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Educational Goals and Philosophy
Deciding on a career is a very difficult decision for anyone to make, especially for someone just coming out of high school. I always knew that I wanted to work with children, but I didn’t know what field I wanted to be in. After thinking about what field I could be in that I could work with children the most, I decided to become a teacher. I have always had a great deal of respect for most of the teachers I’ve had and hopefully I will be able to gain that respect from my students.
I believe that if you are going to teach, you have to have some degree of love for children. Once any teacher has lost that, I think it is time for them to stop teaching. The two most important things that have inspired me to become a teacher are being able to work with young children all the time and the personal rewards that come with teaching.
My biggest goal as a teacher is to make a child want to learn. I believe children in general do want to learn and it is our job as teachers to give them a chance to do that. I think in order for a child to want to learn, we have to make learning fun and interesting. I believe that by relating the students every day lives to the material they are learning will help accomplish this. Knowing that I have taught a child something, have made a child want to learn or have made a difference in a child’s life would be the most rewarding feeling in the world.
As a teacher one of the main strategies that I want to incorporate into my classroom is cooperative learning. Cooperative learning gives the students a chance to get to know each other better, to work together on things, and to depend on one another to get things done. Another reason I prefer this type of learning is that instead of one individual person failing or succeeding, it is the group as a whole (sink or swim together).
This essay attempts to discuss the competing aims of education whether they be academic, vocational or even purely enabling students to be virtuous. Marples (2010), “What is Education for?”, and Hand (2010), “What should go on the Curriculum?” provide much of the initial insight into the formation of my personal view on the competing aims of education
When teaching my class, one of the techniques I will use which comes from Vygotsky is cooperative learning (Slavin, 2012). Cooperative learning will help me to teach in the children’s zone of proximal development. The zone of proximal development is the point where a child cannot yet accomplish a task alone, but with support from more competent peers or adults (Slavin, 2012). This is a very significant subject for me to accomplish in my classroom. I don’t want to teach a student information they already know, or subject matter that is too implausible. For me to stay in their ZPD is one task I will complete while
Cooperative learning is a powerful classroom strategy which is not merely involving students working as groups. The essential feature of this approach is that the success of one student helps other students to be successful (Slavin, 1989). Students are concerned about the performance of all the group members; held individually accountable for their learning and given feedback on their performance. This helps other group members know to help and
There are many reasons people decide to enter the teaching field. Some enter because they enjoy working with people or children, others because they like being off during the summer months, and still others because of their love for a particular subject. Although all these reasons are valid, I feel my reasons are much simpler. The bottom line is that I love kids and enjoy working with them. My desire to make learning a more positive experience for them has only increased with time.
I believe to teach is to make a difference in the world. As an Early Childhood Educator, I can be certain that anything taught and beneficial to young students can pave the way for them to a have colorful future that will help improve the future of humanity and the earth in the long run. Obviously, teachers play a huge role in their students’ education but I believe the students themselves play an even bigger role as they are the driving force of what they learn.
I believe teaching is a privilege and a serious profession. There are few other careers in which you have as great of an effect on other people. The responsibility is great and I take it very seriously. At the same time teaching can be fun and intellectually stimulating. As a teacher, I will have the opportunity to explore and define a subject area that I have committed my career to---Science. What better way to show my enthusiasm for the subject than to teach it? Additionally, I know that there is nothing more rewarding than reaching a student through my teaching and having a profound influence on their curiosity. Good teaching should extend beyond the classroom, and it will if students are inspired to continue their studies on their own. Honestly, I believe that there is no other job that is equally as rewarding.
Education has always been a primary concern for my parents, who taught me that if I need to succeed in life, I have to be educated. Following their guide, I have always valued and tried to get the most of any educational opportunity I have had. Having grown up in a business family, I have always been interested in focusing my career in the business field. My Mother and Father own their own company, and they are constantly talking about business, which has inspired me to follow their path. When my parents retire, they want me to carry on their legacy. For this reason, I have decided to pursue my studies in the field of Business and Leadership at Marylhurst University. I want to pursue a well-rounded education at this established university where I also can have life experiences in the outside world, which will ultimately help me to become a successful leader in our family business.
