Sarah Engström, Outdoor and Environmental Educator
K-8 Teacher Certified
Philosophy of Education
Types of Philosophy
If I had to categorize my philosophy of education, I find it difficult to fit into the neat traditional boxes of previous philosophers. I think that this philosophy represents an integration of the beliefs of Constructivists like John Dewey that states "Constructivism is the philosophical and scientific position that knowledge arises through a process of active construction (Mascolol & Fischer, 2005.)” Another way of discussing this philosophy is that we should start where students are, not where we wish them to be. To evaluate their ‘location’ on that continuum I turned to the experimentalists view that the dynamic changing world affects our reality, and that change is the only constant. “For the experimentalist, the world is an ever-changing place. Reality is what is actually experienced. Truth is what presently functions. Goodness is what is accepted by public test. Unlike the perennialist, idealist, and realist, the experimentalist openly accepts change and continually seeks to discover new ways to expand and improve society. The experimentalist would favor a school with heavy emphasis on social subjects and experiences. Learning would occur through a problem-solving or inquiry format. Teachers would aid learners or consult with learners who would be actively involved in discovering and experiencing the world in which they live. Such an education program's focus on value development would factor in group consequences (Miller, 2007).” In order for students to be able to handle the changing world, educators need to help students develop critical thinking skills and community. I think that outdoor experiences are the best way to grow these crucial abilities. “Students’ and teachers’ responses [to a study conducted by Earnst and Monroe in 2006] indicate the importance of learning activities that involved more than traditional teacher‐centered instruction, as none of them attributed strategies such as memorization of content or classroom‐focused learning as being conducive to building and encouraging critical thinking (Earnst & Monroe, 2006).” The study goes on to discuss how the same students “learn more effectively within an environment‐based context than within a traditional education framework (Earnst & Monroe, 2006).”
Learning Theory and Practice
I believe that the purpose of education is to open minds to the wonder and magic of the world around us by shaping responsible and tolerant citizens of a growing global community. To do so, we cannot ignore that education should be connected to the natural world. We do not live or learn in a vacuum, and our education system should not separate our place and how we learn. “Current ideas in environmental thought promote the idea that we need to move beyond the idea of ‘the earth’ as a ‘unit’ of study and encourage a much more profound respect for nature (Gaylie, 2009, p. 29).” Nature, hands-on learning, and physical movement should be viewed as vehicle to teach any concept. Research abounds about all the health impacts and learning implications of time spent outside. In Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods, he says, “Time in nature is not leisure time; it's an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own) (Louv, 2005).” There are measurable, definite gains from education taking place outside of our narrow ideas and building confines.
David Sobel perhaps summed it up best in his book Childhood and Nature, “The common theme in these efforts is our desire to bring the environment and the community into the core of the curriculum. For too long, we feel, environmental education has been like art, a tassel on the edge of the school fabric, not the warp. Our objective is to make ecological literacy a serious part of the school philosophy (Sobel, 2008, p. 73).” As an educator, I hope to help students make connections between their environment and the curriculum. It is not necessary to sacrifice content to do so, and children that are moving, active, and engaged in full body learning are more likely to make connections. As Richard Louv states in his book “Last Child in the Woods” “If getting our kids out into nature is a search for perfection, or is one more chore, then the belief in perfection and the chore defeats the joy. It's a good thing to learn more about nature in order to share this knowledge with children; it's even better if the adult and child learn about nature together. And it's a lot more fun (Louv, 2005)”
Technology
I believe that this does not mean that we should totally eschew the use of computers and electronics, since technology is a vital part of our dynamic society. The world is changing to a more technoentric place. This opens up so many exciting ways to evaluate learning, and to ignore technology is to become irrelevant. That being said, there are so many other ways to assess. “Childhood computer use diminishes the range of kinesthetic experience and collapses full-body coordination into finger coordination. This narrowing of bodily experience has an impact on neurophysiological development (Sobel, 2008, p. 109).” I think that for technology to be an effective tool, it must be used in short, intentional settings. And that in the end it cannot serve as a substitute for authentic experiences.
