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The importance of teaching philosophy
The importance of teaching philosophy
Underlying philosophical principles in education
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Personal Statement of Teaching Philosophy
I. Teaching Philosophy and Goals
I have one goal for my teaching: helping students to think and learn for themselves. This goal is as simple as it is illusive. The more experience I have as a teacher, the more I understand that there is no one-way of achieving my aim. Clearly, the proper focus of education is learning, not teaching; but I know that it is within a teacher's power-and thus it is the teacher's responsibility-to create the conditions necessary to allow students to learn. How best to create these conditions is the question. Although doing so involves performance, it is not a performing art. Although it requires the rigor and systematic methodology of scientific inquiry, it is not a science. There is no algorithm for good teaching.
I believe that students look to their philosophy teachers to challenge and inspire them. I think that learning philosophy is a process that involves wonder and awe, a process that evokes an emotional response as well as an intellectual one, and one that invites laughter as well as awakening a serious commitment to reasonable and responsible behavior in the world. I think that I serve my students by welcoming challenges and honestly pondering and engaging difficult questions in the classroom, rather than dodging confrontation and evading the tangle of discussion. Teaching, clearly, is not about demonstrating one's own knowledge or simply disseminating information. Good teaching stimulates self-reflection, enhances intellectual curiosity and empowers students to actively participate in and shape their own education. I aim to make my teaching nurture an...
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... distance learning. My current web site contains pages that display students' work in the classroom, a page that provides research tools and links to other relevant Internet sites for students to pursue further interests, and finally my e-mail and a group bulletin board, which allow students to ask questions whenever they arise.
The above teaching methods and strategies flow out of an educational approach that appreciates and celebrates student diversity. I believe that reaching a student via the mode he or she most fruitfully engages with the world is a prerequisite for effective teaching. Finally, I recognize that I still have much to learn about teaching, but I am hopeful that my passion for learning and for remaining critical and rational is contagious-that it serves as an example and challenges students to challenge themselves.
Growing up, I have always known that I wanted to work in the education field. I believe helping students learn and grow is my purpose in life. I believe the purpose of education is to see students develop and grow. I believe the role of the student is to come to school and learn new information that they can apply to their lives. I believe the role of the paraprofessional is to be the assistant for the teacher and provide assistance to the students. I believe the community plays a major role in education, especially the parents and guardians. They are a part of their child 's education and provide support for them when they need it most. Education is not going away anytime soon, so we need to look at what education
...imed at a common goal. In Aristotle’s view, he presents a system of laws that also changes when you change the polis. Citizens are entitled to participate in the management and administration of the city, its functions are politics and combat arms when necessary. Most of the people of an modern society might think that the city of Aristotle can be more ideal, since we can compare it to the American dream, where everyone can become what ever they one if they get the right education and work hard. This said, Socrates could say that it is unrealistic since not everyone can rule in any city not even now days. It is very important to mention that the issues that both philosophers present are very present in today’s society, even if the amount of inequality proposed in both cities can be shocking for us, it is hard to accept that it does exist in todays modern politics.
Aristotle believes the only way to reach a state of happiness is through virtue. The virtue that is to be practiced is meant to guide our behaviors in society and to learn the meaning of moderation. Aristotle deems human happiness as more then attaining the pleasures of life but satisfying the human potentialities. Reaching such abilities could be seen by making logical choices and being able to choose the needs in life rather then the wants. At this point it shows that Aristotle contends that a society that includes citizens that he believes are of human excellence will reflect the same values upon it’s state.
The Republic is an examination of the "Good Life"; the harmony reached by applying pure reason and justice. The ideas and arguments of Plato center on the social settings of an ideal republic - those that lead each person to the most perfect possible life for him. Socrates was Plato's early mentor in real life. As a tribute to his teacher, Plato uses Socrates in several of his works and dialogues. Socrates moderates the discussion throughout, as Plato's mouthpiece. Through Socrates' powerful and brilliant questions and explanations on a series of topics, the reader comes to understand what Plato's model society would look like. The basic plan of the Republic is to draw an analogy between the operation of society as a whole and the life of any individual human being. In this paper I will present Plato’s argument that the soul is divides into three parts. I will examine what these parts are, and I will also explain his arguments behind this conclusion. Finally, I will describe how Plato relates the three parts of the soul to a city the different social classes within that city.
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.
... educated to become the best in the state. Aristotle’s ideal state only consists of free men, who choose a government to suit the personalized state, however, Plato structures the ideal state down to the last detail.
Affirmative action “means programs taking the race or sex of employees, job candidates, [or students] into account as part of an effort to correct imbalances in employment [or education] that exist as a result of past discrimination, either in the company, [or university] itself or in the larger society” (Shaw and Barry 560). In the United States of America affirmative action programs has had a long history of aiding minorities in being hired, accepted, and/or promoted to positions they would have not found themselves in before affirmative action. Due to its previous successes many favor affirmative action and argue that without affirmative action our society would not be able to give compensatory justice for the mistreatment of minorities
Upon being faced with the task of writing my philosophy of teaching, I made many attempts to narrow the basis for my philosophy down to one or two simple ideas. However, I quickly came to the realization that my personal teaching philosophy stems from many other ideas, philosophies, and personal experiences. I then concentrated my efforts on finding the strongest points of my personal beliefs about teaching and what I have learned this semester, and came up with the following.
Education is a very important aspect of our lives. It is our education that makes us who we are and determines what we become. Therefore, education is not something to be taken lightly. As a teacher, my goal will be to provide the best possible education for my students. Every student is unique. I must see students for who they are individually and respect their ideas and opinions. Each student has a different learning style. I must take this into consideration because I want to provide a constructive learning opportunity for every student. I believe that every student has the potential to learn.
My personal philosophy on teaching is to inspire my students to think and to be objective thinkers. Like life, classrooms are filled with incidents on a daily basis. It 's interesting, as an active participant, to actually experience these moments shared between teachers and students as relationships are built mostly based on personality. As professionals, it 's expected that emotions take the back seat in decision making, but humans think with their heart a lot. A teacher in my estimation is one of the most human
I could go on at length, discussing all aspects of my praxis as an educator, however, that would lead to a paper of excruciating length. These aspects of my teaching pedagogy that are delivered in this praxis statement are those that I feel strongest about upholding. It is important for educators to value their students and the perspectives and cultures they bring to the classroom. Student-centered education is what I find to be the key to great teaching, and overall, is the greatest way to allow students to value and grow through their own self-exploratory and self-directed education. Valuing and appreciating each of your students is what makes teaching such an enlightening, uplifting profession.
In this course I experienced an important change in my beliefs about teaching; I came to understand that there are many different theories and methods that can be tailored to suit the teacher and the needs of the student. The readings, especially those from Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Arthur-Kelly, M. (2011), Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2007), and Whitton, D., Barker, K., Nosworthy, M., Sinclair, C., Nanlohy, P. (2010), have helped me to understand this in particular. In composing my essay about teaching methods and other themes, my learning was solidified, my knowledge deepened by my research and my writing skills honed.
Over the course of observations, I learned that there is no one way to do anything in teaching. After a few weeks of observing, I was relieved because I thought that I could stop worrying so much about doing the “right” thing with the students. I saw a successful teacher doing, or neglecting to do things that went against what I had been taught. I incorrectly assumed that the choices the teacher made about how to organize the day, approach a lesson, or manage the classroom were mostly a matter of personal preference and that several approaches would produce equally desirable results.
Pike, B., & Bradley, F. (1997). The philosophy of teaching: Developing a statement that thrives in the classroom. Clearing House, 70(3), 125. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9703092460&site=ehost-live&scope=site
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.