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Synthesis Essay: Welcome
Introduction
Synthesis Essay: CV
My time in Michigan State’s Master of Arts in Education program has flown by. I began in the summer of 2018 and will be finishing in December 2019. I worked towards my degree for five semesters in a row, taking two classes each semester. My time in the MAED program, however brief, has left an indelible impact on me. I feel much more capable not only in my instructional abilities, but also in my process of inquiry, my ability to unpack the cultural assumptions behind curricular choices, and my ability to incorporate more creativity into my educational practice.
Concepts in Educational Inquiry
Synthesis Essay: CV
One such transformative course was ED 800: Concepts in Educational Inquiry. The class began with a historical sketch of public schooling in America, and examined the various inquiry practices of educators from John Dewey to the present day. This was a self-paced course, which was an interesting change from what I am used to, both as a student and as an educator. Most of the online courses I have taken in the past heavily emphasize collaboration, interaction, and discussion. In recent years, our district has also implemented mandatory collaboration times. There was a strategy present in ED 800, not of isolation, but of solitude. Though both words essentially mean that you are alone, isolation implies that one is cut off from the outside, while solitude has more of a voluntary, reflective connotation. In this studious solitude, I found that I was better able to reflect, and to inquire deeply into the issues at hand in the coursework.
Cultivating this reflective disposition has done wonders not only for my practice, but for my depth of appreciation for the complexities of the decision making which go into each instructional choice. The educators we studied in ED 800 set incredible examples for this type of inquiry. Vivian Paley, for instance, would write about her experiences in the classroom every day, based on audio recording she made. She would revisit these notes to analyze the unfolding psychological dramas which played themselves out in her kindergarten classroom. By doing so, she gained deep insight into each of her students’ personalities and experiences, and was able to adjust her teaching to suit the needs of each individual. She also utilized play and performance to tap into each child’s potential. Reading about her work was a truly enlightening experience. I’ve tried to write in a similarly reflective way, even utilizing recordings, but honestly, I find it much harder to keep up with than Paley seemed to. I found that transcribing these recordings took more time than I had. Nonetheless, I continue to write about and reflect upon my experiences in the classroom, and use these reflections to inform what and how I teach. It is an immensely valuable practice.
Another important part of educational inquiry is inquiring into the definition of education itself. What does it mean to be educated? Does holding a diploma mean you’re educated? A degree? What is the proper path to education? Is there one? One of our final assignments in ED 800 was to explore the educational journey of an important American from history. We read A Passion for Learning by Philip Cusick, which outlined the educational lives of Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Jane Addams, W. E. B. Du Bois, Eleanor Roosevelt, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Dorothy Day. One of Cusick’s main points in the book is that it is essential to participate in informal associations outside of the mainstream educational track, and to learn throughout life. In response to this book, I wrote about the extrainstitutional activities of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin is obviously best known as one of our founding fathers, but when he wasn’t participating in the individuation of our new nation, he was keeping himself busy with other intellectual and practical endeavors (but maybe intellectual endeavors are practical). He started the Junto Club in 1927, solely for him and his friends and associates to learn from one another. Philadelphia’s first volunteer fire brigade was born of these meetings, along with America’s first property insurance company and first public hospital. The Junto also set up its own public library. Franklin’s experiences with the Junto eventually inspired him to publish A Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge, which outlined his idea for the founding of the American Philosophical Society. I just recently did a read-aloud with my students on Franklin, and they were most fascinated with his myriad inventions, such as flippers, bifocals, lightning rods, and rocking chairs. His approach to problem solving can be a great positive influence on them. These achievements provide an excellent example of what is possible when people get together to exchange ideas and share knowledge. In this way Concepts in Educational Inquiry showed the value both of reflection in solitude, and collaboration towards shared goals.
Curriculum and its Social Context
Synthesis Essay: CV
In the spring semester of 2019 I took TE 818: Curriculum and its Social Context. This course seemed to me like a logical progression from Concepts in Educational Inquiry. It started with a similar philosophical approach, and used the process of inquiry to go beyond the thoughts of individual thinkers from the past, and instead focused on societal norms and assumptions associated with education. In essence, we examined ideology, rather than ideas.
