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EDCI 5550
Dr. Burrows
July 21, 2017
Theory and Practice Research Paper
A. In his work A Matter of Style: The Teacher as Expert, Formal Authority, Personal
Model, Facilitator, and Delegator, the late Dr. Anthony F. Grasha describes five teaching styles
that educators may be apt to utilize, but also how it is essential to refrain from boxing them into
only one such style. Instead, he argues that educators operate in variations, or clusters of those
styles since each style has some benefits and faults (Grasha 142). I agree with Grashas assertion
since it is not only realistic, but also very limiting to attempt to pigeonhole oneself into just one
or two styles or philosophies. I believe myself to adhere first and foremost to the Authority,
Formal Authority, and Personal Model styles, while recognizing and seeing the situational merit
I see an educators role first and foremost is to be a learned authority in their respective
field, who is passionate about the subject matter they specialized in, and who shares that
knowledge, expertise, and passion with their students. According to Grasha, this belief falls
within the parameters of the Expert teaching style, as he states that it is where the educator
possesses knowledge and expertise that students need. Strives to maintain status as an expert
competence (Grasha 143). This seems to complement the culture of academic rigor described in
Doug Lemovs work Teach Like a Champion 2.0 which I also will seek to establish in my future
classroom. Simultaneously, it also appears to resemble part of the Growth Mindset described in
Growth Mindset Coach by Heather Hundley and Annie Brock, in how it encourages students to
better their competence regarding the subject matter at hand and likely push their personal
boundaries. The benefit to using is, as described by Grasha, contingent on the information,
knowledge, and skills such individuals possess (Grasha 143). I will aim to fully develop this
advantage in being both knowledgeable and visible excited regarding my subject while trying to
The next styles that I would be most apt to use in my future classroom would be the
Formal Authority and Personal Model styles. These styles involve the educator maintaining
authoritative status among students as based on their status as faculty members and encouraging
students towards learning by teaching by personal example, respectively (Grasha 143). Like the
Formal Authority Model, I believe that students should have some de jure respect for an educator
based on professionalism and the educators status as hopefully strong understanding of their
subject. Sure, any further respect is fleeting, being dependent on how well the educator educates
and handles their students, but that initial respect ought to be present. I recognize this is not
always the case and will certainly adjust my style to appeal to those students who enter the
classroom with skeptic lack of de jure respect. The disadvantage of Formal Authority style is that
it has the potential to lead to unyielding and robotic classrooms. Being aware of this, I will
certainly use this style to provide structure, but remember to consider the other styles to keep
students engaged instead of oppressed under the rule of too many standards. Regarding the
Personal Model style, which has the advantage of giving students hands on learning, I feel the
disadvantage is easily remedied. Grasha states that the disadvantage of this style is that teachers
fall into the trap of thinking their way of thinking is the best way, which discourages students. I
will be sure to maintain a level of awareness when it comes to exhibiting this style, and be sure
to remind students that their way of thinking or approaching problems could be just as valid and
perhaps even better than the way I demonstrate. I feel as if encouraging students in this way will
also benefit the class as a whole since if a student has a different way of thinking or answering
problems, that way might be beneficial for other students to know about as well.
constructivism, and social learning. It is unrealistic to think one educator to fall solely under one
philosophy and it would be ineffectual to try to only adhere to one philosophy. I became aware
of this when first learning about the major teaching philosophies in Diversity and Politics in
Education. I had concluded that I would be a very essentialist educator and would be unflinching
in face of other philosophies. However, my class was asked to line up as a spectrum of which
philosophy we thought we aligned with and I realized that I was not just essentialist, but adhered
philosophy preference was to broaden as I was faced with more situations. While I still
maintained and do maintain that educators ought to be the purveyors of content and material
most of the time since they are indeed ideally the experts in their fields, I now recognize there
can be situations where student-led learning and groups are certainly more effective. Somewhere
waned slightly and I became more open to student group learning and students getting into pairs
While I will seek to maintain essentialist order in my classroom most of the time, I will
have opportunities for students to ask questions, quiz each other, and grow in learning from each
other. In this, I will attempt to play a facilitator role whereas typically, I would serve as a content
transmitter role. Too often, essentialist educators become depicted as distant from their students
and dry in their goal to get information to the students. While I think it is not the educators role
to be a friend figure for their students, I will strive to be reachable, relatable, and welcoming to
all of my students.
