*Personal Philosophy of Education*

Nature of Humans

            Quite often human habits are misclassified as human nature.  A wide spectrum of recurring actions and reactions are all attributed to some innate force that predetermines what human beings will do.  Oftentimes actions routinely associated with specific situations are a result of training or teaching, instead of a primal inclination.  Many habits become what are referred to as “second nature”.  This implies that something may be done automatically, or naturally without absolute focus on the act that is done.  Though the act may be automatic, it happens as a result of exposure to the situation.  Driving is an action that becomes second nature.  Experienced drivers do not think about moving their foot from one pedal to the next.  They do not think about twisting the steering wheel clockwise to a certain degree to cause the car to turn a corner and glide into the passing lane.  Drivers just drive.  Since driving comes with ease, after someone has been driving for years it is difficult to image they ever took driving lessons, or had difficulty coordinating hand and foot movements that would afford smooth and seamless automobile movement.  Yet, the driver was not born with driving skills.  Driving is not an act that qualifies as human nature.

            In order to discuss the pure or organic nature of humans, one must first acknowledge that humans are just one subcategory under the classification of living things.  Then it is necessary to discuss the basic nature of living things.  At the most fundamental level, all living things exhaust resources and opportunities in an effort to exist or live.  This is not a complicated concept; living things try to live and they try to recreate the life cycle.  The habits associated with the effort to exist are not mandated by morals or a good versus bad nature of the living, but by the circumstances that warrant the action that supports the effort to live.

            Individual perceptions of what it means to live and consequential judgment of actualization according to those perceptions are results of socialization.  The only absolute organic nature of living things is the inherent impulse to live and to recreate life.  Everything else grows from the desire to survive.  Within the broad category of living things, humans are classified as mammals.  The environment and biology of mammals dictate the basics of their existence.  According to NationalGeogrphic.com, “The word mammal comes from the Latin mamma, meaning breast, because female mammals produce milk to nurse their babies. Nearly all mammals give birth to live young, and all are warm-blooded, maintaining a near-constant body temperature regardless of environmental conditions. They are vertebrates and use lungs to breathe air and are the only animals that grow hair. Mammals probably appeared on Earth some 200 million years ago.” 

            The first order of socialization happens with the development of the child in the mother’s womb, as opposed to in a shell or cocoon.  The mother does not lay an egg or drop her womb in the corner of a garden and leave.  That type of birth cycle can not happen with mammals.  The mother has to carry the child until a point at which it is ready, or can survive outside of her.  The mother does not choose this birthing process; it is part of the natural re-creation cycle.  After the child is born the need for mother’s milk as a source of food dictates where the child can go and ultimately, how the child will exist in the world.  Mammals are social creatures.  Is that condition innate?  One might argue it is more a matter of necessity, driven by the natural desire to live?  Once the child is weaned from the mother’s milk, he or she remains in the social network because it offers the optimal conditions for a chance of survival.  Also, remaining in the social system provides an opportunity for re-creation of the life cycle.      

            Further examination of mammals, particularly humans, reveals that all of the habits of humans can be at least minimally loosely coupled with the natural survival instincts people possess.   Good and bad actions are primarily defined according to alignment with impact on survival and re-creation of the life cycle.  If the ills of the human species are to be corrected, the challenges, presumed and extant, that threaten human existence and procreation must be completely eradicated.

Goals of Humans

Complete eradication of life-threatening factors in human societies is idealistic, but highly improbable.  Social structures which divide and categorize humans into hierarchical groupings are core support and governing systems in every known contemporary society.  In situations where there is inequality, ultimately there will be unrest and conflict.  The people forced into categories that are subjected to rules, restrictions and limited access to things will exist in a perpetual state of compromise and insecurity.  The constant state of insecurity translates to a threat against existence of the oppressed, as well as the oppressor.  The question then becomes how can all people be secured or assured of their rights and access to life and a continuance of the life cycle?  The focus is shifted from absolute equality to perceived equality and adequate security.

Humans should work to create a societal atmosphere where there is relative equality, which is achieved through balance of power and resources.  The ultimate goal for humans should be to live more peaceful and equitable lives, void of gross inequity which threatens human existence.  These peace and equity goals directly correspond with and serve to satisfy human nature, which is the urge to live and procreate.

