Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education Commons^™

From Bank Street To High School, Evie Gurney

Progressive Education in Context

Explains the process of searching for the perfect high school fit for the eighth graders, most of whom have been attending the Bank Street School for Children from early elementary through middle school.

The Fall And Rise Of The 8th Grade School, Stan Brimberg

Progressive Education in Context

Historical look at schooling and grade configurations.

Learning To Play, Playing To Learn: The Bank Street Developmental Interaction Approach In Liliana's Kindergarten Classroom, Soyoung Park, Ira Lit

Books

This case study of Liliana presents a portrait of a Bank Street alumna in her classroom. Liliana strives for her classroom to be a space where the core principles she learned during her Bank Street education guide the experience of children. The study of her work begins by exploring how a commitment to educating the cognitive, physical, and social–emotional domains of the whole child involves developing systems that promote play as the learning tool to achieve academic and social outcomes. After exploring how Liliana creates conditions for children to engage and learn through play, the case study focuses on how …

The Preparation, Professional Pathways, And Effectiveness Of Bank Street Graduates, Eileen Horng, Xinhua Zheng, Ira Lit, Linda Darling-Hammond

Books

Documents the influence of Bank Street teacher preparation programs based upon surveys of graduates, surveys of comparison teachers, surveys of employers, and an analysis of pupil achievement gains. This report is part of a larger study that examines the preparation, practices, and effectiveness of graduates of Bank Street College teacher certification programs over the last decade.

Farming And Education : An Interview Project Advocating For Farm-Based Education, Rebekah Mindel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis is meant to inspire educators to value farm-based education in which farming and education come together in experiential, inquiry-based learning.

Progressive Education In Context, I-Iv, Bank Street School For Children

Progressive Education in Context

Contains current articles that highlight aspects of the educational vision, mission, and values of the Bank Street School for Children.

Reclaiming Subjecthood : Education And The Art Of Quality Experience, Emily Joy Sullivan

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This essay draws on writings in education, philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and social work to articulate values for educational practice. It looks at individual development, relationship, and art as three fundamental areas of quality experience and education. Within and across these arenas, three themes repeatedly surface: attention, critical mindedness, and the balance of process and product.

An Alphabet Of The Arts, Jessica Barksdale

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this project is to create an arts resource book, inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach, for classroom teachers.

How Quaker Is A Quaker School? : Looking For Evidence Of Quaker Practice, Diane Brown Mcdougall

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Explores how a solid foundation for the vibrant practice of Quakerism in schools is created by the principles that underlie the Quaker Testimonies of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship. Includes personal interviews with teachers as well as results of a survey given to teachers about their comfort level with using Quaker practice, teaching Quaker Testimonies, and speaking to their students about "that of God in everyone."

Fostering Global Citizens In The Infant And Toddler Classroom For The Cultivation Of A Culture Of Humanism, Stefanie Horton

Graduate Student Independent Studies

The purpose of this study is to examine meaningful philosophies and practices of education and care that may contribute to the fostering of youth who respect and value the dignity of all life.

Educating Towards Democracy In Infant/Toddler Classrooms : The Example Of The Bank Street Family Center, Kristina A. Satchell

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This project hopes to shed light on the possibilities and importance of including the youngest citizens of the country (children aged zero-three), their families and their teachers in the discourse and practices of democratic classrooms.

Lesson Study At The Bank Street School For Children, Ryan Harrity

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Lesson study, the primary form of professional development in Japan, is receiving increased attention in the U. S. Its efficacy in Japan is well documented, and it has been successfully implemented in the U. S. Other educator-scholars have adequately argued for its use in American schools. What is needed, however, is more documented evidence of its implementation and outcomes, as well as school-specific frameworks for conducting lesson study in various schools, especially independent schools. There has been extensive documentation of lesson study in public schools across the U. S., but none, as we know, in independent schools. This paper establishes …

"Endemic Uncertainties" : Teachers' Professional Lives In The High-Stakes Reform Movement, Harris Sockel

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Explores the effects that principles of certainty have on teachers' professional lives and their attitudes toward their work.

