Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Teaching is Oppositional: On the Importance of Supporting Experimental Teaching During Student Teaching

  • Published:
Studies in Philosophy and Education Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper has two interrelated goals. The first is to introduce a framework: oppositional democracy. The second is to use this framework to address what I see as a central problem that occurs when learning to teach: the moment when someone with power tells an aspiring teacher that something she hopes to accomplish is unrealistic. The framework of oppositional democracy helps us understand this problem while also suggesting responses that free an aspiring teacher to experiment in responsible ways, thereby empowering her to work against practices she does not want to be complicit in perpetuating.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. I use the example of learning to teach in the United States because it is the context I know and work in. More important, and as I hope to show, the problem I address in this paper is not one unique to the American context, and the problem of demoralization, in particular, is one that any teacher working in a neoliberal context will contend with in one way or another. As neoliberal education reform spreads across the globe, the types of problems discussed in this paper are only likely to multiply. Though the various pathways to becoming a teacher will vary from country to country, and though the edTPA exam—described later in this paper—may remain an American assessment, the pressures on teachers to conform to a narrowing of teaching are felt across national borders (Paine and Zeichner 2012). It is this issue—that narrowing of teaching—that lies at the heart of the paper, even though the I discuss it within the context of teaching in the United States.

  2. For an excellent discussion of student teaching, one that informs some of the generalizations made below, see Darling-Hammond (2014).

  3. There is a great deal of literature on this topic. For good overviews, see Clarke et al. (2014), and Feiman-Nemser (2012). For articles that explore power dynamics in student teaching, see: McNay (2003), Anderson (2007), and Johnson (2012).

  4. For examples, see Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009), Zeicher (2009), and Zeichner et al. (2015).

  5. For a classic—though still relevant—discussion of this phenomenon, see Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann (1983).

  6. For a good overview, see Zeichner (2010). For a nice journalistic discussion, see Green (2014).

  7. For an overview of core practices, see: Forzani (2014), Kennedy (2016) and McDonald et al. (2013). For philosophical discussion of these approaches, see Frank (2017) and Feiman-Nemser (2006).

  8. Again, for a good discussion of this type of research, see Cochran-Smith and Lytle (2009). In many ways—and this assertion would need a full paper to unpack—it seems like insider knowledge is coming to hold a privileged position. That is, though we still assert that the objective positivistic knowledge stands in the dominant position, a look at leadings journals and book publications may not bear this assertion out. But—again—this is something that could be studied and is merely stated as a question here.

  9. A common criticism leveled against teacher education programs is that they do a more job of preparing teachers because they devalue the work of teaching (Levine 2006). Moves to put teaching at the center of teacher education are meant to respond to this criticism.

  10. In this way, trying to uncover the significance of something that is often too obvious to notice in education, I follow the lead of Jackson (1986, 1990).

  11. For more on the edTPA, see: Goldhaber et al. (2017) and Pecheone and Whittaker (2016).

  12. For a good description of ambitious instruction—what it looks like and how it can be taught—see Kazemi et al. (2009).

  13. For an introduction to visible thinking, see Ritchart (2015).

  14. For a good discussion of this point, see Hammerness and Craig (2016) and Feiman-Nemser et al. (2014).

  15. For a discussion of demoralization, see Santoro (2011). I greatly look forward to her forthcoming book-length treatment of the issue (Santoro 2018).

  16. The literature on the issue of standardized testing and the narrowing of the curriculum is voluminous. For two examples, see: Crocco and Costigan (2007) and Berliner (2011).

  17. For an excellent discussion of deeper learning, see Martinez and McGrath (2014).

  18. As Santoro (2011) very helpfully makes clear, demoralization is not burnout. Demoralization occurs when a teacher feels as if she is disconnected from the moral sources of teacher: that the teacher she does pulls her further from her ideals.

  19. For an excellent philosophical discussion of this vision of teaching, see Hansen (2001, 2004). For a popular discussion with an emphasis on renewal, see Palmer (2007).

  20. For a good discussion of some of these issues, see Berliner and Glass (2014). For a good discussion of asserting agency even in the face of overwhelming constraint, see Taylor (1992). Though I won’t build on Taylor’s argument directly in this paper, I find it an important support for working against injustice and for the better, even when it feels as if we are locked into regimes and ways of thinking that make us complicit in injustice.