Goal of Education

            The goal of education should be to train students to discover and then live in compliance with universal rules that promote and sustain balance and equity.  Education should transform lives: first the life of the student and the student’s family, then the community, and ultimately humankind.  In the United States, initially education was used as a means to support and perpetuate social hierarchies which were based on wealth, which was primarily associated with heritage.  Only certain individuals of particular financial means were permitted to attend school.  This group of students who were privileged to attend school also contained the male group of property owners that were privileged to vote.  Later, when other groups earned the right to vote, politicians and other government officials thought that all persons who could impact the policies and governing rules of the United States should be educated in order to make the “right” decisions.  In theory the plan was great.  It was logical, practical and it seemed a move towards balance or equality.  Each voting person would be afforded an opportunity to have his or her voice and opinion considered when decisions were made for the country.  However, since the people who were in power put the mass or public education policies into effect, they greatly influenced the public education system.  They instituted curriculums that supported their ideals.  Students were essentially taught to fill roles and think as the presiding power base deemed necessary.  Though education was offered under the guise of promotion of freedom and equality, in essence it only trained people for acceptance of the existing structures. 

            After a century of assimilationist education, and nearly a couple of centuries of struggle and adaptation, many educators have realized the hypocrisy of contemporary educational structures.  This realization has prompted a movement towards critical thinking, and transgression beyond epistemological limitations.  This is the root purpose of education.  It is the purpose that was put forth when the formal educative process was limited to the financially privileged.  Education warrants exploration and consistent critical analysis.   Otherwise, the system of education is reduced to a stagnant factory-like assembly line which dictates content and replicates production.

            Education is effectively used to establish norms.  All ecosystems and biomes, which are systems which support life and life cycles, need known norms to promote balance and prevent extremes that could cause imbalance, extinction, and destruction.  The human species, though nurtured towards selfish extremities, can not escape the cause and effect of gross misuse, consumption, and imbalance it forces upon other living species.  Habits of greed, waste, and inconsiderate luxury impede upon other living species and threaten human life and re-creation of life cycles.  Therefore, the goal of education is first exploratory.  Education should help humans understand their position and existence in the universe.  Then education should fortify new universal applications that promote and sustain balance and equity. The notion of infusing balance and equity into already established imbalanced traditional structures is more complicated than it sounds.  The starting point would be to make systemic changes to curriculums and the philosophies from which they spawn.

Curriculum

            Since under the current educational structure education is used to teach people how to exist in society, then it stands to reason that education can be used as a tool for transformation of societal standards.  This transformation can be affected by careful and purposeful alteration to curriculums.  Systemic changes to curriculums will have almost instant resultant manifestations in broader society.

The definition of curriculum varies from source to source.  At most, curriculum is perceived as a detailed guide for what and how knowledge is to be managed and transferred.  In essence anyone or anything that provides routine uniform instruction utilizes some form of what can be perceived as curriculum.  Dogs, cats and rats must have some form of curriculum for care; they all adhere to the same code of manners and habits when caring for their young.  Ants have been shown to have the same patterns of behavior and ritualistic methods of ambushing picnics and scattered crumbs.  In the field of horticulture there have to be patterns of expectancy which enable people to plant and produce desired flowers and crops.  Therefore, in a species as intellectually sophisticated as human beings, curriculum must consist of something more than fundamental prescriptive aims, methods and outcomes common to other life forms.

At its least, which is what a curriculum should be, a curriculum is the primary source of instruction.  It is a sort of master teacher that informs, not dictates, the basics of what is to be taught and explored.  To understand the purpose of curriculum, one must only think of the human body.  Curriculum is the bones: the skeleton.  It is the core structure around which matter is organized and built.  Curriculum bones are fortified with social, political, and physical environmental influences.  The bones form a skeleton which is solid with limited flexibility in some areas, yet pliable at certain junctions.  The skeleton is strong enough to support varied and even fluctuating sizes and types of matter.  Matter, in relation to curriculum, would be knowledge which represents muscle, methodology which represents veins, and relationship which represents fat content.

Just as a body is afforded optimal functioning when it has and utilizes all of its varied parts, so does a curriculum maximize its potential when it implores varied schools of philosophical thought, respects individual strengths and skills, and incorporates interdisciplinary relations that expose students to existences outside of their culture and even their human classification.  It is difficult to expect students to respect, or even appreciate that which they have no knowledge of, or no perceived connection to.  Study of World History, Geography, Anthropology, Life and Environmental Sciences, Art, Reading and Mathematics will broaden students’ understanding of general concepts and more accurately contextualize their existence in the world.  

