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1. To explore connections between Piaget’s developmental
theory and constructivism, consult the following Web
site:http://www.piaget.org.
2.

Teachers’ rights regarding freedom of expression and
academic freedom depend on a balance between individual and governmental
interests.Teachers have rights guaranteed to individuals under the
Constitution, but school boards have obligations to ensure the “proper” and
“regular” operation of the schools, taking into account the rights of parents,
teachers, and students.

Tenure protects teachers from dismissal except on such specified grounds as incompetence, immorality, insubordination, and unprofessional conduct. Teachers accused of such conduct are entitled to due-process protections.

Examine several weeks’ worth of the state and local news
section of your daily paper (hard copy or via the Web) for articles relating to
school finance. Do these articles support or criticize the current system? Do
they agree with any of the points of view presented in this chapter, or do they
take a different approach? Share your findings with the class.

1. What are some reasons for and against shifting
educational responsibilities from the federal government to the states?
2. How, as a teacher, can you influence educational change
at the local level? At the state level?

What do you consider the advantages and disadvantages of
elected, rather than appointed, local school boards? Do the same arguments
apply to state boards of education? Would you rather work where school boards
are elected or where they are appointed? Explain.

Consult the Council for Basic Education’s website at
http://www.edutopia.org/php/orgs.php?id Org_301594 and examine the council’s
educational philosophy. Is this philosophy similar to perennialism and
essentialism? How does it differ from pragmatism, progressivism, and critical
theory?

1. Are there philosophies and theories or elements of philosophies
and theories that you consider unacceptable or incompatible with American
public schools?
2.

Reflect on your ideas about knowledge, education and
schooling, and teaching and learning.What would you say is your philosophy of
education? If you have the opportunity, share your thoughts with your
classmates and listen to their philosophies. Discuss the agreements and
disagreements that emerge. Speculate on how you might bring your school and
teaching into more coherence with your philosophical beliefs.

To provide a frame of reference for developing your
philosophy of education, we examined the philosophies of idealism, realism,
pragmatism, existentialism, and postmodernism and the theories of essentialism,
perennialism, progressivism, and critical theory.