  21. It goes without saying that other resources can and should be brought to bear on this issue. My hope is that philosophy, by helping us conceptualize this issue in a different way, may help us think differently about what it might mean to effectively respond to this critically important issue.

  22. Though educational researchers in the United States demonstrate an interest in learning from effective school reform across the globe (Darling-Hammond 2017), I fear the United States is exporting its demoralizing educational reform, ushering in a global era of measurement and miseducation (Biesta 2016).

  23. Again, although some American educators and educational researchers seem interested in learning “Finnish lessons,” (Sahlberg 2011) and working against neoliberalism, it seems that the export of neoliberal educational policies from the US is only increasing (Compton and Weiner 2008).

  24. For an excellent discussion of this complexity, see Wilson (2015, 2016).

  25. As I hope will be made clear, alienation has a variety of possible meanings, but Medearis uses it in a narrow way to describe structures of power that have the potential to constrain individual agency.

  26. For a powerful overview, see Wolin (2008).

  27. For a nice overview of this, see the table Medearis (2015) puts together on p. 105.

  28. For a defense of this position, see Sato (2014).

  29. The use of mid-educative and education worthy of the name is meant to echo Dewey (2008). See also Jackson (2011).

  30. For excellent discussion of democratic experiments in living, see Anderson (2009).

  31. For an example of what this work might look like, see Frank (2017).

  32. For an extended look at an approach to education based on the principles of doing no harm to children, see Carini and Himley (2010, especially p. 8).

  33. This is mean to echo Delpit’s (2006) reminder that we don’t do other people’s children any favors by failing to give them an education we would want for our own children.

  34. I see Kirp’s (2015) work as mitigating against fads and silver bullets while endorsing the hard and dedicated work of educational change.

  35. For something of a similar argument, see Frank (2017).

  36. I would like to thank Barbara Thayer-Bacon for her support and guidance throughout the editorial process. It was a wonderful experience, and I am deeply grateful for her editorial work.

References

  • Anderson, D. 2007. The role of cooperating teachers’ power in student teaching. Education 128(2): 307–323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. 2009. Democracy: Instrumental vs. non-instrumental value. In Contemporary debates in political philosophy, ed. T. Christiano and J. Christman, 213–227. Malden: Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. 2012. Equality. In The Oxford handbook of political philosophy, ed. D. Estlund, 40–57. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, E. 2017. The problem of equality from a political economy perspective. In Oxford studies in political philosophy, vol. 3, ed. D. Sobel, P. Vallentyne, and S. Wall, 36–57. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berliner, D. 2011. Rational responses to high stakes testing: The case of curriculum narrowing and the harm that follows. Cambridge Journal of Education 41(3): 287–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berliner, D., and G. Glass. 2014. 50 myths and lies that threaten America’s public schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biesta, G. 2016. Good education in an age of measurement. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carini, P., and M. Himley. 2010. Jenny’s story: Taking the long view of the child. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, A., V. Triggs, and W. Nielsen. 2014. Cooperating teacher participation in teacher education. Review of Educational Research 84(2): 163–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cochran-Smith, M., and S.L. Lytle. 2009. Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research for the next generation. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compton, M., and L. Weiner. 2008. The global assault on teaching. New York: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocco, M., and A. Costigan. 2007. The narrowing of curriculum and pedagogy in the age of accountability. Urban Education 42(6): 512–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L. 2014. Strengthening clinical preparation: The Holy Grail of teacher education. Peabody Journal of Education 89(4): 547–561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darling-Hammond, L. 2017. Empowered educators: How high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delpit, L. 2006. Other people’s children. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. 2008. Experience and education. In John Dewey: The later works, 1925–1953, vol. 13, ed. J.A. Boydston. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feiman-Nemser, S. 2006. A teacher educator looks at democracy and education. In John Dewey and our educational prospect, ed. D. Hansen, 129–146. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feiman-Nemser, S. 2012. Teachers as learners. Cambridge: Harvard Education Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feiman-Nemser, S., and M. Buchmann. 1983. Pitfalls of experience in teacher education. Occasional Paper 65. East Lansing: The Institute for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University.