Through my own experiences, and as enforced by others' opinions in the profession, I have found that teaching is one of the most rewarding careers. Not only are you placed in the position of instructing and guiding children and young adults through the life long learning process, but you are able to give back to the schools and communities which have supported your early education and experiences that opened you up to a bright future. In becoming an educator, I hope to someday share the knowledge and lend the helping, supportive hand that I was once given, allowing students to formulate their own perspectives of the multicultural society and world around them. Teaching is a career I have been interested in pursuing throughout high school, and as my experiences and study in the field expands, I feel that my desire to teach will grow stronger and develop more soundly.
I believe that my job as a teacher is not simply to place knowledge in my students heads. I must also help them understand that knowledge and show them how they can use it throughout their lives. To be truly successful at my job I must transfer my excitement for learning and curiosity to my students, so they will want to learn more.
I chose education as my career path after working in a classroom to fulfill a Field Study course. The children had a powerful impact; they were amazing; challenging, and most of all loving. In helping them, I quickly realized that I was the one receiving the gift that ultimately inspired me down the path of serving disadvantaged children. After experiencing two semesters in classrooms, I realized my enthusiasm for teaching was not a mere in-the-moment feeling but rather a genuine enthusiasm. I became aware that teachers are an important foundation in society and I look forward to the opportunity to develop the skills children need to adapt and apply for the rest of their lives by encouraging knowledge, character and resilience.
I have not always wanted to be a teacher. I always knew that I wanted to work with children in some way, but I was pretty sure that teaching was not for me. I was well on my way in my junior year of college working toward a biology degree so that I could become a pediatric physician’s assistant. I still cannot explain what happened, but one week I was a biology major, and the next I knew that I have always been meant to teach children. I suppose I just took the longer route to get there than most people do. The two main reasons that I have chosen to become a teacher is that I believe that teaching is extremely personally rewarding in many ways and the fact that I can actively make a difference in someone’s life.
Becoming a teacher has been the ultimate aspiration for myself since the first day I walked into kindergarten. As a very timid student, it was a difficult task transitioning from being with my mother everyday, to being part of a classroom environment full of strangers. However, my kindergarten teacher helped me through this transition smoothly, and adequately. I very quickly learned to love school. Soon after, I knew I would aspire to become a teacher. I would spend countless hours at home with a blackboard, acting as a teacher to my imaginary students throughout my elementary school years.
There have been many factors that have inspired me to this career choice. Watching my teachers, both past and present, has inspired me to become a teacher. I have a genuine interest in lifelong learning and as such I have the desire to not only instil knowledge and values to others, but also encourage them to share my passion for learning. Social Justice and leadership roles at school, along with my extra-curricular involvement with Cowra Youth Council, have highlighted my ability to work with and for the benefit of young people. In essence I know that my abilities and aspirations will make me a good teacher.
Education, which refers to the transfer of indispensable skills and knowledge, is a vital aspect of the social-economic planning of a country as it generates a competitive workforce which contributes significantly to economic growth. Nevertheless, the jury is still out on whether the chief goal of education is to provide a ticket to a better life, hence improving the living standards of individuals. At first glance, it is tempting to buy into the claim that the ultimate purpose of education is to guarantee a high living standard as good academic qualification enables us to become high income earners. However, upon further dissection of the intricacy of the issue, we should look past the superficial value of such a claim and accept that essentially, education has other crucial functions in our society.
Teaching is a daunting task that I do not intend to take lightly. Becoming a teacher has been a dream of mine for several years. I always knew that teaching would be the career for me, especially when I began working in the school system as a substitute secretary. I loved working in the school environment; coming in contact with children everyday made me realize how much I would enjoy teaching a classroom full of students.