Throughout TE 818 we expanded our concept of what curriculum is. Ideas such as explicit and implicit curriculum were explored. The former is what we purposely teach, while the latter is what students may learn as a result of our teaching, whether intended or not. The explicit curriculum would be what’s featured in the Common Core, whereas the implicit curriculum is more about what is expected behaviorally. But the implicit curriculum goes beyond classroom management. It may privilege certain students over others, perhaps more docile, compliant students, or perhaps students of one ethnic background rather than another. Then there is the null curriculum, that which we do not teach. The null curriculum sends messages about what society considers unimportant, or not worth learning. I found the concept of the null curriculum particularly fascinating. As the explicit curriculum (at least at the elementary level) becomes more skill-based rather than content-based, the null curriculum seems to grow ever-larger. This would seem to have huge implications not just for our education system, but for our democratic process. There are some thinkers out there who think they have the answer to what should be taught, such as E.D. Hirsch, and there are those that argue with them. It’s an important argument to have, and acknowledgement of the null curriculum is key to engaging in such a debate in a a productive and intelligent way.
TE 818 also forced me to think about the environments in which we teach. What do these environments say about our priorities as a culture? Which areas of our school building are open and inviting? Which areas are more remote and closed off? Our school building is as boxy as all the others, but I’m lucky in that there is a lot of interconnectivity between rooms. My classroom is connected to two others, one of which then connects to an entirely different hallway. Each classroom has at least one set of windows facing a courtyard. These features create a sense of openness in a building that could otherwise feel very closed-in.
Unfortunately there are still areas of our school which are somewhat atomized, and betray a disturbing truth about our priorities as a district. The SACC (before and after school program) room for instance, is at the farthest corner of the building away from the main entrance and office. What does this say to parents whose work schedules don’t fit the dominant schedule of the larger culture? Additionally, this is the same room where our English as a Second Language instruction takes place during the day. This instruction occurs usually once or twice a week, and though things have begun to change, in the past these kids were simply put on an ESL computer program to prepare them for state ESL testing, rather than integrating them into a feeling of belonging within our language and culture. There are currently 369 ESL students in our district at the elementary level, and only 3 ESL teachers. Concerns about equality were a major part of Curriculum and its Social Context, and for good reason. We still have a long way to go before our education system is truly providing equal opportunity for all.
Since taking this course I have become more involved in this type of work. My district provided an opportunity to view and discuss the ten-part Starz series “America to Me” on certain days after school. It explored the experiences of students of various backgrounds within a single high school in Chicago. This activity brought a lot of similarly-minded people from across the district together under one roof, and we ended up forming an equity committee to address some of the concerns we had been discussing. The committee is formed of teachers and administrators of schools and central office. Momentum built throughout the year, and the superintendent selected me and a few others to attend a training on institutional racism. This year my teaching partner and I will be running the same discussion group for a different group of teachers. I’m not sure if I would have started down this path if it were not for Curriculum and its Social Context.
Creativity in Teaching and Learning
Synthesis Essay: CV
I have always considered myself a creative person. I’ve been a musician for most of my life, and have always been an appreciator of all arts, particularly music and literature. However, I’ve never quite known how to bring this part of my life with me into the classroom. CEP 818: Creativity in Teaching and Learning provided some great opportunities to explore ways in which creativity can be successfully utilized in school.
Part of this blockage was that it seemed to me, all creativity amounted to within the four walls of the classroom was craftiness. I am not a crafty person. I’ve always felt a tinge of envy for those teachers who find ways of supplementing their lessons with interesting and engaging crafts, or who can build a unit from scratch around a cutesy premise. I’ve also always looked down on this somewhat, likely as a result of my own shortcomings.
CEP 818 provided a working definition of creativity: a process that results in something both novel and useful. If something is too novel, people won’t understand it, and will therefore reject it. If something is useful but not novel, it will probably not be engaging enough to hold anyone’s attention. The instructors also outlined six major modes of the creative process: perceiving, patterning, embodied thinking, abstracting, modeling, and play. Through these various modes I was able to conceptualize ways of incorporating creativity into my teaching that go beyond the realm of the arts and crafts cliche.
Conclusion
Synthesis Essay: CV
My work in the MAED program has made me more reflective, more analytical, and more creative as a teacher. The courses I took have had a huge impact on who I am not just in my career, but as a person. With graduation on the horizon, I look forward to continuing to utilize all that I’ve learned during my time as an MSU student. Additionally, I will continue to refine the practices I’ve adopted, and extend my education in these areas beyond the boundaries of this graduate program. The future will be shaped by our children, and the children will be shaped by our schools. Making schools more reflective, analytical, and creative is a great way to ensure that the future will be a bright one.
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