Impact of Schools and Learning on Individuals and Society

Impact of Schools and Learning on Individuals and Society

Abstract

            Education shapes future generations and forms the foundations for holistic success. Historically, even the utmost primitive cultures had an educational activity that satisfied their quest for knowledge at the time. Therefore, education is developmental, in that, current situations and preferences shape the implementation of the learning process. In recent times, developments in education have been influenced by the philosophical aspects that have since taken charge of humankind’s thinking adventure. Philosophy of education has developed a better learning process that shapes future generations providing the foundation of the relationship between philosophy and education. Thus, the paper will base its discussion on the long-range impact of education on individuals and society.

Keywords: Philosophy of education, learning process

            Philosophy of education concentrates on thorough and comprehensive interaction of all educational strategies. Therefore, the text will focus on the purpose, outcomes, goals, and impact of education to individuals and society. For an in-depth analysis, the discussion will be divided into four sections. The first section, philosophy of schools and learning, will focus on the impact schools and learning have on students and the society, thus it will emphasize on “why” of education that is the purpose of schools and learning. The second part, instructional practice, will focus on how instructions actively involve the learners, subsequently serving the primary purpose of developing and shaping the minds of students. The third section, teacher-learning relationship, will emphasize the role of students, teachers, the relationship between them, and why it is crucial to students. Lastly, the diversity section will state the different factors that teachers need to take into account and the impact of student’s diversity on instruction. Bottom line, the paper will focus on the purpose of education in developing and shaping the mind of students hence providing them with values and goals that are useful to them and society.

Philosophy of Schools and Learning

There are four major educational philosophies within the frame of epistemology that focus on the nature of knowledge and why education is essential. The theories are used in classrooms word-widely, and they mostly focus on what is in the curriculum. They are perennialism, progressivism, essentialism, and reconstructionism (Gutek, 2014). Perennialism aims to teach concepts that are everlasting, truthful, and constant as the average human biosphere does not change at its most essential level. Essentialists base their belief on the existence of a mutual core knowledge that needs to be systematically conveyed to students. The philosophy is related to perennialism, but it believes that the core curriculum can change as schools need to be practical so that students are prepared to deal with societal demands. Progressivism encourages active experimentations that improve the child’s experience, which is essential for critical thinking and problem-solving. The theory requires the content of the curriculum to be drawn from the child’s interest, and through scientific methods, the students can study events or matters first hand. Bottom line, the philosophy aims at establishing how one comprehends the process of learning. Reconstructionism focuses on addressing the societal questions in a quest to create worldwide democracy and an improved society.

The paper will focus on perennialism and progressivism to expound on why it is essential to impart education to individuals. As mentioned earlier, perennialism aims to teach concepts that are everlasting, truthful, and constant. Perennials argue that the school seeks to ensure students acquire ideas that have the potential to offer solutions. The main focus of the aspect is to develop the mind of human beings considering their rationality. It also advocates for structured educational programs that are social, literate, mathematical, logical, natural, and classical (Bolat & Bas, 2018). In the setting, teachers have the role of shaping the competence of students by applying necessary penalties, thus the instructor is the focus of the educational environment.

On the other hand, progressivism emphasizes on reality. It encourages active experimentations that improve the child’s experience, which is essential for critical thinking and problem-solving. Like in perennialism, the teacher takes center stage, but his or her role is to guide the student through the learning process (Bolat & Bas, 2018). The aspect is essential as students can relate education with real-life challenges. Conclusively, both characters show why education is necessary. As perennialism is focused on developing competence and mind of students, progressivism allows learners to think critically when faced with problems. Incontestably, the two philosophies should be incorporated together in the learning process to introduce a holistic environment that shapes the perceptions of students.