realized that many of the disparaging factors of any teaching philosophy can be remedied not
simply by adapting tones of other philosophies, but also through the attitude and flexibility a
teacher possesses. An essentialist educator can navigate away from becoming the
essentialist educator exudes a genuine enthusiastic attitude about their content and lesson, the
transferal of knowledge does not have to be dry and dense. If an essentialist educator establishes
such atmospheres as the Culture of Error described by Lemov as well as a Growth Mindset Zone
as described by Brock and Hundley, they will avoid the negative connotations of essentialist
educators being unreachable and distant. Flexibility is key in avoiding falling into the negative
trope associated with the essentialist educating philosophy. That means flexibility in accepting
that sometimes despite wanting to have a lecture-based lesson, a classroom-wide discussion over
the subject matter might develop and might be a better use of time or learning than the planned
lecture. It also could mean to be flexible when it comes to more questions than expected during a
lecture. Lemovs discussion of teacher tells comes to mind when discussing flexibility. If an
educator becomes perturbed that classroom procession is not going as planned and they show it
in their inflection or body language, it could express abrasion against the students and inhibit
their learning.
When it comes to the purpose of education in a republic, I believe that it can be boiled
down to the individual and the individuals freedom to succeed. John Adams once said, Liberty
cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people. In this sentiment, one can
posit that a free and liberty-laden republic is contingent on an educated populace. The job of an
educator should be to provide students an environment that replicates the concept and ideas of
freedom and liberty, so that they can identify it. It should be to give students basic tools with
which they can pursue their interests and seek to be as successful as they would like to be. With
those tools that an educator should provide and inform about, students should be able to be
effective and active members of society where they can better both themselves and their fellow
person in the way of their choosing. With that in mind, I propose that the purpose of education in
a republic ought not to be what it perceivably has become- to get to and go through university,
get ones degree, and move on. There are several paths after high school that should be discussed
and supported just as much as pursuing a college degree. As an educator, while big standardized
tests such as the ACT and SAT are stressed for college admittance, I will seek to be supportive
of those who might want to seek trade school or other non-academic futures. Too frequently, I
feel those students are looked differently at and not encouraged with their aspirations.
B1. My ideal classroom physical environment will reflect my leanings towards the
essentialism educating philosophy and Authority teaching style. Desks will be in either single
rows or in rows of two for some peer-to-peer discussion. The focal point in the classroom will be
a whiteboard or smartboard where I as the educator will be able to demonstrate the content
matter and communicate the information to be learned. Although I intend for the desk layout to
be essentialist most of the time, I must harken back to my previous point of being flexible. I will
be sure to ensure enough room around the desk so that they may be turned to face each other for
group discussion and student-led learning when the situation calls for it. I also like the concept of
rows since it is a layout where I feel that Lemovs Technique 24: Circulate would be easiest and
most effective. The technique involves the educator navigating around the classroom
strategically throughout a lesson to ensure they are receiving student attention (Lemov 155). In
either a grid or row formation, I feel as if walking from location to location strategically would
be most conducive for that technique. Having students facing one direction would also help in
implementing the technique in easily being able to discern if a student is distracted or not.
The physical environment of my classroom would also aim to be conducive for Lemovs
Technique 4: Tracking, Not Watching. Tracking, Not Watching involves educators walking
around the classroom to observe student group or individual work to gather data and conduct
summative assessment on student performance (Lemov 45). In addition to having desks in grid
or row format to aid in that technique, I would have it in place that students keep backpacks
either under their desks or very close to their desks so as to allow for open pathways to track
student work.
classroom. I would like this not only to be able to conveniently display PowerPoint slides or
other visual aids for lectures, but also to be able to model how to do assignments or answer
questions for students. This concept of modeling is seen in Lemovs Technique 22: Board =
Paper. Lemov describes that this technique is where the educator can model and shape how
students should take notes in order to capture information you present (Lemov 155).