In America students have instruction on United States History at every level of schooling.  Not only do they have repeated instruction, but they must pass standardized U.S. History tests before matriculation is permitted.  In these standardized tests there is no room for interpretation.  The answers are fixed based on provided and memorized facts.   These indisputable facts represent one perspective of historical occurrences and form of regulation.  That redundant testing process and limited perspective coincides with the original purpose of public education.  It would seem to inform and prepare individuals for the voting process.  However, it does not prepare students for the holistic thought process needed to make a decision.  Only courses which provide a view of the historical impact of voting decisions can begin to inform students of the weightiness of voting and its implication on humankind and the world over. This then is the charge of contemporary educational systems – the task of teaching students to think critically and empowering students with facts and information expansive enough to enable them to consider cause and affect realities that support nature, balanced ecosystems, and ultimately human survival.

A brief description of suggested courses easily demonstrates their pertinence with regard to a curriculum that supports holistic and balanced ideals. 

·         World History would introduce the notion that other countries exist and they have experienced monumental challenges and transformative cultural adjustments that are as significant to them as wars, depressions, recessions, industrializations, and other revolutions have been to citizens of the United States.  Oftentimes students in the U.S. aren’t even aware life and culture exist outside of their own experiences.

·         Geography would illustrate the location and spatial factors that have impacted national and international relations.  Study of geography would also begin to help students contextualize environmental variations that dictate different existences.  Students can see how small the area the live in is in comparison to the huge rest of the world.  They can also begin to see how the environment and weather is different in different areas and how those differences impact the people who live there.

·         Anthropology is a cultural studies field where the history and geography of a place have direct, traceable, obvious manifestations in the everyday lives of the people in the region.  When students know that the pollutants from their luxuries directly affect the sustenance of others, they may be more careful about the choices they make, especially when they know that ultimately the disruption of others will disrupt and threaten their own existence.

·         Through anthropology and then more refined explorations of Life and Environmental Sciences, varied existences are shaped into community and communal units whose structures are more relatable for students.  At this point students are made to realize the connectedness between varied places and people.  It is also at this point that students come to understand their survival in terms of relation to their lifestyles, actions, and impact on universal systems. 

·         Art then gives a clue as to how the people see themselves, in relation to each other, their communities, their ecosystems, and the world.  Art also is the means by which new imaginations are bred and nurtured.  So then art will become a sort of supplementary teaching source as students begin to internalize and promote their new understandings.     

Math and reading are support subjects.  They should not be dominant fields of study by which a person’s intelligence is measured.  They are simple necessities needed to be mastered in order to aid in the mastery of other larger concepts.  One can properly contextualize the study of math and reading by comparing it to walking.  In life, a child has to master many basic functions in order to live life at an optimal level.  When a parent attempts to teach a child to walk, he/she understands it is a monumental accomplishment only for a brief period of time and at an elemental level.  After the child has conquered the basic task of balance and motion, the parent does not generally check back at various teen and adult stages to assess the child’s walking ability.  Normally, the child naturally progresses to running and jumping and at some early point in the child’s life walking is just a means to an end – a second nature motion required for advancement through greater tasks to greater desires.  Upon initial consideration, walking could be considered a life-sustaining act.  It gives people greater access to food, water, and shelter; however, deeper contemplation reveals that fact that walking is only a support action.  It is not in itself food, water, and shelter.  It takes people to these life-sustaining things.  Likewise, reading and math in isolation do not adequately support life or humans’ natural instinct to live.  They are support subjects that facilitate access to knowledge that empowers and advances living and re-creation of the life cycle.  These subjects should not be at the forefront of an educational system.  When they are obsessed over, they are taken out of context, students do not appreciate their value nor do they value a system that forces them to spend exorbitant time and effort on something they can not readily associate with their instinct for survival.  Thus, the whole idea of education becomes a foolish or unnecessary endeavor.  

 Teaching Methods 

In order to promote balance and equity and to be fully functional as a life-sustaining source, education has to serve as a link to survival tools.  This link has to be prominent and easily recognizable as such.  Students should know, in bold terms and by blatant demonstrations that for every action there is a reaction in the universe.  All of matter and energy is connected.  Excessive use or neglect in one area imbalances natural relationships and can be catastrophic to other life forms, which will ultimately be detrimental to humans.  Stark presentations of this manner will result in transformation of students’ attitudes towards education because of their natural instinct for self-preservation.