Mentoring Novice And Experienced Teachers On Block Play Using The Developmental-Interaction Approach In The Philippines, Kathrina Gancayco-Umali

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Traces the journey of traditional early childhood Filipino teachers in implementing the developmental-interaction approach in the block corner. Five novice and experienced teachers embarked on a professional development series of four mentoring sessions. As a result of this process, teachers have demonstrated confidence and involvement in implementing the use of unit blocks through the developmental-interaction approach and administration agreed to adapt this as a model design for the early childhood program.

Creating Conversations, Changing Cultures: Case Study Of A Professional Development Plan, Alexis Goldberg

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This case study, as documented through notes, self reflection, and interviews, describes the process of making space for a dialogue that enables teachers to share ideas around the beliefs and practices of teaching.

Bank Street And Teach For America: Process And Preparation, Paul Shirk

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this paper I analyze the goals and practices of education that are implied in the mission statements and literature of Bank Street College of Education (Bank Street) and Teach for America (TFA). I noticed and struggled to understand the tension between the mission statements of the two organizations that I was a part of during my master's program. While analyzing the readings and my experiences, I began to see differences between these two organizations' theories and beliefs about child development. I considered how my experiences with children supported or refuted these beliefs. From Bank Street, I recognized many beliefs …

Lessons Of Place : A Critical Look At Place-Based Education, Karen L. Lew

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This thesis consists of: a rationale for place-based education; the developmental appropriateness of place-based education in elementary education; examples of place-based education; and a list of place-based education resources. Also included is an overview of the impact of standards based reform on education in the United States and the author's experience of the Bank Street Long Trip.

Philosophy And Practice: Examining Classroom Management In Progressive Education Settings, Jessica Anzelone

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Are John Dewey's and Lucy Sprague Mitchell's twentieth century hopes for classroom management realized in the early twenty-first century practices in progressive schools? The viewpoints of these two pioneers in progressive education create the backdrop for examining the execution of classroom management in present-day progressive educational settings in this study. In order to examine classroom management in practice, three classroom observations and teacher interviews were conducted in progressive schools in New York City. These observations and interviews are compared and analyzed through the lens of Dewey and Mitchell's thoughts about the functioning of a classroom. The study does not claim …

Imaginary Stories In School: First Steps Toward Literacy, Gillian Dowley Mcnamee

Occasional Paper Series

This essay holds that to forgo opportunities for children's pretend play and conversation around storytelling in school is to distort the very nature of language development and literacy.

Play In Public Schools, Casey Yanella

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This is a research paper and literature review on the issue of play and developmentally appropriate practice in the public schools of New York City during the era of No Child Left Behind. It begins with an examination of the theory surrounding play in the primary grades, along with the discussion of studies dealing with play in today's public schools. The work includes school visits and an ethnographic description of the models of play environments in these schools. Finally, it also includes recommendations for programmatic actions to be taken in order to reinstate play in public schools.

Searching For Meaning: A Personal And Historical Exploration Of Progressive Education, Molly M. Lippman

Graduate Student Independent Studies

In this study the author seeks to better understand the meaning of progressive education. This study does not attempt to answer the question What is progressive education?, but rather it seeks to bring the question to the forefront of the minds of fellow thoughtful, reflective, progressive educators who, like the author, struggle with the contradictions and discrepancies present among progressive educators, both historically and contemporarily. Utilizing Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot's style of portraiture (1997, with J. H. Davis), the author writes in the narrative style, sharing with the reader three conversations with progressive educators whose work has informed her own educational philosophy. …

No More A-/A/-Apple: An Examination Of Kindergarten And First Grade Phonics Within A Progressive Framework, Arielle R. Derby

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Examines the approach to teaching literacy taken by back to basics and progressive educators, and the role of phonics within each type of literacy program. The necessity and application of phonics for kindergarten and first grade children is discussed, grounded in the author's experience teaching in a progressive private school and a back to basics charter school. I found from research and my experience, that phonics is a necessary component for any complete literacy program. In addition, learning phonics has a stronger and more positive effect on children's early reading and writing when it is taught within a developmentally appropriate, …

