Steph

Groten

Ideology Reflection

After being taught using each of the four perspectives as the focus for
teaching, I found that each lesson was engaging in its own ways. Obviously
for me, I found the learner centered activities to be most engaging because,
specifically with the water topic, we were able to choose the activities that
interested us the most individually. I think that this is a beneficial teaching
tool because as the students have more choice, their motivation should
increase because they are doing and learning in ways that resonates with
them personally.
Through the presentations, I found that the learning activities and
objectives shifted from ideology to ideology. For example, in the social
reconstruction lessons, there was a high push for cultural/societal changes in
order to create a healthier society. In the lesson on water, the aim was to
show how little fresh water we have on earth vs. the amounts we are
consuming in North America. This lesson focused on how we as a society can
change this by using less water and showing how fortunate we are for having
fresh water compared to third world countries. Other ideologies; such as,
scholar academic used this lesson on water to explain the water cycle
through lecture, followed by a quiz. Therefore, through the lessons we can
see direct correlation with the specific ideology used.
The ideology I found to be most impactful or meaningful on the
teaching and learning that took place was the social reconstruction ideology.
I think that everyone was interested in knowing why it is important to change
the ways we consume water and how we can change this in the water
lesson. I think we were also interested in understanding differences within a
country in order to be empathetic and open minded citizens in the
citizenship lesson. I believe it is important to use this ideology in order to
bring up issues in our society because it educates students on what is going
on around them and ways we can be the change. This ideology was one of
the lowest results on my curriculum inventory; however, now I can see how
this ideology would be important in a classroom for certain lessons. I think
that this ideology would correlate with the Wilson Middle School Soup Kitchen
Case Study, where the students can learn through experience of helping out
in the community and learning through a hands on way. I can see how I could
tie in the social efficiency and learner centered ideologies through this
example.

The ideology that I can most relate to is the learner centered ideology.
As a teacher, I can see the learner centered ideology influencing my teaching
activities most because I believe that schools should be engaging and
enjoyable learning environments for students to be in each day. I think that
each student brings in their own unique learning styles and perspectives and
that we as teachers should be there to facilitate further growth and learning.
It will be my job to find ways of motivating my students to bring out their
individuality and be the best they can be through a natural learning process.
This can be done by providing many learning strategies and allowing the
students to have choice.
After viewing the four ideologies that influence students learning, I
have come to the conclusion that it is okay to implement various ideologies
into my teaching. Before our presentations, I believed that I would take on
one ideology only: learner centered, simply because I figured that is how I
learn best and that I could adapt to the individual needs of each child. I think
that depending on the topic being covered, the needs of my students, and
the grade levels I will be teaching, my curriculum ideology will change.
Therefore, my learning activities will be altered as well.