Regarding other physical aspects to my ideal classroom, I would have my desk located in
a corner in the front of the room so students can easily see and locate me if I am sitting at it
during individual or group work. The purpose of having my desk located there would also seek
to give students ease of access to me, encouraging that I would be accessible and approachable.
There will be two boxes located on my desk where late and on-time work will be turned in each
period. No-name assignments will be pinned up on a bulletin board near the entrance of the
classroom so that students will see them visibly as soon as entering the classroom and have the
For those students hard of seeing, I will ensure that the desk layout includes desks
particularly close to the smart or whiteboard so they can be seated there. This would apply
similarly to those hard of hearing as well, so they will be seated closer to me as I would lecture.
For students who are either unable to speak or shy to give their answers vocally, I would provide
whiteboards in the baskets under their seats. Returning to desk layout, the pathways between the
desks will be wide enough to accommodate for crutches users as well as those in wheelchairs.
B2. The ideal psychological environment of my classroom will reflect my excitement for
the subject matter, encourage mutual respect for the educator and among students. It will also
involve a variety of cultures, namely the culture of academic excellence and Culture of Error
found in Lemovs work. Establishing a Culture of Error coincides with establishing respect for
everyone in my future classroom. Lemov states that to establish a Culture of Error, an educator
might say I want to be very clear about the respect we will all show one another when we are
in this classroom. We will support each other and help one another. And we will never, ever
under take actions that tear down another person. Among other things, we know that person
could just as well be us (Lemov 66). I feel as if this very succinctly expresses to students that
there will be respect in ones classroom while simultaneously encouraging students that there is
As indicated above, rules in my ideal classroom will be based on mutual respect. There
will be the expectation of respect directed from me to the students, from the students to me, and
from student to fellow peer. Brock and Hundley describe at least in part, my feelings regarding
conduct of the educator towards students in developing a Growth Mindset Zone. In a Growth
Mindset Zone, students know that the teacher has faith in their ability to achieve (Hundley and
Brock Location 1232). I will seek to let my students know directly and indirectly that I believe in
their ability to succeed inside and outside my classroom. I will expect professionalism in my
classroom as during our time there, students are professional learners and I have the expectation
C. During my practicum experience, I witnessed in Mr. Baileys 7th grade social studies
classroom, the educators process of lesson planning and scheduling. I greatly admired how
detailed and meticulous his process was. Mr. Bailey had binders full of lesson plan procedures
sorted by semester, spiral bound notebooks for each month of lesson plans, and composite
notebooks that had lesson plans scheduled down to the day. He also had two jump drives full of
PowerPoint presentations to accompany lectures as well as videos for documentary days. His
classroom appeared to work like clockwork and I would attribute that in large part to his
extensive planning process. While I might not take my lesson planning to such a degree initially
to the point he had, I know that I will strive to maintain a meticulous and detailed planning
As for my personal curriculum choices, I intend to test on the state and national
standards, but I also intend to teach and expand so much further than just that when appropriate.
Inspired by Lemovs Technique 12: Right is Right, where educators enhance the quality of their
educating in expecting the fully correct answer from students (Lemov 100), I will enact a form of
grading written assessments that marks and corrects every incorrect part of the paper, regardless
of the state or national standards. However, although the correction will be marked on the paper,
only those incorrect answers consistent with state and national standards will be counted off the
grade. The corrections consistent with and beyond standards will be marked with different ink
colors. The goal here is to demonstrate the fully correct answer for students to learn more from,
while only counting the grade that they truly earned. I also intend to use Lemovs technique
Stretch It in order to encourage class discussion deeper than just addressing the state and national
standards (Lemov 66). I hope to establish a culture of academic rigor that encourages students to
learn and strive to be their best scholarly self through the personal curriculum I develop.