I believe that as a teacher, my role is to be guide to my students on their educational journeys, without dealing in absolute truths. I hope to provoke higher thinking: by the questions I ask; by playing “Devil’s Advocate” or “Socrates”; by forcing students to challenge their beliefs. I hope to create educational opportunities that fit with natural rhythms and developments in students’ lives, much in the manner of Sobel’s authentic curriculum. This intentional type of shaping of educational material encourages students to experience their learning in new ways that benefit the world as a whole. “As with all endangered species, we need to learn how to identify the habitats that authentic curriculum thrives in and protect them from the bulldozers of homogenization, our contribution to biodiversity (Sobel, 2008, p. 97).”
I believe that this will lead to higher understanding. Diverse understanding is also linked to an active form of learning. To use the words of Alaskan Native philosophy: “Esghallghilnguq, Nagaqullghilnguq, Nanghiilghilnguq, Nalluksaghaq -What you do not see, do not hear, do not experience, you will never really know.”
Educators should energize their students about their own learning, as well as embracing the idea that learning can be fun. When I teach, I hope to benefit from the environment where I find myself. I think that taking time to stomp in puddles, roll down hills, look at cloud patterns, and explore the stories of the moment are crucial to being complete humans as well as effective educators. “Children’s play is often the fertile soil in which authentic curriculum takes root (Sobel, 2008, p. 82).”
To be effective, educators must also cultivate rapport with their students by actively listening to their concerns, ideas, questions, and stories. By creating rapport, I believe that educators can fill their most vital role: empowering students to realize their own potential. I believe that teachers should also work to foster healthy minds and bodies among their student and those among whom they live and work. I think that educators should also strive to create an environment of acceptance and investment in learning in their communities, which are in turn connected to the larger global whole., or as Sobel states, “Using the classroom as a microcosm of the school, the school as a microcosm of the school, the school as a microcosm of the community.” By learning how to behave responsibly in the school, children are practicing the behaviors we want them to demonstrate as adults in the community (Sobel, 2008, p. 141).” Holistic, inclusive, and innovative education is the seed that grows responsible citizens of the world.
Classroom Management
I believe that students have to accept responsibility of their own learning. Educators can provide opportunities, structure and materials, but at the end of the day the investment of the student in his or her learning will determine how successful they are. Students need to come to their place of learning with an open mind. They should be informed participants in the learning, and active drivers of exploration.
Not only should students be instructed about correct and relevant material about the subject, they should also be expected to be accountable for their behavior. Students that interfere with the learning of themselves or others should have an opportunity to explain their actions, but understand that consequences are for the good of the whole. The more routines and checks for behavior that exist in a classroom make it easier to create the environment where academic risks can flourish. Accepting risks is an important part of learning, so students should be willing to take a chance on a new concept or person. Intellectual risks do not mean that anyone should feel physically or emotionally unsafe, so teachers and students need to work together to a foster a truly cohesive collective learning environment.
Diversity and Differentiation
As an educator, I do not want to be confined to any one place or style. I want to help my students bridge the gap between classrooms and the outdoors. Learning is everywhere, and educating should reflect that. I feel that flexibility in place and presentation style is critical if we hope to differentiate for diverse learners. I wish to cultivate and appreciate the innate creativity, curiosity, and passion that young adults and children have within them. When I teach, I hope to use as many different kinds of learning as possible, in order to appeal to the many different styles of learning and senses. I understand that by teaching, I can learn more myself about the world around me. Because of the nature of children and of learning, this means that I think that flexibility and ability to react to external stimuli is a crucial part of being an effective teacher. “The best times in teaching have always been the consequence of some little accident that happened to direct attention in some new ways, to revitalize an old interest which has died out or to create a brand new interest that you hadn’t had any notion about how to introduce. Suddenly, there it is. The bird flies into the window and that’s the miracle you needed (Sobel, 2008, p. 76).” I believe that teachers have to commit to seeking out some of this type of “accident” and incorporate that into their lessons and routines.
