Classroom as a Community - Essay Example

The teacher went beyond the confinement of students in groups of their own age, social and ethnic status and this was another dimension of schooling. This act made the place look like a community where the teacher brought students of different classes, social and ethnic statuses together. The place was like a community to me as the bringing together of people with different backgrounds and ideologies was really worthwhile. The teacher ensured that the students in the classroom were able to interact with each other and probably learn more from the older group. This act by the teacher exposed the flaws of the education system where students are put in the same class with students of their peer group. The teacher created this community in such a way that the students were given the opportunity to acquire skills that would make them integrate easily into society. The teacher made the students have a deep sense of belonging as that act gave the students the opportunity to interact socially with other members of the academic community (Koch 28-31).

the teacher made us aware in the classroom that the real lessons of life are not learned within the walls of a school, but in the community or the society as the case may be. The teacher adequately prepared us for the challenges of a larger community and society as a whole. The teacher’s imaginative creation of the classroom as a community was actually similar to the Montessori Method of effective learning as students were made to interact with students of all ages, ethnic statuses and social statuses. This was similar to the life in the community where we have people of different ages, races, ethnic and social statuses living together as one (Koch 89-90).

I felt so glad to be a member of such an academic community, where students were given the privilege to express themselves. It was such a beautiful experience as for the first time in my academic career; I felt I belonged to an academic family. I now begin to appreciate the essence of the teacher’s innovativeness. I was inspired by the ability of the teacher to share the experience of great people with us. The teacher made us aware that Benjamin Franklin, who is one of the greatest thinkers that America has ever produced did not achieve greatness as a result of what he was taught in school but by what the community taught him. During Franklin’s life he mixed with people like; David Hume, Joseph Priestly, Adam Smith, just to mention a few. The aforementioned people were people of different ethnicity, age and social status to that of Benjamin Franklin; hence this is proof that the students’ exposure to a wider social, ethnic, and mixed-age groupings by the teacher would afford students (and people alike) with more opportunities that the schools would provide them.