lesson plans that were not even my own. Referring back to Mr. Baileys classroom, he had three
separate lesson plans for substitutes to use based on situation. I will be sure to prepare for
inclement situations within lesson plans. An example of this could be switching from planned
read aloud sessions to having worksheets regarding the same subject matter, should students
D. Leaning heavily towards the essentialist philosophy, I undoubtedly will utilize direct
per the essentialist philosophy and aforementioned authority teaching style, the teacher is to be
the focal point of student attention as well as the distributor of the knowledge and information
regarding the subject matter. In this, essentialism works well and encourages the direct
instruction instructional method. That being said, recalling Grashas cluster concept, I believe
that teachers ought to and do utilize several instructional choices to best suit themselves and their
students. I see the merits in discussion, problem-based, and cooperative learning instruction
when it comes to secondary social studies education, having students relate to problems in
history and think of how they would personally have approached those problems is beneficial
and aids in their understanding of the times and of the problem. As mentioned in my lesson plan
and mentioned in class, problem-based learning relies heavily on getting students to buy into
caring about the problem at hand. I will attempt to immerse students in the history and situation
when using problem-based instruction and inspire them to care about the problem so they fully
As mentioned before, I support discussion based instruction when the situation calls for
it, such as when a contentious issue is brought up or if I feel students would benefit from fleshing
out concepts themselves. As such, I would be apt to utilize discussion based instruction for parts
of my lesson plans like after my lesson plan project where students might gain from discussing
outcomes and what might have happened in history if things had been done differently.
E. The ways in which I will conduct formative assessment will be via unit tests with
weekly or biweekly mini-quizzes, depending on the schedule for the week. Weekly formative
assessments will give students many opportunities to prove their knowledge and earn more
points. Similarly, I will have several opportunities for ungraded or graded for completion
assignments to establish Lemovs Culture of Error. If students can be relieved of the stress of
everything for a grade, the can be more apt to be comfortable making mistakes and, more
importantly making mistakes that are visible to the teacher to be able to measure their true
comprehension. Ungraded or graded for completion assignments might be substituted in for the
aforementioned mini-quizzes.
Regarding summative assessment, I will utilize Lemovs technique of Cold Call (Lemov
66) in order to gauge where proficient, somewhat proficient, and struggling students are in their
comprehension. Surely this will require that I establish it as a norm from the beginning of the
school year since I know students often groan at the concept of calling on them point blank. In
addition, I would be sure to keep in mind those students with social anxiety and refrain from cold
calling them as well. Instead, I would utilize Tracking not Watching to glean their
comprehension level. Summative assessment can also be gained via the technique Stretch It
(Lemov 45) where students answer a Cold Call question and the teacher either has them or peers
expand on the topic to see how deep their understanding goes. I will certainly use Stretch It in
conjunction with Cold Call. I found success with Stretch It during my substitute teaching
experience as well.
F. I learned a concept from a prior job, that moral indignation can be effective only if
timed correctly and channeled effectively and appropriately. This was confirmed to be true when
it comes to education during my practicum experience. Disciplining students when they stray far
from class expectations takes time from addressing the rest of the class and if timed incorrectly,
can cause students to look negatively upon you. Timing an opportunity to react heavy handedly
is important in that one can reduce time wasted and in fact gain future time in ensuring that no
future incidences occur. Reacting heavy handedly effectively is important in that one must be
sure to do so when the offense is at the right level to react to it in front of students visibly
enough. If reacted upon effectively enough, students will be more apt to listen and adhere better
When it comes to classroom monitoring, I will again refer to Lemovs Tracking Not
Watching technique. Making sure to strategically trek around all parts of the classroom during
lecture, group, and individual work is important not only for data collection, but also classroom
management. I learned this via substitute teaching, where I realized that while it might be comfy
to sit behind the teachers desk while students do individual quiet work, but it is inefficient in
regard to making sure students are behaving or getting work done. I developed the habit of
wandering around the students during work time, pausing at good vantage points to view them
getting work done or tell them to get back to work if they were distracted. I will surely continue
Brock, A., & Hundley, H. (2016). The growth mindset coach: a teachers month-by-month
handbook for empowering students to achieve. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.
Grasha, A. F. (1994). A Matter of Style: The Teacher as Expert, Formal Authority, Personal
Model, Facilitator, and Delegator. College Teaching, 42(4), 142-149.
doi:10.1080/87567555.1994.9926845
Lemov, D. (2015). Teach like a champion 2.0: 62 techniques that put students on the path to
college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.