Literacy
Reading is the closest thing that exists in today’s world to magic or time travel. In order to give all children keys to realms magical and mundane, and set them up to succeed in later life, I firmly believe that teaching students to read, and to love literature should be a high priority to teachers of all fields. Research shows that children who do not have functional literacy by 3rd grade have a significantly greater risk of incarceration and unwed pregnancy (Moats; 1999). In today’s society literacy is an absolute necessity, even beyond the criminal implications. The ability to read and write are directly linked not only to academic success, but also in a person’s ability to hold secure employment, and personal autonomy. I pledge to be the kind of teacher that believes enough in the future lives of my students to give them any and all reading tools they need to succeed in a larger world.
I believe that literacy instruction should be an intentional blend of phonics instruction and reading of real literature, both on print and read aloud. Every child in early elementary should have 90 minutes of reading instruction time per day. This time should be broken up into segments with different manipulatives, explicit instruction techniques, audio-visual representations, and emphasis on different aspects of the many skills of reading.
Many teachers are daunted by the idea of teaching phonics and phonemic awareness, because as stated in this article, Teaching Reading is Rocket Science by Louisa C Moats. However, overwhelming research indicates that when intentional structures are used the process of connecting letter sounds into words becomes much more accessible to students and instructors. There are many ways in which structure can be imposed, but I believe that there is no one true way. As long as it is helping students discover the treasure of reading, all paths lead to Rome.
Family and Community
To create a holistic learning environment, I believe that HUMAN resources need to be part of it. This means that I hope that when I teach, I will not stand alone. I will include parents and community organizations into my daily routine. Every month I hope to have at least one guest speaker into the classroom to share the parts of their learning journey that brought them to where they are today. To ignore the wealth of knowledge and experiences in a community is to deny a student a huge part of their development. Learning does not happen in a vacuum, so I want my students to be connected to their place, and their community. Without roots, it is very difficult to make significant growth. I believe that combined these are two powerful forces that can help me create authentic learning experiences, and help my students on the way to becoming lifelong learners. This philosophy was largely influenced by reading the works of David Sobel, and Gregory Smith in their book “Place and Community Based Education in Schools,
"Rather than seeing teaching and learning as being located primarily within the school, place-based education requires potentially all mature citizens to take responsibility for inducting children and youth into the obligations and possibilities of adulthood. Agencies and workplaces become potential sites for student learning, and adults who possess expertise in a multiplicity of areas can be invited to share their knowledge and skills with young people as well as their peers (Smith & Sobel, 2014 p. 23).
Students that are invested in their communities have more drive to help continue to improve them. Educators that tap into student potential and create connections are proven to have a high success rate. I want to be the kind of educator that shows my students the magic and possibility they possess, and that their place can help them cultivate lifelong learning tendencies.
Henderson and Vikander’s book “Nature First” about the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv was also an inspiration to my ideas of nature and the people in an environment as a crucial part of any learning journey. Friluftsliv is hard to translate into English, but it is generally thought of as “Fresh air life,” but it is “a complex social phenomenon and an example of long-standing Western discourse linking ideas of nature, gender and education. The expression friluftsliv was created in the mid-nineteenth century at a time of upheaval and inscribed in contemporary genderized contexts of practice and discourse (Henderson & Vikander, 2007).” I love the idea that natural learning experiences are a social event, and once we incorporate nature into our daily routine, our concept of self and how we are connected to the world around us can be used to make more meaningful connections to any area of educational content.
Works Cited
Earnst, J. (., & Monroe, M. (2006). The effects of environment‐based education on students’ critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Environmental Education Research (Special Edition) Special Issue: Researching education and the environment: retrospect and prospect, 429-436.
Gaylie, V. (2009). The Learning Garden; Ecology, Teaching, and Transformation. New York: Peter Lang.
Gurholt, K. P. (2008). Norwegian friluftsliv and ideals of becoming an ‘educated man’. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 55-70.
Henderson, B., & Vikander, N. (Eds.). (2007). Nature First; Outdoor Life and the Friluftsliv Way. Toronto: Natural Heritage Books.
Louv, R. (2005). Last Child in the Woods; Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. Atlantic Books Limited.
