not in my

interest of having in a school, due to the multicultural values of religion, it should still be

available within the certain areas.

THE MEANING OF EDUCATION 7

References

Bibb County School District. (2017). Bibb County School District. Retrieved from

http://www.bcsdk12.net/

Brown, E. (2017). Philosophy. Unpublished: Wesleyan College

Education Department Information. Conceptual Framework Contract. Wesleyan education

program conceptual framework. Retrieved from

https://wesportal.wesleyancollege.edu/ICS/Campus Life/Campus Groups/Education De

partment Information/Main Page.inz?portlet=%5bICS%5d HandoutPortlet

Lewis, C. (1996). Green nature/human nature: The Meaning ofPlants in Our Lives. Chicago, 11:

University of Illinois Press

Webb, L., Metha, A., & Jordan, K. (2010). Foundations ofamerican education. Columbus,

Ohio: Merrill