Progressive classrooms may feature desks arranged in pods or students seated in a circle to facilitate discussion. Furthermore, teachers often encourage their pupils to explore their intellectual curiosity through various activities and projects.
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Project-based learning is one of the most popular teaching strategies at progressive schools, as students benefit most from applying their knowledge directly to real-life problems and issues. Furthermore, this style of instruction encourages higher Bloom’s Taxonomy levels such as analysis, evaluation and creation rather than simply memorizing facts.
Progressive educators tend to agree on one goal for education – helping children become active learners rather than passively absorbing information. Many progressive teachers also believe rote learning hinders cognitive development; therefore they use experiential exercises and topics which are relevant to children in class as opposed to simply memorizing facts from textbooks.
Progressive educators encourage a balanced mix of independence and collaboration among their students, viewing socialization as essential for personal development. Furthermore, progressive educators enjoy widespread respect in education circles; Noam Chomsky and Cornel West both praise John Dewey’s pragmatism as a vision for democratic schools.
No matter the kind of educator you are, it may be worth your while to know that membership in an educational organization could qualify you for special car insurance discounts. Companies like Geico, Farmers and California Casualty provide teachers with occupational discounts while other insurers, like Horace Mann and Plymouth Rock have tailored products specifically designed to cover teachers. Furthermore, major carriers often factor a driver’s occupation into rates (except New York), so teachers could save by being considered low risk drivers.
