JANUARY 18, 2002

    This class is especially interesting because it is the first time, I believe, for many History and the like, Secondary Ed. majors to come

together for the first time.  So, naturally students may use this time to verbalize grievances with their respective departments, the College
of Ed., faculty, curriculum, and the state of North Carolina as a whole.  My reflection will be in response to one particular grievance
that was raised in class and dealt primarily with the material and way in which it is presented by the History department.
     I do not recall whether or not the comment was made to the class as a whole or to my individual small group or not, but that really is
irrelevant.  While we were discussing the nature of History one student said "I'm sick of all this philosophy and feelings crap, what we need
is time and dates.  That's what's important.  "Now I do recognize the importance of both time and dates in
history; they are imperative for the study so that one may gain content and perspective of the material.  However, I do not believe that they
should be the primary focus of a student's study.  Now, I hate to use the events of September 11th as an example because I don't want to skew
my opinion with blind patriotism but I think that using it as an example can make a good case.  Thinking in the future, we will be the
teacher's responsible for teaching the terrorist attacks as American history and how our lives were directly affected by it.  Just as many
students shared antidotes of male teachers who fought in WWII, we too will be asked by students to recall our feelings where we were when the
towers went down.  So we must look at our country and the now to teach it later.
      Thinking of the events of Sept. 11th in reference to the comment made by the student implies that this issue will be taught using dates
and other very specific information probably maps of Afghanistan, videos of the President's press conferences and what not.  Although,
these materials are important and indeed historical, the emotions that this country is feeling right now, hence all of the "Proud to be
American", "Power of Pride" and "God Bless America" bumper stickers and millions of flags, even athletes at all stages of sport are donning
flags stitched to their uniforms, popping up all over the country must say something.  I argue that this has great impact and symbolism and
that it is imperative to teach any student about these events.
   The question that his comment begs is "Can history be taught effectively without expressing the 'feelings' that are being
experienced by either the individual, the community, nation or world?" And my response is no, that human emotion is completely relevant to the
curriculum, whether teaching about Sept. 11th or the Roman Empire.
    Although my focus was on emotions I feel that philosophy is equally as important, especially as a tool to interpret emotions in a
historical content.
    Quite honestly I found the student's comment to be rather closed minded and even found myself a bit fearful that he will be responsible
for teaching History to high school students.  No wonder students hate history, I would to if I was never able to move beyond the superficial
information of times and dates to come to an understanding of history as a great story and a wonderful way to sharpen my analytical skills.

Natalie J. Knight

FEBRUARY 14, 2002

 

Dr. Hale,

     I would like to use this reflection to discuss the role of challenge in teaching.  This idea came to me as we
were exiting class today and a female student made a comment that caught me off guard.  I realize that I am usually reacting to other
students’ comments in my reflections and I don't want to give the impression that I am gossiping or talking about them behind their
backs.  It's just that I realize that my ideas and philosophy's at times come in direct conflict with those of my peers and will continue
to do so as I enter the public school system, so I should start dealing with this now.
       There is a student in our class who is performing in the Vagina Monologues.  I went to see the show last night and we were discussing
her performance.  Another female student chimed in and said "Why do they have to call it that, why do they use that word?  It should be
private, you shouldn't talk about that."  Now my opinion on whether or not we should discuss female sexuality in a public arena is in direct
opposition to hers, but this is not where I have the issue.
        I wanted to challenge her and say "Why don't you see it or read the book for yourself?"  but I had heard her discussing her plans for
the evening, which were to attend the Duke game because "she has been a Duke fan since she was ten."  And that's when it clicked, of course she
is a Duke fan!  That's easy, there is NOTHING hard about being a Duke fan because they always win (and no their "bad" season when Coach K was
out with back problems hardly counts). And there's nothing hard to deal with, like rape, homosexuality and female sexuality in general, if you
ignore it and don't talk about it.
        So how does this relate to education?  Well, I strongly believe that if students are going to acquire knowledge it must be gained
through a struggle, wrestling with the information if you will.  It must present a new idea to them that they choose to accept or deny
based on a number of things.  We are always asking students to think outside the box, which I think is directly in line with this notion of
wrestling with information.  For example, if you have seen the movie The Matrix, there is a scene when Keanu Reeves is unplugged from this
matrix of information and knowledge that is all the same.  Samuel L. Jackson presents him with two pills.  If he takes one pill he will be
plugged back into the matrix and will never remember that another world existed.  Or if he takes the other pill it will give him the strength
that he needs to exist outside this matrix.  When students are presented with this information it's like the pills.  They can either
take the one pill and turn around and forget everything you've taught them because it might change the way they see the world. OR they can
take the information you have given them, wrestle with it, ask themselves how and why is it in opposition of convictions they already
hold and then acquire the knowledge as truth, since truth is constructed anyways.
       Back to the Duke fan, if she never challenges herself to think outside the box and maybe route for another team, how will she know
what most other college basketball fans go through (especially Carolina fans this season).  My point is all leading to this question, yes this
ridiculously long e-mail leads up to only one question: If teachers are unable to truly challenge themselves, especially
intellectually and culturally, can they really challenge their students to learn and how effective will their students be at learning the
material that they teach them?

