My Metaphor for teaching is that of a fruit tree.

We see the fruit of the tree when we eat the fruit

of buy it at the store, but we don't see the roots or the tree. The roots are like the doctrines when
teaching. We need to have them, because they dictate the health of the trunk and of the fruit, but
they are underneath the surface where we don't see them. The trunk is like the principles we use.
It connects the fruit to the sustenance of the roots. Finally, we have the branches that the fruit
hangs from. The branches are like the tools we use in our classrooms. We know the results we
want, or the fruit, and we know the doctrines that dictate our actions, then we use the principles
and tools to connect the results and the doctrines.

Comenius said in the Great Didactic "In all operations of nature development is from within. For
example: in the case of a bird it is not the claws, or the feathers, or the skin that are first formed,
but the inner parts; the outer parts are formed later, at the proper season." In the same way,
teaching starts with the doctrines we hold, and work forward to principles, tools, and ultimately
to the results of the teaching.

If we plant a cherry pit, we cant expect to grow apples, in the same way, our doctrines need to
line up with our principles, and our principles with our tools. I would like to share some of my
doctrines for teaching that I have discovered during the semester, following each with principles
and tools that are aligned with it. Some principles and tools have some definite crossing over
between two or three doctrines, but I have put them where I think they best align.

Doctrine: Love. We are each Gods children and have been commanded to love one another,
further teaching is a profession of love. Catherine Beecher, speaking of Christ explains: He gave
up honors and joys, such as none of us ever possessed, and spent thirty-three years in toils and
sufferings, to save the ignorant and lost. And he did it because he loved to do it!
Principle: Make it relevant. Jane Addams tells us of factory workers who others want to
educate, but the factory workers have no interest because the education offered will have
no effect on their ability to work at the factory or improve their lives.
Tool: Before each new section, discuss as a class how the topic affects the
students. (e.g. why should we care about glycolysis? It affects how we process
certain foods, and is relevant to understanding diabetes, which is becoming a
pandemic). William James wrote, Theories thus become instruments, not
answers to enigmas, in which we can rest. We don't lie back upon them, we move
forward, and, on occasion, make nature over again by their aid. Pragmatism
unstiffens all our theories, limbers them up and sets each one at work.
Principle: Treat students as individuals. Imani Perry, in detailing the differences she
found between public and her previous private schooling, stated, In my last school,
which had an abundance of excellent essayists, my English teacher would have a detailed
description of what he felt about each paper. She also explains that in her new public
school, the instructor gave no instruction or feedback for writing papers. As a result, the
work students were capable of, never improved.
Tool: To know individual students, I can conduct one-on-one meetings with each;
asking what each would like to better understand about biology, and what
struggles they have had in the past with science classes. Soren Kierkegaard
explains how crowds diminish the truth and make individuals less responsible. By
having one-on-one meetings with the students, each student can become more
 responsible for their learning, while not being afraid of being judged by their
peers for needing help.
Doctrine: Agency. We are given agency in this life and we are expected to exercise it well. Elder
Bednar states in his book Increase in Learning, Endowed with agency we are agents, and we
primarily are to act and not simply be acted upon especially as we seek to obtain and apply
spiritual knowledge.
Principle: Active learning. We learn better when we are engaged and interested in the
content. Steven Wolk, speaking on how schools are failing their students by having the
wrong goals for them states: For all 12 grades that student is expected to learn 30,000
pages of textbooks with a neverending barrage of facts, most of which we know are
forgotten by the time the student flips on his or her TV or iPod after school. Far more
than reading to learn, our children are learning to hate reading. More than learning any of
the content, they learn to hate learning.
Tool: Provide options for how to show understanding. John Dewey said, I
believe that these interests are neither to be humored nor repressed. To repress
interest is to substitute the adult for the child, and so to weaken intellectual
curiosity and alertness, to suppress initiative, and to deaden interest. If we give
students options of how they fulfil goals for understanding, they gain an interest
and continue to grow.

Doctrine: Eternal Progression. We are eternal beings, and we are to progress eternally. Our future
learning is based upon past learning. 2 Nephi 28:30 states: For behold, thus saith the Lord God:
I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a
little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for
they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall
say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. If we arent
learning in this way, we are forgetting.
Principle: Retention, integration and use of knowledge. Biology deals with subjects that
can be quite touchy, such as in vitro fertilization, stem cell research, and other genetic
issues. Maxine Greene said in Wide-Awakeness and the Moral Life, I believe, you see,
that the young are most likely to be stirred to learn when they are challenged by teachers
who themselves are learning, who are breaking with what they have too easily taken for
granted, who are creating their own moral lives. There are no guarantees, but wide-
awakeness can play a part in the process of liberating and arousing, in helping people
pose questions with regard to what is oppressive, mindless, and wrong. In order to live a
wide-awake life, we need to be informed. To be truly informed, we need to be able to
assimilate the information we know, into something that tells the whole story.
Tool: Cumulative tests
Tool: Synthesis projects
Doctrine: Divine Potential
Principle: Treat students equally. Paulo Freire writes in his Pedagogy of the Repressed,
Lourdes's piano and my father's neckties made our hunger appear accidental. With those
markers, we were able to borrow money. Even though it was not easy, without them, it
would have been almost impossible. With those markers, our childhood fruit thefts, if
discovered, would have been treated as mere pranks. At most, they would have been a
minor embarrassment for our parents. Without them, they would certainly have been
 characterized as child delinquency. In Paulos case, he was able to avoid certain
punishments that his neighbor friends wouldnt have, simply because his family had been
middle-class. Ive seen in school where some students are given more opportunity to
succeed than others. The students who arent given those opportunities are less likely to
succeed, leaving them disenfranchised.
Tool: The one-on-one meetings I mentioned earlier apply here as well. By
meeting with each student, each is given the opportunity to express what help they
need.
Principle: Draw knowledge out. Plato tells us in his conversation with Glaucon, that to try
to force knowledge into someone is as foolish as trying to give them sight. Since we are
children of God and were instructed before we came to earth, we are capable of
understanding and earthly teaching should draw that out of students.
Tool: Leading questions.

Omitted readings:
Neo-Thomism- as teachers are not allowed to teach about god in classrooms, I left out the
readings for that day. As a teacher, I can be a good example, but feel that my direct influence on
spiritual matters wouldnt be appropriate.

Jefferson- Jefferson dealt mainly with administrative parts of schools in his writing,
rather than how teachers should best help their students, as such, I didnt feel he had a part in my
metaphor.

Horace Mann- Mann advocates that education should be used to prepare individuals to
take part in the elective aspect of government and also prepare them to life themselves out of
poverty. By inviting students to think critically and bring all their learning together, as I talked
about under the principle of retention, integration and use of knowledge, my class and teaching
will help them to be better prepared to join in the political process and be better prepared to take
on careers.

W.E.B Du Bois and Booker T. Washington- I feel that their opinions further support the
ideas that have been further solidified by my reading Paulo Freire, namely that I need to strive to
treat all my students equally and help give each individual the best chance to succeed regardless
of their background.