Matt JohnsonBarb Light

Please follow the instructions on the handout.

1. Demonstrate that both traditionalism and progressivism have contributed significantly to education.

2. Succinctly synthesize the historical oscillation between traditional and progressive focused education.

3. Examine the relevance of traditional and progressive philosophies in education today.

Traditional Education• Discipline• Teacher authority• Reading, writing,

arithmetic

Progressive Education• Group instruction• Real world applications• Science • Teacher developed

materials• Tracking in high schools

Traditional Education• Sputnik• Back to rigor and teacher

authority• Serious focus on math,

science, and foreign language

Progressive (Neoprogressive)

• Civil Rights Movement• Vietnam War• Educational equality

Traditional Education• A Nation at Risk• School reform• Summit meetings lead to

state curriculum standards and standardized assessment

Progressive• Educational technology• Call to embrace student

creativity and imagination• Educational leadership

focus on collaboration

Progressives push education to try new ideas. Traditionalists perfect the execution of ideas

that work. Effective strategies from both sides survive

and continue to be used. The power struggle between the two

philosophies improve American education because they do challenge each other

Change occurs more rapidly due to the debate than if one philosophy was in constant control.

You are a school principal meeting with a frustrated teacher. The teacher, who has a progressive approach, works closely with a staunch traditionalist. Their philosophies are clashing and causing frustration.

How do you handle the situation? Spend the next 4 minutes exchanging

ideas with someone near you.

You are a group of concerned parents. Matt is the administrator and he is

meeting with you to address your concerns.

You are NOT a pushy, angry mob. You respect Matt as a person and administrator and want to voice your concerns calmly in an orderly fashion.

The basics were sufficient education for you.

You don’t think the students should have to take “non academic classes” such as art, music, and computers.

You don’t think the school should be spending so much money on technology?

You’re asking yourself questions like:Do the students really need a web page design class? Is blogging really a type of English assignment? Why would the school want every high school student to have a computer to use at school?

You are in favor of existing and even more technology education.

You would like to see every teacher using technology with students.

You like the state standards and view standardized assessment scores as the only valuable measure of the school.

You are here at this meeting because you always attend school meetings and you want to make sure that the school’s focus on teaching the state curriculum and scoring well on the MEAP and MME is maintained.

You are very concerned with Mrs. Nelson, your son’s teacher, because she is using a lot of group work. Your son is a strong student and really likes what the teacher is doing, but you worry that weaker students in your son’s group might be taking advantage of his academic ability. After all, your A+ student should not be helping other kids get good grades – he may have to compete with those other kids for a job someday. School is all about competition for grades, right?

Your mother is a neighbor to a family that has a kid in the same class as your son. You are here because you heard that the family would be here to complain about the teacher, Mrs. Nelson. You usually don’t get involved in school business, but felt you had to come in defense of Mrs. Nelson. You actually have never met Mrs. Nelson, but your son, who has spent the last 3 years hating school, suddenly goes to school willingly and talks nonstop at home about the things they do in Mrs. Nelson’s class. You are so grateful to Mrs. Nelson that you had to come tonight and speak in her defense if someone complains about her.

You have retired from teaching in this school. You have preschool grandkids that will enter the school in a few years. You are here out of curiosity and concern.

Your daughter is in Mrs. Nelson’s 12th grade English class. She is coming home with some new ideas about politics and life in general that concern you. You have raised her to be a conservative, but she is exploring more liberal thoughts. Yikes!! She also spends a lot of time working on a blog her class is doing. You have looked at the blog, which seems to be some sort of discussion forum where the students relate whatever literature they are studying to current world topics like the war and the environment. Scary flashes of the Vietnam era go through your mind and you fear your daughter may turn into some current version of a hippie flower child. In some ways you like the maturity your daughter is suddenly displaying. She now talks to you about current events and life, but you also have fears about what these kids are being exposed to in school.

English class should be about reading and writing, not all this blog stuff.

You do not understand how teachers or administrators can begin to think that doing “fun stuff on the computers” as your kids call it can be educational.