Sincerely,
Natalie J. Knight

 

MARCH 21, 2002

    Well, I'm not sure that I have written one of these in a while but none-the-less, here goes nothing.  I have decided to use this
reflection to talk about myself, what's new...you give a person the ability to speak and inevitably the first thing that comes out is
always about themselves.  This either makes me "normal" or reflects the fact that we live in a very self-centered society, however both could
be true.  I digress.  I will reflect on myself and issues that I have been dealing with concerning teaching and my future.
     Recently, I have decided to pursue law school.  I do not plan on going directly out of college, rather taking a few years to teach and
possibly work in a legal environment.  This recent decision has been difficult for many reasons.
     One, being that I never believed that I had the intellectual capacity to get admitted or succeed in a decent accredited institution.
 I think that this was merely a result of my own insecurity.  I dealt with this by turning to the academic community, mainly my advisor and
professors, to gain encouragement as to whether or not this was a reasonable goal for myself.  I received a lot of positive feedback and
have more security in the possibility of law school.
    Two, making a decision like this is a very large decision because it means that I am changing my prospective career.  Previously, I was
interested in teaching and administration, although, I am still planning to teach.  I came to the decision to teach because I wanted to
make a positive social change.  This is also why I want to pursue law school; I want to make a positive change.  I have no interest
what-so-ever in representing large corporations, doctors, personal injury or any thing like that.  I am more interested in the social
aspects of law, like juvenile, environmental, social services, civil rights even education.  I know this will be a challenge; I have already
detected some skepticism in attorneys that I have talked to. I do not find it discouraging; it just means that there are less people who are
doing what I want to do.
     Three, this decision was also difficult because of my family.  I will be the first one in my family to ever graduate from college.  Now,
when I told my parents that I wanted to go to law school they were ecstatic, but they really can't provide me with the direction that I
need.  Thus, I once again turn to the academic community, which has thus far proven to be very supportive.  It has just been a lot more
work for me.  I also haven't really developed the vocabulary of this field to effectively communicate what I want to get across when I am
talking with other attorney's and I have found this to be a bit frustrating.  I am trying to get an internship in Asheville, this
summer so that I may get a taste of the legal environment.  Again, my parents don't use a lawyer and we have no connections to one, so I have
been mailing out cover letters and resumes disparately trying to get my foot in the door.  I am still waiting to hear from a few firms as to
whether they will have any opportunities for me.
     Overall, I really believe that I can make this happen.  I was very inspired by Robert Kennedy Jr.'s speech, although he did not face the
challenges that I do, he is a beacon in environmental law.  I almost feel guilty in a sense, like I am deserting all of my future students,
but at the same time I feel that I can make the most change, most effectively through law.  And to be quite honest, there is something
very attractive about the possible salary of an attorney vs. a teacher even if I do practice some social aspect of law.  Some might argue
about the workload, but I view both positions as being very time consuming and emotional draining, but they will both have their rewards
and defeats.
     So, as a member of this academic community, do you have any advice/suggestions?

