Progressivism :: Teaching Education Essays

ProgressivismProgressivists look at that people learn best from what they consider most relevant to their lives. Therefore, the curriculum should be centered around the experiences, interests, and abilities of students. Teachers should plan lessons that give the sack curiosity and push the students to a higher level of knowledge. In addition to reading textbooks, the students must learn by doing. Students should often leave the classroom for fieldtrips during which they move with nature or society. Teachers should also stimulate the students interests through thought-provoking games. Students should be encouraged to interact with one another and to develop affable virtues such as cooperation and tolerance for different points of view. Also, teachers should feel no compulsion to focus their students attentions on one discrete discipline at a time, and students may be accountable for learning lessons that combine several different subjects.Progressivists emphasize in their curri culum the count of the natural and social sciences. They believe that teachers should expose students to many new scientific, technological, and social developments, reflecting their notion that progress and change are fundamental. Students should also be exposed to a more democratic curriculum that recognizes accomplishments of women and minorities as well as clear males. In addition, students should solve problems in the classroom similar to those they will encounter outside of the schoolhouse they will learn to be flexible problem solvers.Progressivists believe that education should be a perpetually enriching process of ongoing growth, not merely a preparation for adult lives. They also deny the essentialist belief that the study of traditional subject matter is appropriate for all students, regardless of interest and personal experience.