Recognizing student’s natural instincts is the key to successful teaching.  Since students have a natural inclination towards survival, first teach them to value themselves.  Then teach them to value others.  Encourage them.  Empower them.  Imbued with a belief that the educator appreciates them and their struggles, the students will open their minds and be receptive to the information provided and exploration guided by the teacher.  How does an educator encourage, empower, and gain the trust of the students? 

Encouraging involves:

·          Urging openness – this is a method of inclusion that promotes diversity on a small, introductory scale.

·         Stimulating student intellectual growth – make it fun to learn so students enjoy being exposed to new information and understand how to process and critically think about that info.

·         Fostering critical thought and deconstruction of knowledge

Pertinent questions: How do you know what you think you know?        What is the source of the info?  What factors might have influenced a particular perspective or orientation?  Who benefits from various perceptions of knowledge and reality?  This type of inquisition is necessary to combat prescribed norms in order to re-create them.  

·         Supporting uniqueness

How does the content and context of the subject relate to the student’s own life?  Again this continues to affirm, throughout the process, that the student and his/her experience is valued and relevant.

·         Moving towards second nature inclinations.  What things does the student do without thought?  Why?

What student interests can be intentionally incorporated into the lesson?  Figure out ways these personal interest can become a permanent part of the student’s and the communal existence?

·         Acknowledging diversity of learning styles and students’ varied orientations towards information according to their experiences and exposures.  Encouragement warrants fluidity.  The teacher must be willing to be a student, allowing space to expansion of understanding.

Empowering (accelerated and assisted encouragement) involves:

·         Guiding and leading at times

·         Listening and assisting exploration

·         Affirming and critically evaluating

·         Acknowledgment that social and political structures influence formation and utilization of knowledge

·         Exposing students to various sources of information

·         Helping students discover new sources of information   

·         Promoting student and peer teaching

·         Cultivating curiosity

·         Helping the student to articulate and establish clarity of his/her thoughts          

The teacher should not prescribe to a rigid predetermined lesson plan.  He/she should be comfortable enough to engage in the learning process by actively participating in, and contributing to the deconstruction and exploration.  The goals and aims of the lesson should be readily identified and the methods for reaching those goals should be considered prior to the class session; however, the learning methods must be fluid enough to give credence to the students’ inquiries and translations, and the learning atmosphere must be such that students feel free to think and express those thoughts – equally; afterall, the ultimate goal of education is balance, equity, and peace.  This should first be demonstrated (not just talked about) in the classroom.

Fortification of self will result in the student exercising intellectual freedom in a respectful and balanced manner.  This type of educational environment will breed confidence.  Confidence will help students feel less vulnerable, which will result in greater individual feelings of security.  One a student perceives he/she is secure in his relative position in society, he/she will believe survival is attainable. 

Once the immediate dangers of survival are at bay, the student has time and space to extend his/her thoughts and efforts to address remote concerns and threats.  By the time a student advances beyond primary grades, he/she should be prepared to go beyond immediate safe zones into realms of greater global existence.  At this point World History, Geography, Anthropology/Sociology, Life and Environmental Sciences, and Art should become the major subjects of focus.  

The ultimate nature of human beings is survival.  Basic survival can be achieved many ways, but it can only be sustained through balance and natural equity.  Therefore, the ultimate goal of education is to teach balance and equity by peaceful means.  Education must be organic and realistic in its aims and goals.  Curriculums cannot be thrown together and relegated to forms that function as control and containment guides.  People’s desires are basic.  They want to live.  Society has to be careful as to not define living as removed grandiose unattainable forms of existence.  People can do without material things until the things become perceived necessities for living.  Teachers must work diligently and purposefully to create environments where students are equal and can recognize their balance and equality in a global context.  Then and only then will people’s human nature be addressed and their angst adequately eased.

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Okay.  After reviewing several Code of Ethics Statements, encountering much word play, etc., I devised a Code of Ethics of my own; this code of ethics complies with the method I've used in my various classrooms over the past couple of years; it has proven to be simple and sufficient.  Try it out this year in your classrooms and let me know how it works.  At the beginning of the semester or school year write the rules on the board so each student knows what is expected and has a fair opportunity at achieving success.  You don't need a big space; pick a corner of the board, write it boldly and leave it there for at least a few weeks: R E S P E C T  That's it.  That's all.  Define it.  Provide examples.  Enforce it!  Scan down to the blue writing to view details of my Personal Code of Ethics of Education.

