Philosophy of Education
Educating children profoundly affects their lives and influences the life of anyone who comes into contact with those children. Education provides a foundation for a child to base the rest of his or her life on. Without a solid education, it becomes impossible for an individual to provide for themselves and their family. Also, well-educated people can make decisions that benefit both their own interests and the interests of society as a whole. In this paper, I will address my personal opinions and philosophy about education. First, I will address the nature of the student. Next, I will examine the nature of knowledge, followed by the purpose of public education, and method. Finally, my paper will conclude with a discussion of the curriculum areas that are most important in elementary school. Additionally, I will relate my views to pragmatism and progressivism, and to Plato?s teaching, three valuable theories regarding education.
No two students are exactly alike. Nevertheless, they do share one fundamental characteristic -- every student has the ability to learn. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato believed that a student?s learning ability is determined entirely by genetics. According to Plato, people are either golds, silvers, or bronzes. The golds are the smartest and the bronzes are the slower learners. I don?t really agree with this philosophy. Yes, some children are naturally intelligent and others are not. But natural ability is not the only factor to consider. Students differ on their level of motivation regarding learning. Some students will settle for a ?C? while others push themselves to get an ?A.? Others are perfectly happy with failing grades. Motivation, or lack of it, can be blamed on one of two causes: environment and genetics. Some feel that a child?s desire to learn is most influenced by their home environment. Genes have also been blamed for a child?s longing to learn. I feel that both factors play a role in how a child approaches education. In a home where education is strongly emphasized, a child is probably going to want to learn. However, this is not always true.
Personally, being an educator gives me a chance to have a great impact on the world. I have always enjoyed seeing the look on someone’s face when they make a new connection or learn something. I have many strong beliefs in the education process and many times feel that the needs of the student are overlooked. As a teacher, the students would be priority and that is the backbone of my teaching philosophy. I know that I am not very experienced and have much to learn. This I will strive to do throughout my education and even when I enter the teacher workforce.
Ever since I was a little girl I had this dream of being a teacher. Whether it was making up “pretend” tests or having my younger brother sit through my instruction, I knew that I was a born teacher. And now that I have grown and matured into a responsible young woman, I feel that my place in this world is in the classroom. I feel that the children are our future and we should teach them everything we know to the best of our abilities. Every summer since the age of 13, I have been babysitting for local families in my small hometown of Pineville. In fact, 2 years ago I had been babysitting for a Optometrist and his wife and they were expecting their second child. As an honor, they asked if they could name their second daughter after me. Kara Nicole was born in June of 2001. As a matter of fact, I have found that my feelings on education often reflect the song The Greatest Love of All by Whitney Houston. She states in her song that she feels that the children are our future and I must say that I agree completely with her sentiments on the education of our youth. When I came of age to enter college, there was no question in my mind as to what field I wanted to enter. Elementary education was the only option for me. One of my favorite quotes, although I do not know the author, says that “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world” and I must say that this reflects my philosophy on education. To me, this quote reveals every compassionate thought I have on education alone. Teachers in some small way or another can be the sunshine in a child’s life. In my opinion, teachers, play many roles; mentors, confidants, sources of inspiration, and disciplin...
As a school counselor, my mission is to help students learn about themselves and develop in three areas; personal/social, education, and career. I believe that every student has a gift that was given by God and my goal is to help students identify those gifts and purse those gifts to become successful students and citizens.
Most of the teachers that have taught me in my time as a student have come across as positive role models to their students. When I look back at my experiences with those teachers, I want to be like them. I want to help my students just like those teachers have helped me. Those teachers that made a positive impression on me are the reason I want to be a teacher.
I did not spend my adolescent years contemplating what career I was going to choose and changing my mind every other week; I have wanted to be a teacher my entire life. I do not know why I originally made the decision, but, currently, I want to be a teacher so I can give back to the world. Deciding what subject to teach took a little consideration, but I made the decision fairly easily. I began comparing subjects I enjoyed and came up with math, psychology, and home economics. After researching the job market, the choice to make was clear. This country is in need of math teachers, and therefore, that is the path I have chosen. I plan to achieve my Bachelor’s Degree here at Concord, and then proceed in education until I obtain a Master’s Degree.
