Chapter 7: Thinking about Teaching and Learning

Reading chapter 7 in the Joy of Teaching textbook I have discovered a couple of new ideas and theories that I will incorporate into my teaching philosophy. One of these was the discovery method theorized by Jerome Bruner. In this theory, he states that students learn better by discovering the truths about the world around them on their own, through experiments and questions. Instead of the alternative of sitting in a straight back chair and a teacher standing at the front of the room force feeding material into the students. Another philosophy that I considered helpful, which could in practice overlap with the discovery method was progressivism. Most of the time progressivism deals with a focus on the importance of science but other elements of progressivism would be helpful to my future history class. Especially, the idea that humans are social beings and can learn from each other, most importantly, if the topic can be related to something in our own lives or past experiences. This idea is the whole reason why I believe that history is valid criteria to teach in schools. The question then becomes how do I make my students see the connection and the relevance history has to their daily lives. This question was posed in extreme clarity in the case study involving Kenneth, a high school history teacher. A student asked him "why do I have to know this stuff?" and I know I will be asked that question because I have heard my own peers ask it. The book was not too helpful in answering this question. Kenneth's philosophies and ideals are not at fault for this lapse in understanding on the part of one of his students. It was suggested that he go back to the beginning and figure out a new way to present the material to portray to his students the relevance of the topic so they might connect it to something in their own lives and therefore learn and remember it better.