Personal Ethics of Education / Review of Educational Ethics Literature

NEA Code of Ethics Review

            The National Education Association (NEA) Code of Ethics is a brief and concise statement meant to reflect and direct the behavior, mentality, and overall resolve of educators.  The document is separated into three sections.  The first section is a Preamble which provides the general thesis for educators.  The second section is headed Principle I with a sub-heading of Commitment to the Student.  The third, and final section is headed Principle II with a sub-heading of Commitment to Profession.

            The Preamble consists of a few paragraphs.  The thesis of this section and basically the entire document can be summed up in a few sentences.  The core thesis is that the “Code of Ethics of the Education Profession indicates the aspiration of all educators and provides standards by which to judge conduct.”  This thesis is supported by sub-thesis ideals which constitute essence of the thesis.  One sub-thesis ideal is the notion that the educator, believes “in the worth and dignity of each human being.”  That declaration or charge is packed with implications.  If the educators believe in the worth and dignity of each person, then it can further be resolved that the educator recognizes and values basic things like equal opportunity and democracy.  The other sub-thesis ideal is based on the premise that the educator “recognizes the magnitude of the responsibility inherent in the teaching process.”  This means       commitment to excellence, truth, and the “highest possible degree of ethical conduct” governs, or should govern the actions, thoughts, and intentions of educators.

            The section of the Code of Ethics titled Principle I, deals with Commitment to the Student.  The introductory statement for this section reads as follows:  “The educator strives to help each student realize his or her potential as a worthy and effective member of society.  The educator therefore works to stimulate the spirit of inquiry, the acquisition of knowledge and understanding, and the thoughtful formulation of worthy goals.”  This statement is followed by a list of “shall not” commandments.  The items on the list basically provide illustration of practical application of thoughts that support the ideals of the Code of Ethics.

            Commitment to the Profession is addressed in the section titled Principle II.  The introduction for this section includes the following language: “In the belief that the quality of the services of the education profession directly influences the nation and its citizens, the educator shall exert every effort to raise professional standards, to promote a climate that encourages the exercise of professional judgment, to achieve conditions that attract persons worthy of the trust to careers in education, and to assist in preventing the practice of the profession by unqualified persons.”  Just as was the case in section I, the introductory statement is followed by a list of “shall not” commandments.  The items on this list are things that should be avoided in an effort to safeguard the integrity of the field of education.

Points of Agreement

            Much of what is noted in the NEA Code of Ethics and its “shall not” commandments seems correlated to the more universal Ten Commandments which are found in the Bible (King James version) in that the essence of the commandments, and the fulfillment of the same, warrants an organic and almost euphoric pointedly directed transparency.  Several of the listed points can be fragmented sections of the deconstruction of a simplistic, yet loaded overall commandment to which I subscribe: Education should be equal, not the same.

1.      Wording such as “shall not reasonably restrain from independent action”... “Shall not unreasonably deny - access to varying points of view”... “Shall not exclude... deny... grant advantages...” all attend to the notions of equality and individuality.  Unlike sameness, equality lends itself to greater spaces for individuality, while allowing varied methods of measurement to be implored.  I strongly agree with specificity of interpretation provided with regard to the vast concepts of equality and individuality.

2.      In the section of the Code of Ethics that addresses Commitment to the Profession, the most poignant idea is noted in the 2^nd point on the list.  This point states, the educator “shall not misrepresent his/her professional qualifications.”  While this idea seems elementary and obvious, it is not a minor detail.  It requires the educator to recognize his/her weaknesses and incompetencies.  Since the educator functions as the leader, and is trained to take and keep command of the class, it is often difficult to relinquish control of the intellectual environment.  This challenge of relinquishing power results in confidence related issues and actions that violate ethical points of concern.  In my estimation, once the educator acknowledges and is open about his/her deficiencies and weaknesses, without judgment, the need to make false statements or behave in a manner that shields or distorts reality, is removed.  Once personal distortions have been eliminated, the culture and environment of educational systems will be more fluid in structure and therefore, expandable with great potential for advancement.       

Summary

            Education dictates societies.  The things children are taught shape what they believe, how they perceive the world, how they interact with others, and how they will impact the universe.  Since educators are the stewards of the seedlings that will grow and shape society, it is important that the educators be rooted or grounded ethically.  If educators were to grossly misuse or underestimate the power of their positions, it does not only affect them and their limited student population.  Students carry messages and lessons learned in class back to their families and out into the broader world.  Ethics helps to keep education and its use in line with one of its general purposes, which is to maintain and establish a basis for norms, or a point of reference at which people can find some commonality, or a way to coexist with a sort of harmony or balance.            

