Learning through Observing: What are schools for?

            Schools are essential environments for promoting learning and success. After observing a few classrooms at Central Falls High School, I have made this general conclusion about the majority of schools. For one thing, students are exposed to an array of academic concepts in schools. With these ideas, students are encouraged to broaden their critical thinking and reasoning abilities. It is then that students can become socially responsible in their communities. From my perspective, I think that schools are for preparing students for the cycle of life. Essentially, this means that students learn a variety of academic-centered information, apply this information to their lives as students and individuals, develop a sense of community and belonging, and then do what they please (college or work) after graduating. I think that schools like CFHS are trying to prepare their students for higher education. I think that there is a focus on this, especially when molding students to think on their own. Forming individual opinions that are supported, in some way, by evidence proves that the student is an informed member of society.

After observing Ms. Garces’s tenth grade English class, I have seen this improving and preparatory work in action. The class was finishing up their Lord of the Flies unit, and the teacher repeatedly asked questions that did not have only one right answer. Most of these questions required the students to either analyze or evaluate, so some type of evidence was needed in order to have a fully developed answer. Ms. Garces and her student teacher went around the room asking opinion-based questions to the students. The majority of the students used textual proof to support their claims, and the teachers positively acknowledged such inclusion of evidence. In this classroom, and at CFHS in general, I think that a main focus is on having students think critically and support their opinions with appropriate evidence that enhances their argument. This will prepare them for either higher education or the work field.

In 1897, John Dewey enters the big picture with his American model of education. He draws on the social aspects of education, particularly working with the child to establish them socially. He believed that learning was linked to the social community that surrounds the individual. This is the main idea of Dewey’s Pedagogic Creed, and I think that it is applicable at CFHS. To shape the students into socially relevant individuals, the classes are designed to gather the opinions of students. With these differing opinions, the students are taught to support their claims in accordance with the acceptability of society.

More than seventy years later came Ivan Illich, whose philosophy consisted of de-institutionalizing education- his book, Deschooling Society. Like Dewey, he did believe that individuals are affected by and learn from their surroundings. However, he concludes that schools do not equalize (as believed) but rather divide. With Illich’s philosophy, the responsibility transfers from the student and becomes dependent on the institution. Asides from fostering dependency, this system also abrogates responsibility. However, I find a parallel to CFHS with the diversity of classes that are offered to students. The students are able to choose classes that best fit their interests, and I suppose that this can be connected to Illich’s philosophy for this reason.

From my findings and experiences in the classrooms at CFHS, it is clear that administrators and educators are working to create a positive and healthy learning environment for the students. Now in 2014, I think that Central Falls High School utilizes both Dewey and Illich’s philosophies to shape their students for the world after high school. It provides a safe environment for exploring paths and areas of study. Schools are for finding a healthy balance between academics, morals, society, and agency. This equality will yield informed, cooperative, educated individuals. Learning on an individual level will produce significant life skills that will help students now and in the future. Critical thinking, creativity, and independence are fostered at Central Falls High School, and for these reasons, students will be successful in all that they do in the future.