References

Cohen, L.M. (1999). Section III-philosophical perspectives in education part 2. Retrieved from http://orgeonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP2.html.

Hookway, C. (2008). Pragmatism. The Stanford of Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Available from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2010/entries/pragmatism.

Parmer, P. (1988). The courage to teach. Jossey-Bass Web. San Francisco.

Cheryl Styskal
EDCL 5339

Educational Platform

I believe, as the pragmatist John Dewey, that the purpose of education is to enable individuals to reach their full potential as members of society by teaching them to think and act intelligently and responsibly. (Cohen, 1999). Children are born with inherent capacities, tendencies, and aptitudes and it is educators who can draw out and develop them to their fullest capacity. Learning must be full of connections made by doing and experiencing creative and purposeful activities. As Palmer (1988) explains, good teachers possess the capacity for connectedness. We weave the complex web of connections among ourselves, the subjects we teach, and the students we affect. The goal for students is to find themselves enveloped in this tapestry so they learn to weave through life’s complexities themselves.
I believe that all students can learn. When we refuse to allow deficit thinking to cloud are judgments and beliefs about children, only then can we truly empower and inspire. If we raise the bar for all students, then all students will