Instructional Practice

            Besides imparting knowledge and skills, teachers are expected to offer students information on how to learn. The classroom is meant to motivate students to prepare for class activities, the steps they should take, and how to monitor the individual process of learning (Saskia et al., 2015). Thus, education should be structured to promote learning strategies that are oriented towards the facilitation of performance rather than the fulfillment of a task. In recent times, education is focused on the self-regulated method. It is where students develop the ability to autonomously strategize, execute, and appraise the process of learning, which subsequently prompt cognitive and motivational behavior towards developing new ideas. Thus, students come to know the truth through self-discoveries.

            The main requirement of the modern learning process is to involve students, which is essential in making education exciting and to sharpen their skills and knowledge better. The current pedagogical concepts require the implementation of technology into the learning process because it is the most dynamic issue that affects learning by introducing more straightforward methods of active participation. When learning, students should try to apprehend everything thus, I would recommend the implementation of the flipped classroom as the ideal pedagogical model. A flipped classroom provides a reverse organization to lecture presentations and home tasks (Prykhodkina, 2015). The model incorporates technology in the school and offers students a chance to revisit class work through videos, hold online discussions, and exercises as directed by the tutor. The students are not only introduced to the current software used in real life but also their participation and cooperation improve. The section of teacher-learner relation will emphasize that students’ involvement is the main factor that shapes the process of learning. The flipped classroom allows students to engage with other students and the teachers, consequently making the teacher aware of the immediate needs of students. When the model is incorporated with taking down notes, the learning process becomes more active, and as such it can serve its primary purpose of holistically developing the minds of students.

Teacher-Learner Relationship

            Most studies have shown that effective teacher-student associations influence the engagement and success of students. Social-motivational and extended attachment perspectives are the two main approaches that have been used to explain students engagement (Roorda, Jak, Zee, Oort & Koomen, 2017). Both theories assume that students’ achievement in the teacher-learner relationship is impacted by the commitment of the latter. In this context, participation is perceived as the involvement or connection of the student with schooling endeavors and hence with values, goals, people, activities, and the community therein. The multidimensional concept introduces different aspects that can be grouped into three categories, the first one is the behavioral commitment, which refers to the learner’s participation in lectures as well as extracurricular events, inclusive of the society.  The second component is emotional engagement which defines constructive and destructive reactions or feelings such as, satisfaction, boredom, and enjoyment, towards other students, teachers, classwork, and society. Lastly, cognitive engagement refers to the student’s willingness to master and comprehend complex ideas and skills (Roorda et al., 2017). Thus, students should try to embrace the three components because schoolwork is affected positively or adversely depending on the student’s participation, reaction and willingness. The three parts convincingly underlay the role of learners which affect the long-run range impact that learning has on individuals and society.

            Learners’ engagement is affected by the ability of the learning environment to meet their basic psychological needs, which include autonomy, relatedness, and competence (Roorda et al., 2017). Teacher involvement is introduced through the role of satisfying their individual needs. By expressing care for and interest in the students, the latter gets drawn in intrinsically because they feel valued and appreciated. Interaction is the primary determinant of engagement because the relationship created affects participation, reaction, and willingness of the student. Secondly, the teacher provides the structure of learning, which refers to the establishment of guidelines and consequences that accordingly affect learning competence. Lastly, allowing some degree of autonomy in the classroom affects the ability of students to make their own choices, which is essential for critical thinking and problem-solving (Roorda et al., 2017). However, the teacher should be cautious about striking a balance between power and freedom because too much of each can weaken the values that learning tries to instill. As active engagement leads to high overall performance, students’ perceptions of learning change while the teacher fulfills the chief purpose of education.

