PSA
I was asked in my class EDUC 570 to consider what educational theory I connected with, why I did, and how I could use this theory to better inform my practice. This is a task that I had to do in my credential program as well, but I had answered that question before truly teaching on my own. Being asked it again, I was able to reevaluate where I had stood years before and whether that had changed or not. This process of self-reflection is one I was taught by participating in the Performance Assessment for California Teachers (PACT) and I have found it vital in understanding my goals as an educator. In the Masters program, I have found this reflection to be important in extending my educational outlook into my thesis.
In the PSA (philosophical self-assessment) I write about my discovery of existentialism, my love of the openness of a classroom that is presented through this method of teaching, and how I wish to incorporate it with other theories. When writing this piece, I was very much excited about the seemingly chaotic environment that existentialism brings. But, as I reflect in my PSA, this mode of thought is simultaneously battling with how I was taught (In a more structured, realist class) and my urge to stress a method of exploration, through pragmatism. I finally understood as I wrote this piece that I want to give students the agency for social change that pragmatism urges, but I don’t want students to lose sight of themselves in that process and so existentialism can connect them back to self-reflection. After writing my PSA I understood the importance that cooperative group decision making has in a democracy and how pragmatism encourages students to experiment with that, but that it is equally as important for a student to know what his or her passions are in life and that following his or her dreams, beyond the group, is a perfectly valuable way to live life.
Writing about the importance of existentialism and pragmatism in my theoretical mind frame has enabled me to view my thesis concept from varying perspectives. I want to explore the cooperative online game play, and I think it is important that educators know how important collaboration is in new media environments as well as in human nature. Simultaneously, I think it is important for the individual student to critically think about his or her choices when exploring the virtual world. The individual and the group, agency and self-exploration, all of these are vital when I consider the educational implications of my thesis, and I believe this assignment helped me to evaluate my theoretical footing.
The Artifacts
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