A Reflection Of My Educational Philosophy Of Education

As with any successful profession, I feel there must be a solid foundation in which to build upon. The objective of developing an educational philosophy is that it defines the purpose and focus of an educational institution. After careful examination of what my own teaching philosophy is, I have deduced that to say I am married to a specific philosophy without any formal experience, to me, seemed naïve. I am certain that my philosophy of education will constantly evolve as I gain more insight and proficiency into the world of formal education. However, in spite of this, I have concluded that my educational philosophy is actually not a single philosophy rather a merger of two philosophical leanings: Essentialism and Progressivism.

The purpose

The classroom environment should do as much too foster cooperation and acceptance as the teaching methods that the teacher uses.” (Bucholz 2009) I sincerely believe that the scheme of the classroom honestly reveals what the teacher’s inherent values are about their students and their education. My classroom will also be a reflection of my educational philosophy. I believe that in order to provoke achievement, motivation, and purpose in my students, the space will have to reflect and facilitate my expectations. The classroom space, much like the world, should never be static. My classroom will stand as a reflection of my students and their achievements in learning. The walls will encompass posters, projects, and skill-sets pertinent to the current area of study. It will essentially be a non-authoritarian environment in which the students can feel welcomed, wanted, and appreciated as an individual. Like a Progressivist classroom, the majority of the time inside my classroom walls, the desks will be positioned into groups which are appropriate for fostering cooperative learning and teamwork skills through the use of group projects, active hands-on experimentation, and deep rooted learning through questions and answers. Alternatively, I believe in the importance of students to not always be reliant on the “group thinking” aspect. They need to be able to be strong self-thinkers and ultimately know how to depend on themselves for answers. This is why my classroom, at times, will be arranged into an Essentialist environment with desks neatly placed into individual rows. I feel that this arrangement allows the individual student to be held accountable for themselves. I feel the importance of this is to develop strong self-thinkers and leaders in society, rather than cooperative followers that