Senior Essay Prospectus
Making the Case for Material Culture and Universal Design in the Classroom
As the United States seeks to improve its public education system, a growing trend towards teaching to tests has begun to take the forefront of learning standards. This growing movement is limiting the creativity of our teachers and smothering genuine curiosity in our nation’s youth. For my essay, I will make the argument for the increase of ‘material culture’ in primary education in order to provide a more inclusive learning environment for all types of learners. My essay will attempt to propose a framework for such an environment. I will draw from the theory of Universal Design in Education and basic museum studies and public history learning techniques. The intended result, in theory, would yield a more inclusive classroom environment for our public school system.
Universal design in regards to education (UDE) is the idea that subject matter is carefully constructed in a way that is engaging and accessible to ‘everyone’ in the classroom. While, the term ‘universal’ is deceiving in that it claims to be inclusive to all students, it often fails to recognize its own shortcomings in failing to encompass all disabilities. Universal Design is based on a physical model and often excludes cognitive disabilities as well as racial, sexual orientation, and gender disabilities. The idea of UDE however, is still something to borrow from in the developing of a more accessible and inclusive education system. UDE understands the futility of expecting all students to end up at the same place by the end of a given unit, therefore, assessment of learning is based on the growth a student makes, rather than a one size fits all marker or success. According to the principles of UDE, methods used in the facilitation of learning to one student that could be seen as an ‘accommodation’ can be used to benefit the learning of the entire classroom. I will make the argument that there can exist a classroom environment where there is no little need for tracking. All students no matter what race, gender, sexuality, learning style or disability can cohabitate in a classroom and will still come away learning a great deal. I understand that in some cases, removing a child from a classroom environment is beneficial to that student’s specific needs; my hope is to at least help even the playing field for those in the classroom and to make it as inclusive as possible.
I will argue that introducing objects and applying a programmatic, public history like curriculum in a classroom will give way to enhanced learning opportunities for children in their primary education. Public history is a very low-stakes approach to learning. It allows for the audience to choose for themselves what they are interested in and pursue those topics. It also gives teachers the ability to explore alongside their students. Instead of following the instructions of books, teachers are engaging with the material that they are presenting to the students and introducing tangible objects into the lessons of a given theme. Teachers are also given the opportunity to engage with their creative side when it comes to developing lesson plans that are engaging and appeal to the students’ experience.
Obviously, the material culture aspect of this method of teaching is hard to incorporate into every lesson. For instance, while material culture is a terrific way of learning about history and science, it can be trickier to incorporate it into teaching literature and mathematics. Using the works of visionaries like Maria Montessori, I will argue that material culture can be incorporated into any curriculum.
My secondary sources will draw heavily from American and Education Studies scholars. My goal is to take away what I deem the best and most informative aspects of their theories and studies and incorporate them into my argument. While I will be borrowing from these scholars, I intend on infusing my own ideas and creating a system that has not been attempted before.
Overall, my essay seeks to answer the question, how do we make education inclusive? The US has a long history of excluding groups and minorities throughout the last few centuries. I’ll look at steps that can be taken to account for, and reverse the trends of discrimination and apathy towards persons with disabilities be they of a physical, mental, or racial nature. I will attempt to develop a framework for inclusive education while simultaneously providing constructive criticism for education models already in place like the Common Core and the over political infrastructure of education in the U.S.
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Montessori, Maria. The Montessori method. New York: Schocken, 1989. Print.
Secondary Sources
Bolt, David, and Ebook Library. Changing Social Attitudes Toward Disability Perspectives from Historical, Cultural, and Educational Studies. Routledge Advances in Disability Studies. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. http://middlebury.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1734197.
Booth, Tony, and Ebook Library. Policies for Diversity in Education. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013. http://middlebury.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1422333.
Hein, George E.. Learning in the museum. London: Routledge, 1998. Print.
David, Miriam, and Ebook Library. The Sociology of Higher Education Reproduction, Transformation and Change in a Global Era. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2013. http://middlebury.eblib.com/patron/FullRecord.aspx?p=1397577.
Smeyers, Paul, SpringerLink (Online service), and Springer-Verlag. “Educational Research: Material Culture and Its Representation.” Springer eBooks, Educational Research, 2014. http://XU8KT9SN3C.search.serialssolutions.com/?sid=sersol&SS jc=TC0001176581&title=Educational%20Research%3A%20Material%20Culture%20and%20Its%20Representation.