The Inter-Kid Code Of Social Ethics: Fairness In The Lives Of Fourth Graders, Miriam Dreyer

Graduate Student Independent Studies

How fourth graders understand fairness is the topic of this independent study. Conceptual frameworks were based on the notion that children are actors in the creation of their own social lives. Data was gathered through a series of discussions and written assignments. The author concludes that fourth graders define fairness as a set of shared understanding between children about what is right and wrong. However, this "inter-kid code of ethics" is said to be fluid, and can be applied in a variety of ways in different contexts by children. Equality and kindness are identified as major themes within this code.

Sensory Integration Dysfunction In Urban Head Start Populations: Why Children Have This Disorder And What Teachers Can Do About It, Helen Frazier

Graduate Student Independent Studies

This paper addresses the environmental causes of and treatment for sensory integration disorder among children living in urban poverty. Established and current research is examined in order to provide a foundation for the practical aspects of this paper. This paper presents a general description of a Head Start program designed to support sensory integration and includes specific activities that support the tactile, proprioceptive and vestibular sensory systems. It concludes that, as a result of pre- and post-natal environmental factors that interfere with effective sensory integration, many Head Start children are not yet ready to learn to read.

Small Schools: Great Strides, A Study Of New Schools In Chicago, Patricia A. Wasley, Michelle Fine, Matt Gladden, Nicole E. Holland, Sherry P. King, Esther Mosak, Linda C. Powell

Books

This book documents a two-year study and analysis of small schools in Chicago. Using a mixed-method study, gathering both quantitative and qualitative data, the research serves to compare results to previous studies of small urban schools.The study examines the effects of small schools on students, parents, teachers, and community members. Both previous and current research suggest that small school size is correlated with an increase in student attendance, performance, and better sense of community overall.

A Brief History: Bank Street College Of Education, Patricia Fisher, Anne Perryman

Books

Documents in brief fashion the Bank Street College of Education from it's earliest days as the Bureau of Educational Experiments to the present.

Challenging The Norms: Democracy, Empowering Education, And Negotiating The Curriculum, Joshua Sean Thomases

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

Discusses the principles of a democratic classroom, and how implementing these principles can create a powerful environment where extensive and in-depth learning truly happens.

Rights & Responsibilities: My Years At Bank Street, John H. Niemeyer

Books

"John H. Niemeyer served as president of Bank Street College of Education from 1955 through 1973. Attached are two sample chapters from a work in progress derived from conversations between John Niemeyer and Dick Greenspan. They discussed Bank Street's work during the tumultuous years of the 1950s and 1960s when civil rights and school integration were changing the face of American education." -- Title page.

A Progressive Philippine School For Children: Proposal And Presentation For Prospective Parents, Severina M. Santos

Graduate Student Independent Studies

Presents a philosophical framework for a proposed elementary school in the Philippines, the Philippine School for Children (PSC). It summarizes the major contributions of a family of theorists: Piaget, Dewey, and Vygotsky and applies their theories to the development of PSC. The study also includes a description of several features of a progressive classroom for kindergarten and grade one.

The content of the study serves as a basis for the presentation of a progressive approach to education to prospective parents. Possible questions from prospective parents are raised and addressed at the conclusion of the study.

Improving Teacher Preparation: Addressing The Needs Of New Teachers In Small, Progressive, Public Schools, Christina J. Dixon

Graduate Student Independent Studies

As an institution committed to progressive education, Bank Street College shares the mission of educating for democracy with New York's small, progressive public schools. Case studies of three students and semi-structured interviews with Bank Street instructors and researchers illustrate the strengths and weaknesses of Bank Street's Professional Development in Early Adolescence program in preparing its graduates to teach successfully in small, progressive public school environments. Through a literature review, six distinct areas of teaching expertise are identified as factors which contribute to a teacher's success in such schools: Understanding the Child, Social Context, Classroom Life, Academic, Interpersonal and Professional. The …