Educating for the Practice of Freedom : Ideological Stance

in Social Studies InstructionLorena Oceguera Tamayo

EDUC 505Dr. Mary Anne Hillier

March 12, 2013

Educating for the practice of Freedomstudent community &

classroom My ideological stance is student centered

and child centered. I include both because I want to acknowledge the growing and developing nature of our students. No child is a closed book. I will always make room for the process they are going through and the potential they embody. I am deeply influenced by bell hooks and Rudolf Steiner who speak about educating for the practice of freedom (hooks, 1994). This practice includes helping students become critical thinkers and self-directed learners, who are agents in their own lives. Critical thinking skills enable students to ask themselves about the "who" and "why" of any situation. This is democratic—and an essential skill of all participants in a democratic society.

Sociocultural theory, the theory that emphasizes the importance of society and culture in the cognitive development of human beings informs how I implement my teaching practice. One of its main theoreticists, Lev Vygotsky, the Russian psychologist, came up with the theory of the Zone of Proximal Development (Ormrod, 2011).

I am committed to the potential within each of my students. This means actively working within the Zone of Proximal Development grounded in careful observation and knowledge of my students (Poehner & Lantolf, 2005). This observation and knowledge necessarily acknowledges the diverse communities the students come from as well as the unique community created by each group of students in the classroom.

My own process of reflection on my students and their learning will be a big part of this practice as well.

Child Centered IdeologyFocused on the growing

and developmental nature of students.

Integrating Research on cognitive development in children. Using this research to scaffold instruction for students of various abilities, both talented, and challenged, as well as EL students.

Awakening critical thinking skills in adolescents by using cognitive tools to scaffold instruction.

Acknowledging and leveraging the different cultures, languages, and communities represented in the classroom.

Waking up Critical Thinking in Social Studies ClassroomsTo awaken critical thinking in social studies classrooms it is necessary to bring in activities that help students become aware of how they think (metacognition) and question information they are reading in a text. Modeling comprehension strategies will help students become aware of their thinking and also begin to think critically about the various points of view they must encounter in a social studies classroom (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011).These strategies involve modeling and opportunities to practice the skill making it easy to use the Zone of Proximal Development of each student.

Think Aloud: this strategy models thinking through trouble spots in a text. Students have the opportunity to see the teacher model it, and then practice with a partner or in small groups.

QARs: This strategy makes explicit question/answer connections and relationships while reading texts. By exploring the different categories the students can learn how to find the information they need.

Questioning the Author (QtA): This strategy involves asking the author questions to comprehend text. This can be adapted to social studies content by also asking questions about motive and point of view of the author (Vacca, Vacca, & Mraz, 2011).

Literacy, Equity and Academic Language

In Spanish the graphic states that a literate community will never be subdued, or put under control. Literacy is the great equalizer because once a community is literate then it has access to information and knowledge that is potentially transformative. The quote in Spanish from Paulo Freire states that to read is to pronounce or speak the world, and it is an act that a woman or man uses to separate themselves from their practice, to know it critically and to return to it to transform it and to transform themselves. This transformation is not possible without literacy. I would argue as well that to have access to information that is transforming the individual must also have the necessary tools (critical thinking) and a wide and varied vocabulary which includes academic language and language of the discipline used in the social sciences.

I would also argue that the way one teaches also is learned by the students. I will also strive to teach and use content in a way that makes students feel inspired and empowered rather than being subdued or under control

“Leer es pronunciar el mundo, es el acto que permite al hombre y a la mujer tomar distancia de su práctica (codificarla) para conocerla críticamente, volviendo a ella para transformarla y transformarse a sí mismos.”— Paulo Freire (Freire, 2000)

Awakening potential I am committed to making the classroom a safe place for fierce engagement and intense learning. Children are predisposed to being critical thinkers but unfortunately taught early that thinking and questioning is dangerous. I want to have a classroom where the students will have the opportunity to experience thinking as a passionate and pleasurable activity. (hooks, 1994)

Works CitedWorks Cited (n.d.). Retrieved from Morguefile.com:

http://cdn.morguefile.com/imageData/public/files/b/bullofriverside/preview/fldr_2008_11_02/file000530252079.jpg

Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the oppressed. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Ginott, H. G. (1972). Teacher and child: A book for parents and teachers. New York: Scribner Book Company.

hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge, Chapman & Hall.

Levene, D. This is India. The Guardian, London.

Ormrod, J. E. (2011). Educational psychology: Developing learners. Boston: Pearson Higher Education.

Poehner, M. E., & Lantolf, J. P. (2005). Dynamic Assessment in the language classroom. Language Teaching Research, 233-265.

Vacca, R. T., Vacca, J., & Mraz, M. (2011). Content area reading: Literacy and learning across the curriculum. Boston: Pearson.

Valeria, A. Pigeon Freedom.