Ethical Review

“Idealism and Education” – Chapter 1

Ozmon, Howard A. Philosophical Foundations of Education. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008.

            In the very first chapter of Philosophical Foundations and Education (PFE) discussions about idealism and education lend themselves to a discussion about ethics.  Idealism has a long history.  The PFE refers to idealism as “perhaps the oldest systematic philosophy in Western culture.”  Exploration of idealism is best achieved by dividing the classification into three distinct categories: Platonic idealism, religious idealism, and modern idealism.  Though there are varied perspectives of idealism, universally, idealists believe that ideas are the only true reality.  They believe all else is temporary and is therefore, inconsequential.

            When considering the development of idealism one must begin at Plato, or even Socrates.  Socrates was a “leading thinker” who had a unique method of coercing people into thinking critically.  He used a method of questioning people about things they had not previously considered.   He never wrote books or recorded his exchanges.  His ideas were communicated orally through a dialectical question-and-answer approach. 

            Plato was a Greek philosopher who made a permanent record of Socrates’ thinking and the Socratic Method.  The combination of Socrates ideas and methods and Plato’s interpretations and possible embellishments are generally referred to as Platonic philosophy.  Platonic idealism involved the following concepts:

·         Dialectical approach to problems

1.      Begins with a thesis

2.      Needs to introduce the antithesis

3.      Looks at both sides of an issue

·         Search for truth

1.       The truth is perfect and eternal

2.      Cannot be found in the world of matter

·         Separation of the world of ideas from the world of matter

1.      World of ideas

A.      Has Good as its highest point

B.      The source of all true knowledge

2.       World of Matter

A.       Is an ever-changing world of sensory data

B.      Is not to be trusted

C.      Can be transcended through the use of dialect

·         Philosophizing

1.      Should be an intellectual affair

2.       Knowledge should be shared, even in the face of death

·         Believed

1.       Evil stems more from ignorance than anything else

2.      A utopian society consist of 3 classes: Workers, military, and rulers

3.      Art (including literature) needed to be taught and censored

Platonic idealism dealt with the “truth” and “good” versus material, and concepts of things perfect and eternal.  These concepts and terms are easily relatable to religion.  “Idealism has exerted considerable influence on religion.”  The Roman Catholic Church was founded by people who were heavily influenced by idealism.  Augustine, a priest, used the philosophy of Platonists and Neo-Platonist and combined them with Christian beliefs.  Instead of ideas and matter, Augustine called the juxtapositions God versus Man.

Virtually, all philosophy and its method of inquiry, thesis and antithesis stems from Plato which stems from Socrates.  The period of Modern Idealism offered an array of perspectives from Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel, and Royce.  During this period idealism was “largely identified with systematization and subjectivism.” 

The evolution of the concept of idealism was and is never void of direct connections to education.  Several well known philosophers were teachers or wrote about teaching and education.  It is almost impossible to deal with a train of thought that is grounded in inquiry or the dialectic without considering the field of education.

Personal Reaction

            After reading the chapter the second time and considering the information contained in the NEA Code of Ethics, I concluded, at least for my personal reference, that ethics is simply a hybrid of realism.  Realism in its aims of education focuses on:

·         Search for truth

·         Mental and spiritual qualities of human beings

·         Concept of individuals and their place in education

·         Character development

All of these things can be categorized into two basic groupings, physical being and mental or intellectual being.  Ethics is a byproduct system that utilizes basic philosophical renderings to compose a value system that serves to direct or govern mental and physical components. 

Strong Points

            There were several points in the chapter that were quite poignant.

1.      Plato’s idea of “moving towards the Good” is highly ethical and shows the early stage of what would become ethics.

2.      In The Republic where Plato wrote about separation of the world of ideas from

      the world of matter, there are apparent parallels to religion and Christianity.

3.      Augustine’s blatant clarification and specificity of City of God and City of Man as   opposed to previous notions of World of Ideas and the World of Matter narrowed the focus and transformed the world.  This was a purely ethical positioning.