Diversity

            When diversity is mentioned, most people intuitively think of cultural and ethnic facets, but I tend to think of social forces that are separate and unique to each student. Social effects are inclusive of the aspects mentioned above, but they go deeper into many externalities that shape learning. The paper will discuss five social factors that the teacher should take into consideration when dealing with diversity in the learning process. Physical disabilities, economic status, religion, race, and culture are the main focus of the project. Physical disabilities refer to the limitation of normal bodily functioning. Most tutors have little or no experience in relating to learners who have distinct needs which can cause weak interactions. Lack of exposure is the main reason for poor treatment because the teacher feels inadequate in meeting the required needs while some develop anxiety and fear in a classroom with disabled students (Dvir, 2015).  Teachers should, therefore, be willing to learn either through regular and continuous interaction with affected students or by seeking professional knowledge to passably accommodate diversity. Economic status does not only mean the necessary financial skills that students should be imparted with but also the consideration of their living standards. The teacher should ensure the programs offered during learning suit all economic classes.  Religion and culture are intertwined because the latter always cast the prior as its subset whereby no religion encompasses an entire culture and vice versa.  As religion influences the culture, the latter is shaped by the faith that exists around it. Each student has different faith and beliefs thus the teacher should create an environment that allows non-divisional mindsets in the classroom. The setting’s purpose is to create a holistic and cohesive place of learning that enables the existence of the vulnerabilities in the two disciplines. Finally, race has been the leading underscore of tenacious traumatic experiences for students of color (Sehgal, Jeffries & Rappaport, 2017). Educators need to understand how racialized experiences affect the psychological wellness of students that subsequently affect the purpose of learning.

            Blended learning is improving gradually as many schools aim to offer a flexible learning environment for students to cater for diversity factors (Boelens, Voet, & De Wever, 2018). Instructors have addressed the issue by introducing differentiated learning that accommodates and offers extra support throughout the learning process. However, differentiation has been perceived differently by instructors resulting in three profiles. Adaptation instructors believe that blended learning processes sufficiently meet the needs of students. Transformative instructors believe that differentiated learning should be designed and implemented according to different learners’ traits. Finally, disregarding instructors take no consideration of diversity (Boelens et al., 2018). Schools need to establish a clear stance on the difference because the learning process is affected by the holistic comprehensiveness and completeness of the student.

Conclusion

            In summary, the relationship between philosophy and education has improved the learning process. It is not conventional, in that it is not only focused on imparting students with basic knowledge but also allowing students to be autonomous so that they can develop ideas that can be incorporated to a real-life environment. The philosophical aspects have aided in making education developmental, in that, the learning process is shaped according to the immediate and emerging needs of students. Conclusively, to avoid learning chaos, philosophy, and education should be entwined because the prior incorporates the current forces that subsequently affect the primary purpose of learning that is, impacting students with holistic and practical concepts.

           

           

References

Roorda, D. L., Jak, S., Zee, M., Oort, F. J., & Koomen, H. M. (2017). Affective teacher-student relationships and students' engagement and achievement: A meta-analytic update and test of the mediating role of engagement. School Psychology Review, 46(3), 239-261.

Dvir, N. (2015). Does physical disability affect the construction of professional identity? Narratives of student teachers with physical disabilities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 52, 56-65.

Sehgal, P., Jeffries, J., & Rappaport, N. (2017). Combatting race-related stress in the classroom. Educational Leadership, 75(4), 51-55.

Boelens, R., Voet, M., & De Wever, B. (2018). The design of blended learning in response to student diversity in higher education: Instructors’ views and use of differentiated instruction in blended learning. Computers & Education, 120, 197-212.

Gutek, G., L. (2014). Philosophical, Ideological, and Theoretical Perspectives on Education. 2nd Ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Bolat, Y., & Bas, M. (2018). The Perception of the Educational Philosophy in the Industrial Age 4.0 and the Educational Philosophy Productivity of Teacher Candidates. World Journal of Education, 8(3), 149-161.

Prykhodkina, N. (2015).The efficiency of the "flipped classroom" technology in the lecturers teaching process. Scientific Journal, 4(9), 40-44.

Saskia, K., Katrin, R., Barbara, O., Eckhard, K., & Gerhard, B. (2015). Teaching-learning strategies. The role of instructional context and teacher beliefs. Journal for educational research online 7(1), 176-197.