Great Educator

The immediate cultural context of children and youth includes family, neighborhood, and youth culture, including media influences.  Dewey argued that social influences are the “great educator” and that schools are only a secondary agency.  What educational problems and possibilities are presented to teachers by these cultural contexts, and why do you see these as problems and possibilities?  What difference can and should teachers make to learners if schools are secondary to the wider society in their influence?  By what means should teachers seek to make the difference, and why?  In your response, consider more than one kind of neighborhood and family context.

   

      Society is constantly evolving and 2012 is no different.  Cultural context brought on to children through family, neighborhoods, and youth cultures are "great educators" as Dewey suggested.  Many things learned in a child's everyday life are not things that can be taught in schools.  Media influences, especially today, play such an important role in the culture of the world's youth.  Access to popular social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter, puts instant connectivity in the hands of many adolescents.  Ten to fifteen years ago it would take a day for news to spread around a small community.  Today that juicy bit of gossip is instantly 'tweeted' and everyone is made aware.  If as educators we don't think this influences a child's thinking and learning we are kidding ourselves.

      There are many problems associated with the evolution of society and its impact on the youth of our country.  Speaking from an educational standpoint, teachers fall into two categories.  Those that disregard cultural contexts and those that embrace it.  In order to reach a child in today's digital times teachers should be able to relate to their students in more ways than the pulpit in front of the classroom.  Using the very things that kids use in their daily lives can open an enormous amount of opportunities for teachers to have at their disposal.  Using the internet, whether through the social networking sites or even student friendly blogs, could help catch interest and classroom discussion could take place outside the school building.  Students love listening to their MP3 players and what better way to present a lesson than in the form of a podcast?  Many different aspects could benefit children if teachers are so inclined.

      If schools truly are secondary to the outside world then what impact do teachers have on children anyway?  This statement presents a fallacy to the educational system as a whole.  Educators may not be able to grab the attention of every single child for every single minute of instruction.  The attentions that they do obtain for however long are the ones that make schooling worthwhile.  Students learn a lot from their environment.  Much like a baby learns to speak in its native language, children learn from the world around them.  When they are in school, learning is taking place in one form or another.  Educators are in a position to really have an impact (hopefully positive) on the minds and attitudes of today's youth.  What they teach and how they teach it is the 'what' students gain from attending school.

      To really make a difference, every educator owes it to their students to provide learning by any means necessary.  If a teacher is located in a lower income school, and another is in a higher income neighborhood, those educators will teach the material differently.  Which way is better becomes the real question.  The answer is that neither is wrong, as long as the material being taught is same.  Delivery is just that, a way for one to present material to another.  Take as an example, a salad bar at your local restaurant.  If two people go to the bar and make a salad, chances are that they will have two completely different products by the time they sit down to eat.  The end product is a salad.  Did both people accomplish that task?  Did they make the exact same salad?  The answers of course bring back the point that the 'how' didn't really matter, as long as the end was the same.  Teachers need to get creative with the 'how' today to really grab student interest and challenge them to think critically.

      Society is still evolving and will continue to evolve forever.  Students who live in the society will immediately change to have their needs met.  Teachers and educators too must change and evolve with them in order for learning to take place and not take a backseat as Dewey suggests.  Will this be challenging for some?  Of course it will, but things have always been this way.  Nothing today is different than yesterday.  Education evolves much as society does and it is the duty of those involved to be aware and open about evolving with it.