Points of Concern

            It is interesting to witness the attempts to transform religion to the more ambiguous classification of ethics.  It seems the premises and goals are constant, but the terms and associations must be altered to appease the natural cyclical demand for change under the guise of progress.  My concern is that the constant effort to alter or better things will ultimately corrupt them.  If the search is for truth and truth is constant and perfect, why must there be a continual effort to revise, add to, or deduct from that which can get no better.  Any person of sound mind would know that tampering with something that is perfect is an unnecessary gamble, which can only result in loss or less.  As I endeavor to write my own code of ethics of education, I feel the frivolity of my effort to restate that which seems it can only be redundant at best; however, I am hopeful that simplicity will provide a level of clarity that will prove to be fail-proof and more than sufficient.

Personal Code of Ethics of Education

            In life there is one basic principle that is applicable to all of life and all of existence.  That simple, yet complex principle is respect.  By definition respect means to have a high or special regard or esteem for; to have reference to: concern; to refrain from interfering with.  If individuals would master the skill of respect and use it as a personal thesis for existence, there would be no need for detailed common sense commandments. Everything needed simply tucks itself neatly into the folds of “Respect”.

Educators and students should first, respect themselves.  Respect for self regulates presentation and style in areas such as attire, language, and personal behavior.  When educators and students respect themselves it is more likely they will extend that respect to people in general, and teachers, students, and peers, more specifically.  Respecting people will affect communication and basic behavior towards people’s personal differences (diversity), property, and personal strengths and weaknesses. 

Equally as important as respecting themselves and each other, educators and teachers must mutually respect education, the educative process, and the learning process.  This final branch of respect creates the culture for the classroom and heavily impacts the success of the school program.  Respect for education and the educative and learning processes means teachers prepare for the lessons and seek the best methods and materials to aid them in the teaching process; students pay attention to the teacher and each other and complete their assignments giving their best effort to assigned tasks; and both the teacher and the students work to eliminate all things that would serve to disrupt the learning process and deter them from optimal achievement with regard to education.   

Educators should:

· First, respect themselves.

· Respect people.

·Respect students.

·Respect peers.

· Respect education and the educative process.

·Respect the teaching profession.

·Respect diversity.

·Respect property.

· Respect their own and others’ strengths and weaknesses.

Students should:

·First, respect themselves.

·Respect people.

· Respect teachers.

·Respect peers.

·Respect education and the learning process.

·Respect their role as students.

· Respect diversity.

·Respect property.

·Respect their own and others’ strengths and weaknesses.

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Critical Reconstructionist and Curriculum

Kim Dulaney

            Education is a complex concept.  It involves the acquisition, comprehension, and dissemination of knowledge.  Knowledge is organized and processed data.  Data is bits of information.  In the field of education, specialists work to create categories made up of sub-groups of related knowledge, or clustered bits of information.  These categories are called subjects or disciplines.  Subjects are not absolute or isolated areas of interest.  Sometimes knowledge associated with one subject area can also be associated with a completely different subject area.  The context in which the data is being used can cause it to be categorized differently.  Context refers to the surrounding circumstances that affect something.  Circumstances can be defined.  Words used to define the word circumstance can be defined.  This deconstruction of knowledge can go on and on and on.  The minutia of extracting data bits is inexhaustible.  If knowledge can be broken down bit by bit, then it can be assumed that knowledge is built the same way, bit by bit.  At every sorting or building juncture where knowledge is combined or compounded, a definition or decision is made.  Those decisions are impacted by interpretations.

            Critical Reconstructionists understand that established norms in the field of education are built and solidified in accordance with someone’s interpretation of bits of data.  They also know that the foundation of structured education was built by people who intentionally sought to establish standards of inequality, during times when injustice was blatant and legally enforced.  Systems and structures built during these times were grossly impacted.  The system of education was not immune; in fact, it was used to perpetuate the ideals of the ruling class.

Curriculum Considerations

            Having knowledge of the culture of injustice that impacted the world, and more specifically the field of education affords Critical Reconstructionists a uniquely organic perspective with regard to education.  Traditional methods and facts are not assumed to be concrete truths.  A framework from which new truths can be explored must be established.  

