Ideal Classroom and An Ideal Intellectual Community
- Introduction
- Body
For me, an ideal college classroom situation present itself when it is composed of specialists in the field (that is, first-rate teaching staff), well selected students, small class sizes, excellent facilities, sufficient amount of resources, and dedicated administrators. With each of those criteria that are present in a college classroom, the situation can then be considered ideal especially when the mission of the university and the objectives of the class meet local, state, and even world standard in higher education. I have seen for myself an ideal college situation where the professor and students collaborate to attain the lesson objectives for the day as they discover new insights in their discipline. They do it as they use the resources and facilities available in their classroom so that they contribute in shaping and enriching the teaching-learning process and product. The process is where faculty and students exchange rich perspectives, ideas and outcomes as characterized by a scholarly ambiance or intellectual life. Similarly, they are not just knowledge-centered but also relationship-centered as they form pertinent and permanent bonds in their academic life and career. Concisely stated, the faculty, students, and university in general create an environment that helps one another flourish, individually, collectively, and interdisciplinarily.
Further in my own experiences of an ideal college classroom, I realized that there are various factors that make students excel in their field of specialization. Faculty members create an environment where students wrestle with ideas in critical and creative fashions, students engage with their seniors (whether peers or faculty) when coming up with innovative ideas, and the different departments where they stay connected in quality ways. Likewise, faculty members are open to risk-taking where students are taught how to overcome them and consequently become excellent in their discipline. Despite the fact that an ideal classroom is also a microcosm of an ideal intellectual community, it still is hard to measure for its intangibility. Nevertheless, there are indicators where I have seen it operable, just as I already mentioned previously. Having said that, it is also sometimes an overlooked significant part of any students’ and faculty’s lives when they search for the ideal situations where they alone can make it. For me, then, we can never do away of the word “ideal,” whether in a classroom or a large community of academic life, because at the end of the day, we always admire and long for what is best for every one of us. No faculty and student has ever been as satisfied in his/her life as someone who has aspired to attain that which is ideal no matter how insurmountable it is to achieve.
Deductively, some elements of an ideal college classroom include a professor who teaches well in such a way that he/she not only facilitates students’ learning but also inspire them to study to the best that they could no matter how difficult the terrains are. As a result, students are thereby encouraged to perform well and then to the best they could. They become resourceful, full of initiative and creative in producing expected outcome according to sterling standards. Because of that, administrators look for ways to improve classroom setup so that it would be more conducive to teaching and learning. With a mix of all those elements, an ideal college classroom is maintained and sustained. Not only is it a matter of class size (such as 10 to 25 students per class as the ideal class number), but also of the faculty and students that make or unmake a class, classroom or community. Thus, not only do I support smaller or ideal class sizes, but also how it is made ideal by those that compose it. In other words, it is not the class size or room that makes it ideal, but the people who made it to be such count the most.
In the same manner, the elements of an ideal intellectual community are no different from an ideal classroom. In an ideal intellectual community, students’ interest becomes top priority as the university they should reflect their needs to excel and become among the best in their chosen specialization. The ideal intellectual community is not just about teachers’ factors, but also students’ factors, which also includes other factors (such as peer influence, university reputation). In an ideal intellectual community, students and faculty members are just like an ideal family where they feel like they belong or more importantly, as if they are the owner of their own intellectual and creative outputs. They can express themselves freely, independently, and rationally. They are confident of their abilities and also know how to handle their limitations to improve more in any particular aspects of their academic life. Further, in an ideal intellectual community, professors spend more of their time, not just teaching and doing extension works, but also researching and sharing their findings to the rest of the other members of the intellectual communities – locally or internationally. Their research results also help the university to apply concepts and practical implications of their works to stimulate more a learning environment that is already known to exist, not just ideally, but more so, in every practical ways possible.
- Conclusion
In conclusion, not only is one element the best measure of an ideal classroom or intellectual community, but the interplay of all those elements. For example, although I mentioned that smaller class sizes (10 to 25 students) are more ideal than bigger class sizes (more than 30 students), it is only one of the elements that makes an ideal classroom or intellectual community to be so. That is because, an ideal environment is something made real or exists because other factors are at work. I also stated that it is also important how students engage fully in the life of the department and university as a whole. I also mentioned student and faculty collaboration, such as in sharing research across disciplines. Moreover, I said about bonding that last permanently in the life of concerned individuals. Overall, any ideal classroom and intellectual community should offer to students the philosophy, vision, knowledge, attitude, and skills necessary for lifelong success as they become independent yet collaborative learners.
Works Cited
Belvel, Patricia Sequeira and Maya Marcia Jordan. Rethinking Classroom Management: Strategies for Prevention, Intervention, and Problem Solving. California: SAGE Publications, 2003. Print.
Evertson, Carolyn M. and Carol Simon Weinstein. Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. Print.