Miller, G. (2007). FIVE EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES. Retrieved from University of Rio Grande: http://gradcourses.rio.edu/leaders/philosophies.htm
Moats, L. C. (1999). Teaching Reading is Rocket Science. American Federation of Teachers.
Moscolo, M., & Fischer. (2009). Beyond student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy; Teaching and Learning as guided participation. Pedagogy and the Human Sciences, 3-27.
Smith, G., & Sobel, D. (2014). Place and Community Based Education in Schools (Sociocultural, Political, and Historical Studies in Education) (Vol. Kindle Edition). Taylor and Francis.
Sobel, D. (2008). Childhood and Nature; Design Principles. Stenhous Publishers.
STUDENT TEACHING EVALUATIONS
The following are comments about Sarah Engstrom's Spring 2016 Student Teaching at
Palmer Junior Middle School (PJMS) by
Host Teacher and Alaska Pacific Universty Advisor
“If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.”
~Albert Einstein
Student Teaching Lesson Plans
The following lessons were created by Sarah Engström as a part of her Student Teaching at Palmer Junior Middle School
This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the lessons created and taught, but merely the ones that have been captured on film.
All works on this page were created by Sarah Engström during
Student Teaching 2016
PARENT COMMUNICATION
August 2015
(Beginning of the school year letter)
Dear Parents and Families,
Greetings! My name is Sarah Engström, and I am so excited to get the opportunity to learn with your children this year. Learning is a never-ending journey, one that I am privileged to partake in, along with sharing it with your special student. Together, we will examine what it takes to be a critical, caring thinker in today’s world, as well as the complexities and quirks of the Russian Language. I am coming to this learning adventure from a background of outdoor adventures. I was born in Casper, WY under a wandering star, and “over the hills and under the hills my paths have led.” I first fell in love with Russian when I started studying it in high school. It has been a major driving force in my life ever since. The possibility of interacting with a Russian population again was one of the main reasons why I chose to move to Alaska in 2013 for graduate school.
Teaching at Turnagin’s Russian Immersion program is a dream come true.
This year in Social Studies we will be studying the world around us, specifically the history and culture of Anchorage. In Science we will be looking at how plants grow, soil composition, and the way that sounds impact us and our world. We will also be diving deeper into the Russian language with compositions, handwriting, and reading.
I know that you and your students have so much to share with me and our class. I can’t wait to learn more about you! Please feel free to volunteer in the classroom or the school- I want to forge a partnership with you and your student, so that we all may benefit. There are so many ways that we can help each other. If you are or know any interesting Russian speakers that can share their knowledge with the class, please let me know! Or maybe just an hour here or there to shelve books/make copies? I want our students to realize the wealth of HUMAN resources available to us as well. I hope to have guest speakers from the community in the classroom to further learning. Research shows that parents and communities who are involved in their children’s schooling can positively impact young learner’s development, and desire to be lifelong learners.
Homework: There is no assigned homework for this first week. Our first homework packet will go out on Friday, 28 August. From then on, homework folders will go out every Friday and be due back on Thursday. Until we start our official homework, I encourage you and your child to practice Russian cursive, by making labels for your house. In 2nd grade there is an expectation of 20 minutes of homework every day, I will work in conjunction with Miss Turner to make sure that your child’s homework is within reasonable limits.
Russian Resources: Once our class website is up and running I will be posting lots of Russian resources there for you and your students to use at home. Until then, I recommend the children’s online radio station “Детское Радио” http://radiopotok.ru/radio/107/ How many words can they understand?
Wish list: Currently, Turnagain is very short on noon duty volunteers, which means that our recess time is seriously cut short. Do you (or anyone you know) have interest in monitoring student recess time? There is a wage available. If so please contact the main office. Play is an important part of learning as well, and active bodies help young minds absorb information.
In the classroom we are a little short of nut and egg free snacks. (40 students total) We would love to have some post-it notes as well. Thank you those of you who brought in supplies already!
Please feel free to contact me via email if you have any concerns, questions, comments, or ideas! Thank you for sharing your student with me this year!
Sincerely,
Miss Engström
(Сара Чарлзовна)