           Creating a curriculum from the perspective of a Critical Reconstructionist involves adopting a few elemental facts as truths.  In a lecture presented on February 6, 2009, titled “What’s Worth Knowing,” given by Dr. B. Seo in a Curriculum and Instructional Leadership course at Chicago State University, the elemental facts or truths were summarized as follows:

• the world is filled with injustice and education is used to change or reconstruct the injustices
• the source of authority is the students
• students are aware of hidden messages
• need a new curriculum that focuses on the source of the problem
• the following class system exist, and there needs to be intentional effort to change it and create balance in the world:           

Lower class                  -           follow the rules

Middle class                 -           give the right answer

Professional class          -           be creative within limits

Ruling Class                  -           manipulate the system because everyone is a servant

Organizing a Curriculum

            Questions related to organizing a curriculum are all addressed with the Critical Reconstructionist’s elemental facts as the basis for curriculum revision.  Taking those facts into consideration, curricularists employ educators, who can relate to the target student body, to develop core goals and objectives.  Those goals and objectives are clear.  Students should learn the importance of social justice.  They should understand that learning is an open and ongoing process.  Communication and dialogue is paramount to the learning process.  For all facts or knowledge introduced, students should engage some basic points of inquiry: what?, why?, and how?  The format of the curriculum should be flexible enough to support the elemental facts that support the Critical Reconstructionist’s perspective.  A Liberal Arts education is mandatory because it not only coincides with culture, but it helps to develop sensibilities towards equality.  Ultimately, the curriculum should affirm the idea that education is a journey, and on that journey egocentric views are considered necessary to move society to a place of justice and equality, that will prove to be beneficial for all (Seo, 2009).    

Assessing a Curriculum

            Assessing a curriculum developed from the perspective of a Critical Reconstructionist involves checking the sources of inclusion for balance and intention.  The sources of the knowledge acquired in schools should be varied, and should include new perspectives and facilitate development of student created perspectives.   Does the circulation or movement of knowledge draw upon and include the students’ interpretations based on their unique experiences?  What impact will the curriculum have on the students’ overall outlook on life?  Whose interest does that impact serve? 

            It is important to keep the objective of the Critical Reconstructionist at the forefront of all curricular activity.  The objective is to achieve equality in society.  The goal is to use education to empower individuals so they can affect change that will eradicate inequality. 

            Specific aims are used to assess curriculum.  Action-inquiry, which is political in nature, is one tool used to assess curriculum.  Action-inquiry “offers a broad perspective on the meaning of educational endeavors within the context of economic and ideological life.  It includes an effort to look critically at impingements of ideology and economics on human growth and development.”  Assessment should seek to find “inequities of educational access, opportunity, and quality, experienced on the bases of race, gender, socioeconomic class, and other differences” (Schubert, 2009, p.314).  After critical analysis, the curriculum should be revised to address all discovered inequities.

Evaluating a Curriculum      

            Once the students have been exposed to a curriculum, it is important to monitor the effectiveness of instruction and tools used to ensure that the goals and aims of the curriculum are being achieved.  One of the central concerns of evaluation is whether or not the curriculum showed evidence of emancipation, equity and social justice.  

A process of emancipation should be evident in the students’ thought processes and engagement.  Students should ask questions, disagree with ideas, and introduce new and unusual interpretations and solutions, all while mastering the basic offerings of a subject.  If communication, dialogue, and inquiry is minimal, and students basically repeat or regurgitate information in the form and perspective in which it is distributed, then the curriculum or the methodology used to implement it must be revised.  If new ideas are not introduced at the student level, where there is the least possible contamination of thought situation (other than infancy), then the system of governance and all that supports it will not change.

Conclusion

            Indigenous African and Native American societies have been studied and are believed to have been systems where all of the members regulated, participated in, and benefited equally.  While these systems of existence or groups of people can, by definition, be classified as societies, it is important to note they were not huge groupings of people, living in fixed close proximity of one another, relying on limited resources for existence.  Oftentimes they were nomadic.  History shows that once people took up permanent residence, the idea of accumulation and later the notion of class division or hierarchy became integral parts of societies.  Henceforth,           inequities have existed in every known society.  As societies grow, so do the inequities within them.   The Abolitionists Movement, the Civil Rights Movement, and the Women’s Suffrage Movement are all examples of a maturation process a society must experience in order to move towards an existence where the collective society can be in essence what most societies claim to be in theory.  The Critical Reconstructionist efforts will probably be recorded historically as the Critical Reconstructionist Movement and if its supporters remain consistent and focused, their perception will ultimately be credited with, at best, bringing equality back to human kind, or at least exposing inequality and availing better opportunities to people who had been relegated to the margins of human existence.  This will have all been made possible by way of altering sources of knowledge and intentions found hidden in curriculums.      

 References

Schubert, W. H. (1986). Curriculum: Perspective, paradigm, and possibility. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co.

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