Natalie J. Knight

 

MARCH 25, 2002

     I think that taking an interdisciplinary approach to education is the best way to ensure that a student is well rounded, as well as
helping them make connections between bodies of knowledge.  I wonder why the education department at ASU doesn't make more of an effort to
accomplish this idea in the education of perspective teachers.  I feel that if students begin to make connections and links between
information they will not only learn easier but more efficiently.  For example, if you don't understand what was happening in society when
Mark Twain wrote Huckleberry Finn, then how could one really understand the importance of this work?  This book serves as a good example
because it could be used as a supplemental text in both a U.S. History class and an English class.
   I guess I feel so strongly about this because I am a History major so it is easy for me to see how my discipline can be applied to so many
others.  If we (meaning history teachers) stop looking at history with an interdisciplinary approach then all we are left to teach is war and
this I think is unfortunate, no wonder so many kids hate history.  I would too!!

Natalie J. Knight

 

APRIL 18, 2002

    As I have been preparing my paper, I have been struggling with some issues about myself.  I know that I have issues with control, but

this is something that I have known and I have tried to work on, however it is not completely resolved.  The issue is that I feel the
need to take control of situations.  Now this has its pluses and its minuses, but when it comes to education and the classroom I feel that
it may cause more harm than good.
     Mainly, I have been dealing with the idea of responsibility.  Why is it my responsibility that a student retains information, shouldn't a
student's education be their responsibility?   After all, if they don't want to learn something, than regardless of my actions, they won't
learn and they will have to deal with those consequences.  Ultimately, if students see that you are taking on the responsibility of their
education, isn't that when they become passive recipients of knowledge?
     This creates a conflict of interest when I think of my own issues with control.  Now I'm not saying that I would ever run a full
dictatorship in a classroom, but certainly I would hold an authoritative position.  But if I truly believe that students should
take more control and power over their education than I must be willing to give up the control and power that I hold.  Most people
would scoff at this and say that children will run wild if you give them this option, but I've found just the opposite.  Specifically at a
school in England called Summerhill, est. in 1921.   Have you ever heard of it?  It's really quite fascinating and I am hoping that I may
be able to visit it while I’m studying abroad in England next semester.  Hopefully, if I am given that chance I may have a lot of
questions answered for myself via this experience.
      The hardest part of this, which I am nowhere close to figuring out just yet, is if I do feel that TRUE classroom democracy is a part
of my teaching philosophy how will I incorporate it into the NC standards.  It is not impossible, difficult yes, but I am convinced
that it would at least be worth a chance.

     Well, this has been another long, hopefully semi-entertaining, reflection for you but really it is for me.  After all, that is the true
aim of a reflection, isn't it?

 

Thank You,

Natalie J. Knight

 

APRIL 18, 2002

Dr. Hale,
I know that we have discussed charter schools lately and this is something that has come up that I wanted you to see.  I have a friend
who graduated from Appalachian in December and got a job teaching at Turning Point Academy in Raleigh.  Turning Point is an
alternative/charter school where only the basic courses are taught. Anyway, the following article explains what has happened to the school
in the past month or so.  This concerns me for a number of reasons, but how do I avoid this situation?  How do I know if the charter school is
legitimate?

Natalie J. Knight

Flaws found at schools

By JONATHAN GOLDSTEIN, Staff Writer
A state investigation has turned up more than a dozen financial and managerial irregularities at two Durham charter schools, and the state
Department of Public Instruction has taken away direct access of those schools to their money as the investigation continues.