  • Feiman-Nemser, S., E. Tamir, and K. Hammerness. 2014. Inspiring teaching. Cambridge: Harvard Education Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forzani, F.M. 2014. Understanding “core practices” and “practice-based” teacher education: Learning from the past. Journal of Teacher Education 65(4): 357–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frank, J. 2017. Realizing a democratic community of teachers: John Dewey and the idea of a science of education. Education Sciences 7: 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kennedy, M.M. 2016. Parsing the practice of teaching. Journal of Teacher Education 67(1): 6–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labaree, D. 2011. Do no harm. Teacher Education and Practice 24(4): 437–439.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldhaber, D., J. Cowan, and R. Theobald. 2017. Evaluating prospective teachers: Testing the predictive validity of the edTPA. Journal of Teacher Education 68(4): 377–393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Green, E. 2014. Building a better teacher. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammerness, K., and E. Craig. 2016. “Context-specific” teacher preparation for New York City. Urban Education 51(10): 1226–1258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, D.T. 2001. Exploring the moral heart of teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, D.T. 2004. A poetics of teaching. Educational Theory 54(2): 119–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P.W. 1986. The practice of teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P.W. 1990. Life in classrooms. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, P.W. 2011. What is education?. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, J. 2012. “I want to test my own unique ideas:” Tension in the teacher candidate-cooperating teacher relationship. In Agency through teacher education: Reflection community, and learning, ed. R. Flessner, K. Patrizio, and J. Horwitz, 131–142. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kahlenberg, R. 2014. A smarter charter: Finding what works for charter schools and public education. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kazemi, E., M. Franke, and M. Lampert. 2009. Developing pedagogies in teacher education to support novice teachers’ ability to enact ambitious instruction. In Crossing divides: Proceedings of the 32nd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia,, vol. 1, eds. R. Hunter, B. Bicknell, and T. Burgess, 12–30. Palmerston North: MERGA.

  • Kirp, D. 2015. Improbable scholars. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levine, A. 2006. Educating school teachers. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504144.pdf. Accessed 15 Jan 2018.

  • Martinez, M.R., and D. McGrath. 2014. Deeper learning. New York: New Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDonald, M., E. Kazemi, and S.S. Kavanagh. 2013. Core practices and pedagogies of teacher education: A call for a common language and collective activity. Journal of Teacher Education 64(5): 378–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNay, M. 2003. Power and authority in teacher education. Educational Forum 68(1): 72–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Medearis, J. 2015. Why democracy is oppositional. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meier, D. 2002. The power of their ideas. Boston: Beacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paine, L., and K. Zeichner. 2012. The local and the global in reforming teaching and teacher education. Comparative Education Review 56(4): 569–583.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, P. 2007. The courage to teach. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pecheone, R.L., and A. Whittaker. 2016. Well-prepared teachers inspire student learning. Phi Delta Kappan 97(7): 8–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchart, R. 2015. Creating cultures of thinking. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sahlberg, P. 2011. Finnish lessons. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santoro, D. 2011. Good teaching in difficult times: Demoralization in the pursuit of good work. American Journal of Education 118(1): 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santoro, D. 2018. Demoralized. Cambridge: Harvard Education Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sato, M. 2014. What is the underlying conception of teaching of the edTPA? Journal of Teacher Education 65(5): 421–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. 1992. Ethics of authenticity. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T.S. 2015. Philosophical tools for understanding the moral complexity of school choice. Studies in Philosophy of Education 34(2): 181–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, T.S. 2016. Contesting the public school: Reconsidering Charter schools as counterpublics. American Educational Research Journal 53(4): 919–952.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolin, S. 2008. Democracy incorporated. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeichner, K. 2009. Changing the epistemology of teacher education. Teacher Education and Practice 22(4): 488–491.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zeichner, K. 2010. Rethinking the connections between campus courses and field experiences in college-and university-based teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education 61(1–2): 89–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeichner, K., K.A. Payne, and K. Brayko. 2015. Democratizing teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education 66(2): 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. Lawrence University, 23 Atwood Hall, Canton, NY, 13617, USA

    Jeff Frank

Authors
  1. Jeff Frank
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeff Frank.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Frank, J. Teaching is Oppositional: On the Importance of Supporting Experimental Teaching During Student Teaching. Stud Philos Educ 37, 499–512 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-018-9610-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-018-9610-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation