Pedagogical Philosophy

Beginning with my work in Critical Issues of Education, I have been exposed to an expansive collection of pedagogical frameworks and how they have built upon one another throughout time. I have found myself more drawn to more progressive and critical methodologies, such as John Dewey’s Progressive framework, Paulo Freire’s Critical Pedagogy, and Gloria Ladson Billings’ Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. I think each of these schools have valuable and crucial features that work best when combined and used implicitly in all curriculum design, planning, and pedagogy.

From Dewey’s Progressive framework, I will draw the emphasis on experiential learning and student involvement/ collaboration. In his book Experience and Education, Dewey explains that education is most effective when facilitated through actual experience (1938). I am a strong advocate for teaching students skills rather than facts. Students gain more from learning how to problem solve and learn from doing rather than passively receiving information from the educator. I appreciate how Dewey’s Progressivism frames the teacher as a supporting guide rather than singular figure of authority.

From Freire’s Critical Pedagogy, I will draw the emphasis as learning as power in a constantly evolving political and social world. Paulo Freire insists that teaching and learning are essential to individual freedom from oppression. Learning is a tool, and it is necessarily political. According to Freire, there is no neutrality in educating; teachers must explicitly acknowledge that their work is in resistance to oppression and systemic power (1968). I appreciate most how Freire’s framework expands the context of learning outside of the classroom. Learning never happens in a vacuum. All students are part of a larger world, and the skills they learn in the classroom should reflect that and offer them a toolbox for life beyond school. For instance, students learning how to plan, write, and format an essay should be taught the value and possible applications of these skills in creating an impact in political and social justice movements. I think all students should be aware of the meaning of their learning as it is occurring.

From Ladson Billings I will draw emphasis on implicitly involving the culture of students, their school, and their neighborhood into curriculum and pedagogy. Like Freire, Ladson Billings emphasizes the importance of contextualizing learning, though she places greater focus on involving students personally into the intricate threads of curriculum and pedagogy (2014). Students should feel represented and acknowledged by their class materials. A racially, culturally, and gender/sexuality diverse classroom should not rely on White middle-class norms. In my English classrooms, the conventional literary canon will not be the norm, and I will put great effort into planning a class that is intentionally relevant to students.

As seen in the quote above, Ladson Billings puts great emphasis on using students as resources rather than passive learners. There is so much to learn from students – listening to their stories, their opinions, their arguments – that every teacher should value in working with a class. Like Dewey, Ladson Billings argues that students must be involved in their own learning in order for effective teaching to take place. Teachers are also benefitted from using students as resources; every aspect of teaching such as group configuration, classroom routines, and lesson materials can and should be developed in response to student input. The traditional “I teach you information, you do work” will never be successful in developing knowledge. Every educator needs to listen to and acknowledge students’ lives and thoughts in order to teach them. We must know students to teach them, and we must trust students to teach us about the multitude of realities outside of the classroom.