See the full story at:

 http://newsobserver.com/news/triangle/story/1305656p-1340894c.html
 

 

“The Sons and Daughters of Life’s Longing for Itself”:

Democracy in the Classroom
 

By

Natalie J. Knight
 
 

CI 3100

Dr. M. Hale

 

In classrooms and schools where students have no voice, they are taught to follow rules without challenge, do what they are told, watch out for themselves and think about their work individually so that it only benefits them. The democratic ideals of the United States are not present in these classrooms, nor do they teach students how they play an active role in a democracy. The educational system exists to educate students, yet students have the absolute smallest amount of power in a school. Teachers, whose power is isolated to the classroom, also have little access to the decision making process at a school or system in which a school finds itself. The goal of Social Studies education and the school at large is to help students become responsible citizens.  Therefore, students must learn in a school that emulates the community in which they are members.

The United States is a democratic nation, but democracy is an ideal that must be worked toward and defined.  A democracy is a government by the people, who ultimately hold the supreme power by electing representatives in free elections, with the rule of the majority.  A true democracy would ensure the absence of influence in regards to gender, race, class distinctions, education and privileges.  Thomas Jefferson said in 1790, “Every man, and every body of men on earth, possesses the right of self-government,” Jefferson also believed that the people must be enlightened in some way in order to achieve freedom.  Jefferson was a proponent of public education, although it is unclear as to whether he felt that it was a constitutional right or not.  In a letter to a friend in 1810, Jefferson makes clear how education should affect the democratic process, “the information of the people at large can alone make them the safe as they are the sole depositary of our political and religious freedom.”  He also felt that it was necessary to prevent tyranny by giving people the knowledge and facts of history.  Most of Jefferson’s ideology was just that and being a politician not an educator, Jefferson’s ideas did not transcend into the classroom.

It was not until the late nineteenth and early twentieth century when John Dewey, was the first to create a vision of how democracy and education should unite.  Dewey lays out his theory and belief in his work My Pedagogical Creed, in 1897.  He went on to write such works as The School and Society (1900) and Democracy and Education (1916).  Dewey (1897) supported the idea of schools demonstrating community to their students, “education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living…the school must represent present life-life as real and vital to the child.”  It is also important to view the school as a social institution as well, so that it may function to provide students with more than just facts and pieces of information.  Because schools function as social institutions, they must act as such in demonstrating how students are to behave and interact in society.

Learning must have significance to the learner for the information to hold value and retention.  There are two ways in which this significance is present, it may be created by the learner by placing value and interest on a subject or taught that it is significant by someone else’s standards.  When a student is giving the responsibility of learning, rather than the teacher assuming the responsibility, students become active participants in their education rather than passive recipients.  In an interview with, Appalachian State University professor, Dr. Jack Mulgrew (2002) he stated, “if the teacher cares about the students learning than the responsibility to learn is taken off of the student.”  Dewey (1897) felt that “the efforts of the educator [to] connect with some activity which the child is carrying on…independent of the educator, education becomes reduced to a pressure from without…[and] cannot be truly educative.”  Students must become empowered by their teachers to take responsibility in their education by not only choosing what they will learn, but also, how and when they will learn it and what environment they will learn it in.   Teachers can takes strides toward this by trying to teach the more human elements of subjects and attempting to teach students desire about a subject.  Dr. Mulgrew beings each and every class by asking the students “What do you want to learn today?”

Students voice must also go beyond their influence on instruction but must also have a voice in creating and amending the rules and laws of a school that they must abide.  Lois Weiner (2000), in an article on democracy and schooling, suggests, “policies should encourage the fullest participation in decisions about schooling by the people most directly affected.”  Fulfilling participation by those “most directly affected” means that students, educators, parents and communities must be “encouraging initiatives that break the stranglehold that local, state, and federal bureaucracies exert on decisions about teaching and learning” (Weiner 2000).  Even in dealing with conflict in the classroom, psychologist William Glasser (2000) believes that “a huge group of lonely children and adolescents have been disconnected by the external control psychology they have been exposed to at school”.  Glasser feels that the only way that students can be reconnected is by alleviating any use of external control and building relationships with students.  Glasser even goes so far as to suggest that a student with repeated disturbances in class handle the conflict with the teacher on their own rather than involving administration.  Although, Glasser’s approach is dealing with the teacher as a counselor and psychological issues with students, it is evident that control is put into the hands of the student.

