Individualism and community in a teaching and learning program: Faculty and student philosophical perspectives

摘要

This study was an inquiry into philosophical perspectives held by faculty and students in a teacher preparation program at a land grant university in the United States. This study was guided by the following three questions: First, what are the philosophical beliefs of teacher preparation program faculty and students? Second, if philosophical ideals are a primary foundation of education, are such ideals clearly portrayed and evident in teacher preparation program documentation, instruction and/or coursework? Third, according to faculty and students, what are the effects of the teacher preparation program's philosophical ideals on their personal philosophies of education? The rationale for this study is that reforms of the methods and aims of education have been continually implemented without a clear understanding of the philosophical views of faculty and students who must implement these reforms (Anderson, 1988, p. 572). Such reforms include Washington State's Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs), or the constructivist philosophies of many teacher preparation programs (Dunkhase, Hand, Shymansky, and Yore, 1997; Jadallah, 1996; Kaufman, 1996), which includes the program studied here.;A descriptive qualitative methodology was designed to explore the "subjective world" of faculty and students in terms of their conceptions and worldviews (Denzin and Lincoln, 1993; Wolcott, 1995). A purposeful site was selected to gain access to faculty and students in a program with a constructivist philosophy orientation. Using the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss, 1967), the researcher gained data from interviews, surveys and the study of relevant documents, viz., the following six sources: student survey questionnaire responses; faculty interviews, interview field notes; selected course syllabi; university mission statements; and teaching and learning program mission statements. Data were analyzed using Dewey's democratic epistemology in, Education and the Social Order (Dewey 1934).;Five key findings emerged from this study: (1) Faculty viewed teacher preparation students as more conservative and traditional than themselves. Conversely, students felt that their perspectives are marginalized, in a program that asserts a constructivist philosophy. (2) Faculty held the belief that students need life and teaching experience to develop a teaching philosophy. Students argued instead that professors need more experience in actual public school classrooms, i.e., a disconnect exists between university classes and teaching expectations. (3) Faculty did not uphold the constructivist philosophy that is officially reported to guide the program. Students in turn were undecided and confused about constructivist theory. (4) Faculty expressed concern that conflict exists between individualism and community in today's classrooms and universities, a point made extensively by Dewey. Students tended to feel that they have been influenced by a variety of different philosophies without an understanding of how these philosophies impact teaching and learning and their own development as a teacher. (5) Finally, as in the previous findings, where a gap was found to exist between faculty and student perspectives, faculty recognized and acknowledged this gap, noting that students were different from themselves, due to changes in society.;This study develops a grounded theory about the disjuncture or disconnect between faculty and student perspectives, and the many different understandings of democracy within a teacher preparation program. Since democracy is a basic building block of higher education and teaching and learning curriculum and program missions, these differences are also reflected in actual program goals and courses. Implications are drawn for program improvement, instructional development and future research.