Reflections

At this point in the philosophy of education journey, I definitely have more questions than I have answers.  While I feel like I understand the backgrounds of some thinkers better, and class discussion has definitely helped me contextualize the readings, I’m not sure how to connect the knowledge I’ve gained with my analysis of education policy.  But this doesn’t mean that the class wasn’t a good one, in fact, I think the opposite.  I’m just thinking more deeply about how to apply this information to the policies that govern what happens in schools and school system, and as I do that I seem to stumble upon more questions…

            What I’ve come to understand is that some of the readings act as a magnifying glass as much as they do a prescription of how to “run” schools. By that I mean that trying to understand our experiences in schools through the lenses of these readings definitely made me more aware of the strengths and weakness in classrooms that I’ve been in, and classrooms in general.  More than give ideas about the way school should work, the pieces we read made it easier to understand the larger questions that need to constantly be asked of/about public schools: Who is this place for? What is this place for? Who is being included in and excluded from learning experiences? What specific subjects are we teaching and why? How are teaching these subjects? How are we measuring success?

            Of course, those questions are answered differently at each school, and sometimes they’re answered differently inside each classroom.  But I think shying away from those questions because they beget a wide range of answers is what gets us in the worst predicaments in schools. We’re always looking for the one problem that needs to be fixed, and we assume that it is as easy to fix as it is to identify, so each decade we “fix” something different thinking it will be the last time.  If there’s anything that the Cahn compilation has taught us, however, is that change is constantly occurring, There are very few, if any, simple, swift solutions. And even if there were more, each solution has to be sustainable and relevant.  When it ceases to be either of those, it’s not really a solution anymore.  So as we move forward, I think we should link this knowledge to policy in ways that make it clear that we’re thinking about the current generations and future ones, the current society and future society, and what we want those to look like.