Philosophy of Education As I begin my education to become a teacher, I am beginning to make decisions on things such as how I would like my teaching style to be, ways to deal with discipline problems, and how I would like my classroom to be set up. However, I cannot put my ideas into one philosophy. I feel that using many styles of teaching is better than just using one. Some students may learn better with one style of teaching, while others may learn better with another.
Since my educational journey will lead me to a school library rather than to a classroom, my philosophy focuses on reading. I believe that there is a reader in every child and to unlock that reader each child must be viewed as an individual so that their own unique passion for learning is ignited. I know that there has been a tremendous amount of research conducted that shows how reading can improve a child’s grades and test scores but reading is much more powerful than that. Reading alters you on a personal level so that you never view yourself or the world around you in the same way again. Possessing this ability to broaden children’s horizons is why I want to become a librarian and in order to be the kind of teacher and librarian who positively affects their students’ lives requires thoughtfulness and the ability to change on my part. This entails an honest and continual introspection of my biases and beliefs, matching my actions to my “talk” so that my library is inclusive and affirming of diversity, and maintaining a true desire to reach every child through literature.
I hope to encourage my students to try their best and be content with their abilities. I do not believe that all children are able to reach the same academic level but I do feel that each individual child has his/her own way of understanding things that will make sense to him/her. I hope to emphasize the variation of the ways to learn in my classroom. Different ways of learning include, but are not limited to, the following: visually, verbally, and kinesthetically.
My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, multiculturalism, and the influence of philosophers such as Dewey, Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Furthermore, I believe young children will thrive and grow in developmentally appropriate child care programs that possess the following elements: (1) teachers who see themselves as intentional, responsive and respectful facilitators of learning, (2) the ability to build a community of learners, (3) implement an effective curriculum that allow children to explore their natural curiosity about the world.
Twelve years ago, I was not interested in becoming a teacher. I was content with my life. Then, I had two wonderful children. As they became school age, my opinion of teachers was immensely altered. I have spent countless hours within my children’s school, became personally connected to the wonderful individuals who were their teachers, and developed a respect for these tireless workers. These individuals have created a desire within me to enhance children’s lives and improve society through education.
“As a teacher, you have in your hands the power to influence and mould a student's mind. You have within you the capacity to instill in the child a love for learning, to keep an open mind and to keep questioning. You have the ability to promote confidence, stir thinking and awaken dreams...” (unknown). Education has been a huge part of my life, my mother started teaching when I was three years old she always said, “Justan when you grow up you should teach, your super smart and very creative.” In addition, like many other students have been in school for the majority of my life. My philosophy of education is to be a life changer. I want to touch a student’s life and leave a good positive imprint on their views of education. Teachers are more than educators they are mentors, class managers, role models, and learners. Effective teachers are learners they learn about their students, they learn how to differentiate their classrooms based on what they know about the students, and they stay up to date on the current educational technology.
Before taking my philosophy self-assessment, I was sure my highest score would fall somewhere in humanistic or social change. I was surprised when I saw that all of my scores fell within six points of each other in all five of the philosophies. After thinking about this, I have determined that I have come to see the benefits of each of the philosophies of education and have drawn pieces from each one in order to shape my own philosophy of education and teaching. Behavioral, progressive and humanistic are the three philosophies that I scored highest in and I will attempt to show how my philosophy relates to ethical teaching of each in today’s classroom. In Nodding’s Philosophy of Education he says, “Thoughtful people continue to examine the old responses, to generate new ones induced by changing conditions and to reflect on current responses in the interest of making education as good as it can be.”
Webster defines philosophy as a critical study of fundamental beliefs and the grounds for them. In this philosophy, I will be talking about the three great philosophers: Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. These three philosophers represent the birthplace of Western philosophy.
According to Becoming a Teacher, “Educational philosophy consists of what you believe about education- the set of principles that guides your professional action.” A teacher’s educational philosophy includes teacher’s beliefs about students, about teaching and learning, and about knowledge in general. It is important for teachers to reflect continually on what they believe and why they believe it. By reflecting continually it can help us to improve our practice. Below is a synopsis of my developing educational philosophy.
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.