This model o democracy that a school should become completely redefines the educational system as it functions now.  To implement these theories would be going against the grain, to say the least, but there have been those who have ventured and succeeded. Students at Appalachian State University need look no further than Jack Mulgrew’s class to find a teacher who makes students responsible for their education.  Students in his classes are given his syllabus but may create their own contract with him for what they will learn and be responsible for.  The class votes as to whether of not to take a mid-term and exam.  In his thirty years at Appalachian, Dr. Mulgrew has never given an exam.  Instead, his students must produce something that demonstrates they have learned.  Dr. Mulgrew believes that these projects give students the best opportunity to be creative and demonstrate what they learned by their own standards, rather than ones that are imposed on them by an instructor.

An early twentieth century physician, Maria Montessori “designed an educational program for street children…in response to their need to…develop their intellectual and social skills” (Williams and Keith 2000).  Montessori Education is about “developing democratic sensibilities within children’s classroom activities, topics and processes…the curriculum fosters democratic attitudes about both work and social relations” (Williams and Keith 2000).  This goal is achieved by an inclusiveness that teaches the children to choose work, value other students’ rights, use eye contact, listening is essential to participating, and to help others.  Montessori Education today is still prevalent in providing education to children, as well as, their parents.  Montessori spans from parent education during infancy to programs that include teenagers.

There is perhaps no better example of democracy in a school than when in 1921, A.S. Neill founded Summerhill, located in the village of Leiston, in Suffolk England.  It began as an experimental school and now demonstrates that freedom works.  When A.S. Neill and his wife set out to create Summerhill they had to “renounce all discipline, all direction, all suggestion, all moral training, and religious instruction” and completely rely on the “belief in the child as a good, not evil being” (Neill 1960).  All lessons at Summerhill are optional and Neill contends that after a period of three months (the time he believe it takes a child to heal from the hatred their last school gave them) students come to lessons on their own accord and attend regularly.  There is no specific model of instruction at Summerhill because if “the child who wants to learn…will learn no matter how it is taught” (Neill 1960) and there are no exams given either.  The school holds a weekly meeting, where the school laws may be made or changed; therefore all members of the school must attend.  To ensure equality between students and faculty, each have only one vote.  Summerhill is able to create this niche because it is a private boarding school, attended mostly by middle-to-upper class, white students.  This does not discount its credibility, but merely suggests that not all social groups are represented.  Some critics of Summerhill argue that it has not been the success that it should, but faculty, parents and students at Summerhill would argue that it has been successful and may only look unsuccessful when applied to the standards of an ordinary school.

In conclusion, we must look at the goals of education that seek to produce active citizens in a democratic nation.  If we agree with the psychologist, Carl Rogers (1969), who views one goal of education “must be to develop a society in which people can live more comfortably with change than with rigidity” we must provide a school and environment that can do the same.  But as Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot expect the problems of today to be solved by the same people who created them.”  Therefore, American’s must charge each other with the responsibility of fixing the problems that face society by demanding that freedom by model in their public schools.

WORKS CONSULTED

 

Dewey, John.(1897, January 16).My Pedagogical Creed. The School Journal, LIV(3), 77-80.

Glasser, William. (2000). Counseling with Choice Theory: The new reality therapy. New York: HarperCollins.

Hemmings, Ray. (1972). Children’s Freedom: A.S. Neill and the evolution of the Summerhill idea. New York: Schocken Books.

Mulgrew, Jack. (2002, April 16). Interview. Unpublished interview by author in Boone, North Carolina.

Neill, A.S. (1960). Summerhill: A radical approach to child rearing. New York: Hart.

Rogers, Carl. (1969). Freedom to Learn: A view of what education might become. Columbus: Merrill.

Snitzer, Herb. (1963). Summerhill: A loving world. New York: Macmillan.

Weiner, Lois. (2000, Fall). Democracy, pluralism, and schooling: a progressive agenda. Educational Studies: American Educational Studies Association, 31(3), 212-24.

Williams, Nancy, & Keith, Rebecca. (2000, June).Democracy and Montessori Education. Peace Review, 12(2), 217-23.