Bottle of Theorists

One of the most important items I carry with me is my water bottle. It is so important to me because I need water to stay alive and my water bottle provides the ability to bring water with me wherever I go. This is similar to how I feel about the theorists. Their ideas and observations of children has given teachers around the world a kind of necessary “substance” to provide the best education they can for their students.

For me Dewey is the bottle itself. His all-encompassing theory of observation, planning purposeful curriculum, and child-centered approach is the holistic model that contains the insight of the other theories.

Montessori is the water. I could drink up her ideas all day long and never get sick of it. I also feel that her practical applications of beautifying the environment, having children use real life tools, and giving students the power to have access and be responsible for their community environment and tools will be ideas that I will implement in every classroom I am a part of.

Vygotsky is the cap, his Zone of Proximal Learning “tops off” the ideas from the other theorists and takes it one step further with the concept of scaffolding. When I reach for my water bottle the first thing I do is take the cap off. I believe that heavily observing students and being aware of where they are at academically and developmentally is something you need to do first in order to appropriately use the concepts of the other theories.

On my water bottle I have a carabiner that keeps my water bottle secured to my backpack (or scooter as of right now.) For me Kohlberg is the carabiner because it is my moral development that nurtures my desire to teach. To serve my society in a way that benefits the vulnerable (children) so that I can be a part of a world that is working towards social justice. This caribiner is what keeps me connected to my water bottle because without my desire to enhance the world through teaching I never would have learned about the theorists in the first place.

I think one of the most important parts of the water bottle analogy for me is that I get to decide when I need a sip. I don’t think every lesson plan I create or activity I do in the classroom will be in perfect harmony with the theories we have been studying, but when I feel thirsty, I know it is there and I can take sips from the “Theory Bottle” when I need a little help from the theorists.