Teaching Philosophy

I believe that students must learn to think critically in order to function as responsible adults. I attempt, especially in my American History classes, to create a scaffolding for critical thinking and analysis. At the same time, I believe that it is important to make the information that is being presented to the students, engaging and interesting. And here is where the information that I have learned in Edu255 is applied.

Back in the late 1960’s Sesame Street was seen as a great innovation because the producers responded to the effect that television – especially 30-second commercials – had upon the attention span of pre-schoolers. Forty years later, that approach almost seems quaint. Students today are media multi-taskers. And, as educators, we must respond in kind. I find that my classes today are a mix of media meant to engage: lectures with internet based visual accompaniment; current event podcasts (thank you, Ruth); YouTube clips; DVD films; Wiki research projects, and; traditional text-based reading assignments and class discussions.

Richardson (pp.10-13) notes the dangers of students landing on inappropriate internet sites and revealing personal information. However, another danger in this read/write universe in which our students are immersed is accepting as the truth factually incorrect and politically loaded material that is frequently presented in slick legitimately-looking packaging.

When, in our media rich environment, people take information presented to them at face value, they may loose their ability to see a situation objectively, and, consequently, formulate an opinion based upon incorrect facts. Many of my students last fall, for example, were supporting John McCain for President primarily because they believed that, were Obama elected, he would take away their guns. Certainly, there were enough valid justifications to support the Republican candidate without a specious reason concocted to rally support of gun owners; but how were the high school students to know?

I attempt to have students question everything they read on the web, hear on the radio, and watch on television. Students learn the difference between editorials and news reports and the sources of news that will provide them with unadulterated factual material.

Further, I make the effort to have American history synthesized and integrated with current events so students see the relevance of the past to their present. An example was a class discussion last fall of Roe vs. Wade following a discussion of the Supreme Court decision in a televised Presidential debate. The emotional class discussion that followed covered the rights of the individual as guaranteed by the Constitution, the power of the Supreme Court, and such provocative ideas as when does life begin. I believe that our readings in the area, and the thoughtful class discussion, gave the students a realization that issues have more depth to them than the buzz phrases associated to them; that questioning issues and opinions, and digging to find the underlying facts and philosophies will enable the students to make their own educated decisions on any issue.