Personal Philosophy of Education
I would not be considered your typical college student in search of an education degree. I am a 31 year old male, married, with two children, and working on my second career. My previous life consisted of working in the coal mines till I was injured. My injury, however, is considered a blessing in disguise. My injury has leaded me to the world of education.
I have seen first hand the difference an educator can make in the life of a child; the child was my own son. My eldest son, diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, was unable to communicate. He had the opportunity to be enrolled in the early intervention program in Raleigh County. The first individual with the challenge of assisting my child was not able to fulfill her roles and think “outside of the box” to reach him. My wife and I promptly searched for the appropriate educator for him. My family was blessed when we found “Ms. Mitzi”. In the matter of weeks our son was able to tell his mommy he loved her. This impacted my life significantly and I wish to be able to pass on what was given to my child and my family.
I chose education as my career path because I hope to be able to make a small difference in a child’s life. Time and time again I have seen children being educated poorly and/or not having appropriate role models in their life. I feel that an educator must not only be able to convey to the student the classroom material, but also be a counselor, coach, mentor, and a parent. Failing to fulfill these roles gives a child the chance to slip through the educational system without having the opportunity to influence them to some degree.
I can not narrow down my educational philosophy to one area. I have studied the teacher-centered philosophies and I would consider myself somewhat eclectic, having a mixture of progressivism and essentialism.
Essentialism is Essentialism refers to the "traditional" or "Back to the Basics" approach to education.
My aspiration to become an educator of the youth began from my experiences in high school. Working with small children as a young adult unveiled my eyes to the beauty of child development. I began to realize how vital those beginning years are in every child’s life. By nature, I am a helper and I never stop caring for others. I chose to study early childhood and childhood education for my undergraduate degree because I genuinely wanted to know more about how children learn and grow.
In this essay, I will explain my educational philosophy—the set of beliefs, principles, and precepts that make up the foundation of my conduct as a teacher. I believe that there are three main purposes of education: (1) developing good citizens, (2) encouraging personal self-growth, and (3) preparing students for success through job preparation and the teaching of life-skills. These three objectives are similar to the thoughts of the noted educator and philosopher Mortimore Adler.
A career as an educator is often a thankless job. Hours are long, and it is nearly impossible to leave school work at school. As a principal, my mother's shoulders have been heavy with not only caring for students but also for her colleagues and staff - who are just as dear and precious to her as the students that fill your halls. In addition to advocating for kids, she has spent her hours advocating for her colleagues, filling empty supervision positions, and scheduling
All six of the major educational philosophies Perennialism, Progressivism, Essentialism, Existentialism, Social Reconstruction, and Behaviorism are in my opinion feasible in the classroom. However, I have chosen Essentialism as the primary philosophy I would like to employ in my classroom for several reasons. Although I think all six would result in learning, which is the primary purpose of education, I think that Essentialism is superior to the other five for my classroom. I feel this way because it embraces the purpose or original goal of public education, it allows lessons to be gauged to all different learning styles, and finally because essentialism employs methods of teaching and discipline that I believe work exceptionally well with my content specialization.
My philosophy of education is eclecticism, meaning the components of each philosophy are consistent with one another and can be integrated. For example, I mainly agree with the knowledge of nature absolutism but I can also see the side of relativism as well. The three main philosophies of education I plan on using are essentialism, progressivism, and behaviorism because I feel they all are different but at the same time work well together. Philosophies of education are very important when teaching an elementary classroom.
Every teacher has a different method of teaching. The teachers that I have had in my school career have been no exception. In this way, each teacher has set an example for me, as a future teacher, to follow or not to follow as I see fit. With the examples from my teachers and in continuing my education, I am developing my own method of teaching. I plan to use a combination of teaching methods in my own classroom. My method will be an eclectic approach because I will be using components of more than one philosophy. I will be using essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, and existentialism.
As an education major at State College, I’ve decided to become a teacher for several reasons. As I progressed through elementary, middle, and high school, many of my teachers were great role models for me. This has inspired me to become a role model for someone in the near future. My love for science and math has also influenced my desire to teach and make a difference in a child’s life. I want to teach students the subjects that I love so much. I want the feeling that I helped a child accomplish or learn something they couldn’t understand. One of the main reasons I want to become an educator is because I feel education has really lost teachers who truly love teaching and those who truly love teaching and those who have the desire to make a difference. I feel I can really help make a difference in the education world and bring back the love to teach.
Every educator has their own thoughts and ideas about education, educational processes, and what they feel is the best way to educate students of today and tomorrow. These philosophies are built on the individual’s personal experiences and beliefs. My philosophy is like that of many new teachers, eclectic. There are ideas of many philosophies that I agree with and just as many that I disagree with. Teachers are as diverse as the students they teach. I believe that it takes a combination of several philosophies to reach each student in a classroom.
As a student, I have found that I support several different educational philosophies. These include essentialism, progressivism, and social reconstruct...
As I ponder over my personal professional development experiences as an educator the realization of how one has developed over time is personally satisfying. Educating children especially children with special needs is a challenge within its self. As a teacher it is important that this writer makes a positive influence with students. There are going to be certain ideas that one tries to uphold and other discriminations that one will not allow. Everyone has their own beliefs teachers should do what is necessary not to infringe on others, but show children different way to think so that they have all the information needed to make educated choices. Children are open-minded they have not yet had to deal with or understand the injustices that they will encounter. If children are taught from an early age they will have the ability to succeed especially children with special needs as an educator my main goal is teaching the purpose of public schools, and education reform. It is my purpose to influence children and be positive influence.
However the five major philosophies that have had the most influence on the American Educational System are: 1) Idealism, 2) Essentialism, 3) Perennialism, and 4) Progressivism, 5) experimentalism, with Idealism and Realism being the “principal philosophical sources on which all other philosophies of education draw” (Power, 1982, p.
The process of educating children may seem like a clear-cut, straight-forward process to some people; however, this is far from the case. There are five philosophies of education (essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstructionism, and existentialism) that vary in their educational approaches. These philosophies can be grouped into two categories: ...
I would describe my teaching philosophy as eclectic. I find that components of the five major philosophies, essentialism, progressivism, perennialism, existentialism, and behaviorism, fit into how I feel about teaching. The essentials such as respect for each other and the basic subjects, such as reading and math, are very important to me as a teacher. Individuality, active participation, cooperative learning and developing social skill are some of the progressive ideas I will use in my classroom. For my students to become self-motivated learners they will need to be able to reason, as suggested in perennialism. Reasoning will help them to work through problems and make decisions. Existentialism states that students should accept responsibility for their actions and should be self-paced. These ideas are important to my philosophy of self-motivated learners because my goal will be to create students who can do what this philosophy states. Behaviorism supports the use of positive and negative reinforcement, both of which I believe will be essential to my classroom. These five theories put together describe my eclectic teaching philosophy.
My philosophy of education is a combination of essentialism and progressivism . I feel that knowledge can be learned from a textbook, but I also want my students to use other means of knowledge. I fell in certain times, I should be the center of the classroom and other times, the students should be the center. Education is about the students and I am there to guide them through their journey. I think it's important to let children learn by exploring. By doing this, they choose what information is important and should be retained. When it comes to learning, students should always be in the center. The teachers are only there to mentor and improve upon a child's skills. In my mind progressivism with a mix of essentialism is the best philosophy for me to follow.
All children have the right to have education, which gives them the opportunity to find great people during their education journey that will change their lives. In my personal school experiences, I met great teachers that influence on my education to become a teacher. I had great instructors; however, there is one person that more than a teacher she is my friend, mentor and motivation to keep going to achieve my goals, her name is Ruth Madocks.