Looking back and rewriting my theory of instruction.
In the fall of 2001 in my educational psychology class, I wrote a paper on my
own theory of instruction. In that paper, I based much of my theory on my education
classes (introduction to education, adolescence, and educational psychology)
and particularly the habits of the heart from Deborah Meier’s “The
Power of their Ideas”. I expanded upon the habits of the heart to make
up the habits of work and the habits of the mind.
Habits of Work:
1. Ask good questions...why? what if? so what? who cares?
2. Communicate...respect & cooperate
3. Think...define, analyze, interpret, challenge
4. Be responsible
5. Be ready to learn as there is always something new to learn
6. Have fun.
Habits of the Mind:
1. evidence (how do you know that?)
2. viewpoint (who said it and why?)
3. cause and effect (what led to it, what else happened?)
4. hypothesis (what if, suppose that?)
5. significance (who cares?)
I had also stated that my
theory of instruction was 99% inspiration and 1% perspiration. Obviously I was
a very idealistic thinker at that time, and now that I’ve had more practical
experience in the classroom, I think that I would say that teaching requires
more than just being inspired and planning a great curriculum. Putting into
practice and continually working to shape that curriculum to fit the needs and
desires of the students was actually a greater and more integral part of my
teaching experience.
For the most part, my ideas
of inspiration are still at the heart of why I want to be a teacher and how
I want to teach. I still want to inspire students to have a positive attitude
about learning or a positive self-concept. I still want students to take ownership
and agency of the task by asking questions, thinking of creative answers, solving
problems, and actively participating in the learning process. I want to empower
students to become independent learners, learning to generate their own ideas
and strategies. In addition, I wanted students to have models for inspiration
in that teachers should serve as a model of critical thinking and metacognition,
fostering teacher-student interactions and student-student interactions in the
classroom environment that would promote this ideal. I had to continue to remind
myself and my students that the process of learning is just as important, if
not more, than getting through the content knowledge. Getting students to think
actively, analyze, apply, synthesize, and wanting to learn more about economics
was easier said than done. In order to do these inspiring things, teachers need
to provide positive reinforcement, find ways to hook students’ interests
(start where they are!), and look for meaningful and relevant topics to teach
them in an engaging way.
In terms of perspiration, my original theory of instruction provided a list of several activities to foster positive self-concepts, empowering learning goals, process of learning, metacognition, and a social context for enhancing learning. They included project based learning, journals or essays/problems, reciprocal teaching, cooperative learning groups, and community of learners (in which students would initiate discussions and their own learning). I think for the most part I still adhere to these types of activities as my students were involved in several cooperative group activities and projects.
The realities of the urban school district also made me realize the importance of scaffolding these students who usually did not have some of the basic content knowledge and skills to become more independent thinkers and doers. It is really important to think about why you assigned a task and what you want students to gain from the lesson. Sometimes “more” is not necessarily better because it complicates and confuses your real objectives. I found that I needed to provide a clear and logical structure in the beginning and gradually let students gain more responsibility and agency over their learning. Then they can understand the significance of each task and how it is relevant to them. In this way, students learn how to learn and are more capable and confident of trying more challenging tasks. On the other hand, I think that it is very important from the beginning to consider what students want to learn and how they want to learn, encouraging them to take initiative, become leaders, make decisions and choices, take action—active learners desiring an education that will enable them to reach their potential.
Furthermore, I think the
social context for learning or the classroom environment is incredibly important
to the learning experience. Good classroom management is a necessity in order
to implement the curriculum and practice. While good classroom management is
greatly enhanced by an innovative and brilliant curriculum, I think the teacher
needs to develop positive relationships with the students, to gain their trust
and their respect, and to show that he/she is committed to teaching these students
for their benefit. When teaching is student-centered, students respond in positive
ways, even if they are not used to this type of education. And once students
get involved and start learning things relevant, interesting, or meaningful
to them, the classroom can be transformed into a place where real teaching and
learning can take place.
In conclusion, I think that my theory of instruction encompasses an academic aspect as well as a social aspect that will enable students to be successful in their educational journeys as well as in their lives in the real world- a world that is increasingly needing people to make a difference. There is the academic aspect (the habits of the mind) in which I want to encourage and enable students to become critical, reflective thinkers, questioners, decision makers, and problem solvers. I want students to become competent in their basic knowledge and skills beyond the scope of my economic classes. For the social aspect (“habits of work”), I want my students to be learn to work with one another, to be able to discuss and cooperate with one another to solve problems and make decisions, to listen to and respect different perspectives, and to challenge and encourage one another to grow as learners and individuals. By framing these aspects as habits, I want to emphasize I want to teach enduring concepts and skills that students will take with them and transform them and ultimately our society.
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