Evaluation of Teaching Philosophies
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In my opinion, no one philosophy is perfect. They all have certain aspects that are more productive, and they all have downfalls that make them less productive. I think the best philosophy to follow in your classroom is a mix of behaviorism and democratic education. In the classroom, behaviorism focuses on how to motivate and help students. Information is transferred from teachers to learners from a response to the right stimulus. Behaviorism is one of the better philosophies because it teaches kids about work and rewards, which is something they will take with them throughout life, not just in school. People naturally want to be rewarded for hard work and giving them a good reason to participate in school will help boost their motivation. Positive reinforcement is a great way to encourage students to do the best they can. It allows students to understand the rewards that are associated with hard work. Democratic education is often focused around giving the students a say in their learning, with the students' voices being equal to the teachers. This is a great theory because it allows for a high level of engagement. I believe that students should have a say in their learning and be able to help decide what we do during class.
Although these two philosophies are good in theory, there are some downfalls. One bad thing about behaviorism is that not all students have the same goals. While one student may have the goal of getting an A on the test, that may not be attainable for all students- someone else's goal may be a B. Another downfall is that it focuses only on surface behavior, what one can observe. It does not teach students about internal rewards and self-accomplishments. In the real world, you need to do things to make it, like paying bills, that you do not get rewarded for. A downfall to democratic education is that, although it is extremely important that the students have a say in their learning, the teacher needs to have more power so that we can ensure learning is still taking place and the classroom is productive. Another downfall is that teachers have things they are required to teach. It will be difficult for teachers to make every lesson and activity super interesting.
Some ways to incorporate behaviorism and democratic education into the classroom is by allowing students to have a say in their learning. You could do this by allowing students a choice in what they read and the projects they do. Although the teacher would have the ultimate say about what the students can do. This relates to the philosophy of democratic education because although the teacher still has more power, they are allowing their students to have a say in their learning. Another thing you can do is have 2 different activities and the class votes on which one they want to do that day. This is teaching students about the importance of democracy and letting them know that their greater interest is important. Some ways you can use concepts of behaviorism in your classroom is by having students get rewards for their accomplishments. However, for this to be fair, each student should have their own individual goals they need to meet. You can meet with each student periodically and help them set an attainable goal. You can still reward the class, but that reward should be if each student meets their individual goal. Another way to support behaviorism in your classroom is by leaving work, instead of just always telling them what they need to improve. This positive reinforcement could help students to be more confident and motivated.
The ways in which assessments would work in a classroom that incorporates a mix of democratic education and behaviorism would be by allowing students to choose what way they want their knowledge to be assessed. As a language arts teacher, I could offer them a variety of projects to choose from instead of just a test or an essay. Another way you could practice democratic education when talking about assessments is by allowing students to have a say if they think something is unfair. If A test or essay is given as an assessment, and the class thinks that certain parts or questions were not fair, they will have a time where they can say this. Additionally, you could allow students the chance to do revisions. This shows students that it is okay to make mistakes and allows them to have a chance to challenge their thinking and correct mistakes. One way you can incorporate behaviorism into your classroom is by having rewards when students meet their goal on an assessment. Like I said earlier, this would look different for each student.
Doing these things is great at any level, but it is especially beneficial for children in middle school for many reasons. YA are beginning to find their voice and discover who they are. They want to feel like their voices are being heard and considered. Additionally, YA has a wide variety of interests. By allowing them to have a say in their learning, you will learn a lot about your students as not just your students, but as people. In middle school, your prefrontal cortex is not anywhere being fully developed, leading to student's acting off impulses to receive external rewards. For example, a student may decide to cheat because they need an A on the test. If we reward children with healthy rewards such homework passes, points back on quizzes, and being able to pick their seats, it will teach them that rewards are associated with hard work. When people drink or smoke or cheat on a test, they are looking to receive a reward by “skipping” the work. Because YA are so prone to these impulses, it would be a good idea to show them a healthy way to reward themselves and help engrain the concept of working hard.
As previously mentioned, neither democratic education or behaviorism is perfect, they both have big downfalls as well. If you are letting your students choose between multiple projects, that means that you must create multiple projects. This could lead to problems, as teachers are already busy and do not have a lot of time. Another downfall would be that if you allow students to always choose what they want to do, you may struggle to incorporate content that you must teach. An issue with behaviorism is that people may not think it is fair that some people get rewarded for a B while others get rewarded for an A. This could definitively be an issue, but I still think it is a better alternative than only rewarding students for the highest grade.
Ultimately, no teaching philosophies are flawless. There are issues within every philosophy, and I honestly believe that you should incorporate all of them in some way into your classroom. However, I think the two most important are behaviorism and democratic education because it is so important that our students get to have a say in what goes on in the classroom, after all, school is for them. Additionally, behaviorism allows students to understand the concept of hard work. It helps to motivate them by showing them that working hard has rewards.